Early breakfast. Rain. Drove to Banff. Ran through the Banff Springs Hotel. Gorgeous stone staircases. Wonderful architecture. Built 1888. Wandered around. Considered stealing lunch from an unguarded conference room.
Rain. Ate lunch downtown Banff. Drove to the gondola. Rode to the misty, clouded top of Sulphur Mountain in a rounded, silver cube. Miserable weather. Attempted photographs. Took a flight of stairs to the open observation deck. Virtually nothing but suspended grey-white condensation. Found a door leading to the actual mountaintop. Walked along the crest. Found a black craggy rock with orange moss, a suitable bookend. Patsy accidentally stepped knee-deep into snow.
Took the gondola back down the slope, drove to Lake Louise. Rain. Walked into the Chateau Lake Louise. Explored again. Came across a Victorian hall with two grand stone fireplaces at either end. Made our way back outside. Stood in the lake. Feet have never been so cold. Snow and ice still sat upon Louise’s surface. More rain. Back to the car.
Back to Banff to pick up a souvenir. Patsy & Dad lost me while they looked for a café.
Long drive back. Through the outskirts of cattle country. Saw a mighty bull. Its horns were long and pointed down. Its midsection was broad and thick. Must’ve weighed a ton. Literally. Stood staring dumbly at another, smaller bull.
More deer. A proud elk buck, too. Branching rack of antlers. Another Great Grey Owl perched on a birch tree. It took wing before I could get a shot. A small barn owl.
Back to the cabin: dinner, Scrabble, bed.
