West Trip.....Day 8 Sulphur Mountain

My sisters and I at the hotel in Banff, Alberta.

 

This hotel had a beautiful courtyard completely surrounded by guest rooms......but no air conditioning! And it was like 80+ degrees:(  What's up with that?

This is day 8 of our trip and we have been on the road for a week.

  I have been looking forward to the Canadian Rockies more than any other place we've been to and finally we are here.

I'm going to do a few posts of locations instead of days. It's just too hard to pick out a few photos of each place and cram them all into one post.

 

Our first stop was the gondola ride to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. In just eight minutes you are on top of Sulfur Mountain at an elevation of 7,486 above sea level.

 Sulphur Mountain is named for the sulphuric hot springs found on it's lower slopes.

 

 For the more adventurous there is a 3.5 mile trail you can hike up.

 

The summit visitor center has two restaurants, a gift shop, and multiple observation decks. The true summit of Sulphur Mountain is the tall peak to the right of the center.

 

 

There are breathtaking panoramic views of Banff and the Bow Valley, and many of the areas mountain peaks can be seen from the observation decks.

 The tall mountain to the left is Cascade Mountain and the short mountain is Tunnel Mountain. Tunnel Mountain is nearly encircled by the town of Banff and there is no tunnel in the mountain.

 The lake in the distance is  Lake Minnewanka and the river flowing through Banff is Bow River.

 

 Various trails offer scenic mountain views in every direction. The day we were there was cloudy and hazy but still amazing.

 

 

Pilot Mountain 

 

 The Sundance Range

Sulphur Mountain and Sanson's peak are joined by a wooden boardwalk.

 

A National Historic Site, this stone cabin built in 1903 was the first meteorological observatory in this area. Norman Sanson observed the weather from Sansons Peak for 30 years and made over 1000 trips up to the peak during his capacity of park meteorologist.

 

A look through the window you can see it's interior is still complete with rustic furnishings.

 

 

 

Yes.....you are a lot cuter here than at home.

 

 

The famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. In the upper left corner the Bow River Falls are visible.

 

Mount Rundle

 

Next.....Lake Louise 

 

West Trip.....Day 7

 

 

Today we are headed off to the Glacier National Park located in the northwest corner of Montana just south of the Canadian border. Established in 1910 this one million acre park was carved out by receding glaciers which left behind breathtaking scenery including lakes and valley's among the mountains.

 

Lake McDonald  

 

We started our tour at the Lake McDonald Lodge where our group boarded three of these Red Bus "Jammers" since vehicles over 21 feet in length are prohibited from driving on the road.

One of the highlights of Glacier is the 52 mile long Going-To-The-Sun Road which bisects the park and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.

 

 McDonald Creek

 

A view of Heavens Peak, elevation 8,987 feet. Despite all the snow on Heavens Peak, there is no glacier.

 

 

 

 

 These historic red busses "Jammers" were built in the 1930s for the park and have a Ohio connection. They were built by the White Motor Company in Cleveland. 500 busses were built for various western parks, but most of the other parks did not restore their busses and were retired from service in the 50s. Glacier however did completely restore their fleet in 1989 and are still in service today.

They call them "jammers" because when they were first used, they had standard transmissions and the residents could hear the drivers "jammin" the gears up and down the mountains.

 

Haystack Waterfall

This pretty waterfall is located along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and cascades down to and under the highway and continues falling down the mountainside.

Mount Oberlin is on the left and Cannon Mountain on the right.

 

 

The Garden Wall.

The sharp spire to the right is Bishops Cap, Mount Gould in the center,

 

With a name like Glacier National Park, one would think you would see Glaciers all over the park. The truth is 150 years ago there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park. Today there are only 25 left. Most of them are tucked away on the north faces of peaks and gradually disappearing. It is assumed in another 10-15 years the park could be glacier free.

The little patch of snow peeking out from behind the Garden Wall is Gem Glacier, the smallest named Glacier in the park.

 

Another view of Heavens Peak from a higher elevation.

 

Mount Clements and the alpine meadows at Logan Pass.

 

Mount Reynolds

 

 

 

 

As we leave the park we pass by McDonald Lake again......

 

 

And the last of the beautiful Montana ranches and countryside.

 

 

 

We keep heading north and crossed the border into Canada around 4:00pm. The scenery just doesn't stop.

 

 It's just incredibly beautiful and this is just the beginning of the Canadian Rockies.

 

The Aspen Lodge in Banff is our home for the night.

 

 Next: The Canadian Rockies