beautifulboomingbaumont: Day 5 Banff -- Gondola Ride and Bow River Float

My Oh My – What an incredible day. Life doesn’t get much better than Day 5 in Banff with Caravan Tours. We woke early to a simply beautiful day. The previous day’s rain had rolled out but left behind a blanket of the purest white show I’d ever seen covering the magnificent mountains that surround Banff. Our morning buffet breakfast was in the Tony Roma’s restaurant and then all 43 of us were on the bus headed off for the gondola ride up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. When we got up there it was one of those moments that took your breath away. The panorama views of all 6 mountain ranges cover with fresh snow from the storm that had just rolled out was indescribable. It’s hard to believe that the same God who created the aired deserts also created such indescrible beauty as can be seen here on the mountain top. After out “mountain top experience ” we were transported by gondolas back down the mountain and transported by motor coach to view Bow Falls and then dropped off at the river’s edge to enjoy a river rafting trip down the Bow River. Our raft guide was a young man named Tom with a strong body to man the two oars and a strong Australian accent. He kept us informed of everything we would see as we spent an hour floating down stream. Some interesting landmarks we learned about are called hoodoos. Hoodoos are tall thin spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands. They are composed of soft sedimentary rock and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily-eroded stone that protects the column from the elements By early afternoon we were back in town and had a rare afternoon of free time. I journeyed out by foot for a scenic walk along the Finland Trail and followed it down the river to where I was able to get some great pictures of the magnificent Banff Springs Hotel. The Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style, located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The hotel, designed by architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. If you ever get up this way, be sure to book you room at this hotel. They have one room that goes for $5,000 a night. I know that may seem a little steep but you do get a free fruit basket delivered to your room when you arrive. By dinner time we were starving. So to solve that problem we went to the Old Irish Pub and had the best Spanish food I’ve ever eaten (just kidding). But we did have a great dinner and then went through a bunch of gift shops and spent a considerable amount of time pricing out Ammolite jewelry. Ammolite is a rare and valuable opal-like organic gemstone found primarily along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada. It is made of the fossilized shells of ammonites. After that we ended up at another Irish establishment, McDonalds, for some fake ice cream. I guess you can tell by now that we didn’t like Banff at all. Where do we go tomorrow? Tune in to Day 6 to find out.