Day 7

Day 7, Saturday, September 29, 2012

Went back to Papa George's for breakfast. Did not get the same wonderful waitress we had yesterday, so it took seemingly forever.

Then we headed back down the Icefields Parkway to catch what we missed on the way up. First stop was Athabasca Falls. Really awesome. Also quite accessible, no hiking up hill, down dale, through mud, etc. Probably one of the most impressive sights we've seen.

We are having intermittent rain showers today, first time we haven't had cloudless blue skies. Fortunately, it seems to rain when we're inside. Got a few drops at the falls, but nothing serious.

Then on to Sunwapta Falls. Good falls, but not quite as dramatic as the Athabasca Falls.

Next up was the Columbia Icefield Centre and the Athabasca Glacier. The glacier used to come down over the highway and the parking lot of the Centre. It has retreated quite a bit over the last 100 years. We elected not to walk up to the toe or to ride the snow coaches on the glacier. They have excellent exhibits on glaciers in the Centre.

That covered the items we had missed on our trip up the Parkway. When we got to Lake Louise, we took the Bow Valley Parkway instead of the main highway. Good decision! Much more scenic. Spotted a bull elk in a meadow and pulled over with several cars to photograph him. Then about ten miles up the road were four bull elks grazing up on the hillside! It's supposed to be rutting season, but we didn't see any female elks—we decided they were hiding from the testosterone-crazed males.

By this time it was getting late, so we decided to save Johnston Canyon for tomorrow. Wanted to arrive in Banff in daylight with some time to stroll the town.

Had dinner at Giorgio's Trattoria. Food was pretty pedestrian, but the joint was jumping! Every table full. Strolled the shops on the way down Banff Avenue to the restaurant and continued strolling down that side after dinner. Then crossed over to the other side to head back to the hotel. Found a great gelato shop, so had to have gelato for dessert.

Forgot to mention the porcupine we saw.  Here he is:

Here's the first elk:

Here are some of those up on the hillside.  We discovered there were 5 when reviewing the pictures tonight.

And, last but not least, Athabasca Falls: