Sulfur Mountain and Tunnel Mountain summits

This morning we took the Banff Gondola up Sulfur Mountain. A small four person gondola car, made by a Swiss company swept us to the top in about 10 minutes. They are working on building a restaurant and upper viewing platform that should be complete soon. The views from the top were amazing. It was a clear day and we could see forever.  There was a series of steps and boardwalks that connected the gondola station to the adjoining summit of Sulfur Mountain. At the top is a weather station that was used from 1904-1944. The Rangers would walk up sometimes weekly to record information. A small, single room was a kitchen, work station and bedroom. In the winter, it took 9 hours to get to the top. The Rangers spent the night, then headed back down. You can view the original furnishings. We viewed the entire Banff area as well as the other side of the mountain ridge. Beautiful sights all around.
We ran into town to make our dinner reservations at Ticino- Swiss/ Italian restaurant that was opened by a family in 1974 and the family still runs it. It was delicious. Elk and lamb dinners with Swiss chocolate mousse fir dessert.
But before dinner, we had one more hike in Banff. Tunnel Mountain summit. A steep trail with several switchbacks took up to the top. More great views and we enjoyed the views while sitting in the red chairs that are scattered throughout the park.  You never know when they will show up, but they always are placed to enjoy the view.
We leave tomorrow. It has been a great trip. There might be one more adventure enroute to Calgary.









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wolfhound Tours- Day 5- Dingle Way, Slea Head, ruins and ring forts

Image
After breakfast, we headed towards the coast. Those looking for a hike were dropped off at the Dingle Way trailhead. There were only three of us. Marty, Emilie and myself. The trail hiked up the mountainside and followed the stone walls. As we got to higher elevation, the views were incredible. We felt sorry for the rest of the group for missing such views. We hiked along with the sheep. We passed a small waterfall, ring forts and many, many stone walls. We could see the beach where we would meet the rest of the group. At the top, we also had views of the Blasket Islands. Our hike ended at Coumeenola Beach. The beach was beautiful with jagged rocks on the edges. We  hiked about 7 miles.                                        Dave gave us a demostration of Hurling- a national Irish game. A bit crazy with a ball and stick. Once agai...
Read more

Durnstein and Melk-Austria

Image
This morning we arrived in the small town of Durnstein. One of the apricot centers of Austria. Everything apricot!!!!!!. Liqueurs, schnapps, lotions, soaps, candies and more. This quaint town has a population of 400. They also are surrounded by vineyards and produce many wines, mostly white. They have the perfect climate for white wine grapes.  Durnstein has many historical sites such as the Augustiner Abbey with the beautiful blue clock tower, the remains of Kuenringer Castle where Richard the Lionhearted stayed after the Crusades and a small town area with shops. We tasted many varieties of apricot liqueurs and other products. We are bringing liqueurs home. Walked back to the ship and we sailed thru the Wachau Valley. Vineyards are terraced up the hillsides. Beautiful churches and castles can be seen from the water. We had a picnic lunch on the sky deck as we cruised. Around 2 pm, we arrived in Melk, Austria. We visited the Benedictine Abbey Melk which is the first Benedicti...
Read more

Heli HIke onto Franz Josef Glacier

Image
Only 7 of our group chose to do the Heli Hike. The rest will go do a hike in the area. We were dropped off at the tour operators and outfitted with a jacket, pants, socks, boots, mittens, crampons and a bag. Everyone was weighed and then placed in the helicopter. We flew up the valley and landed on the glacier. After a safety briefing and putting on our crampons and getting our hiking pole, our guide, Zac had an axe which he used to cut steps into the ice on steeper sections. He showed us an ice cave and asked if we wanted to go through it. Everyone said yes. He tied a rope on each end and one by one we lowered ourselves down and though. It was wet and very slippery and even a bit scary, but fun. After we finished with that, we hiked up towards the large pieces which Zac told us were over 6 stories tall. The sun came out and you could see the blue ice. Incredible! Some areas were starined and streaky with dirt and sediment which gave them black and white...
Read more