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01/10/16 - Banff and Jasper.
Hi all,
Arrived safe and sound in Canada last month and spent the past 3 weeks in Banff and Jasper, Alberta.
B l o g
In this first post in the blog, I'll share the top five things about Banff and Jasper.
Number 5 - Moraine Lake.
Moraine Lake is a glacial lake (a lake which begins with a melting glacier) within Banff National Park and is around a 40-minute drive from the town of Banff. The lake is a phenomenal blue colour, and looks this way because of the refraction of light of the rock flour (incredibly fine pieces of rock which are eroded off the mountains by the melting glacier). To get a better view of the lake, we climbed up a rather precarious rock pile, only to find there was a far safer set of stairs at the other side!
The area around the lake has several walking/hiking trails, however, a number of these were closed or restricted whilst we were at the lake due to a number of bear sitings in recent weeks! We weren't too disappointed however, as the best views were from the top of the rockpile, which is one of the most photographed places in all of Canada!
Number 4 - Sulphur Mountain
Sulphur Mountain is part of Canadian Rocky Mountains and reaches an elevation of 2,451 metres or 8,041 ft (the highest point in England is is Scafell Pike - which reaches an elevation of 978 metres or 3208 ft.). You have the option of walking up the mountain, or taking the Banff Gondala, which carries you up and down the mountain.
We decided to walk up the mountain, and although it was difficult, we definitely made the right call. The views were absolutely spectacular, and once we reached the top, we could see the whole of the town of Banff , as well as the mountains, lakes and rivers which surrounded it. We reached the top at around sunset, and took the Gondola back down after dark, Which gave us a tremendous view of the town at night .
The Banff Gondala
A few days later, a friend of ours walked up the mountain, and managed to see a black bear eating berries by the side of the trail! Black bears are rather skiddish animals, and would sooner run away than attack a person, especially
one who was in a group. There are warnings throughout many of the sites in Banff however that warn hikers to stay away from bears as they can be incredibly dangerous if they feel threatened.
Number 3 - Peyto Lake. - To be published Monday 3rd October.
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