Day 8

Day 8, Sunday, September 30, 2012

Great day! Had breakfast at the hotel and then headed back to Johnston Canyon. You actually hike into the canyon here—the path is sometimes cantilevered from the canyon wall. Here's what the path looks like:

It's about a mile round trip. Great views along the way. When you get to the canyon, you can crawl through a small cave and get up close and personal with the waterfall. It was great. Here's the waterfall and the cave:

We then headed back to Banff to drive the road up Mt. Norquay. Views up there probably as good as those from the Banff Gondola and a lot cheaper! Saw the first of the iridescent birds up there. Don't know what kind of bird it is, but it has the most amazing blue and green plumage.

Then headed back down to Banff to find a picnic spot to eat our lunch. Right by the side of the road was a flock of mountain goats. They were intent on licking something in the gravel (salt?) and let everyone get quite close for pictures.

OK, doesn't it look like this guy is saying, "Move over!"

Found a great picnic table beside the Bow River and had lunch with another of those friendly iridescent birds. This guy was a riot—kept hopping around and chirping away at us.

Went up to check out the famous Fairmont—quite a place. Then went to the Bow Falls and then back to the room. Our legs were ready for a rest!