Banff Day 6 - Sunshine Village

Sun 28th Aug. Excitement we saw our first fox today,but more on that later. Decided to do a walk before heading to Calgary. Chose Bourgeau Lake / Harvey Pass, which was west of Banff, the wrong way really but oh well, there wasn't really anything east. However when we got there the small parking area was full, so heading back to Banff decided to try the walks at the ski village of Sunshine. To access the walks, there is a $59 gondola ride or for the more budget conscious like us, a 5.1 km hike up to the village, the hike was not bad, there was a bit of a trail, crisscrossing a dried riverbed, towards the top we lost the trail so carried walking on the access road. When we first got the Banff hiking guide I didn't really take note of the walks up Sunshine mainly because they were classed as easy, but I am so please we went. We combined quite a few loops, the first one went by Rock Isle lake, it was just so picturesque, apparently a popular spot for artists. But it was at this stage we realized it is time to start packing the thermals, gloves, and hat - the wind chill was so cold, about 7°C, we had left the van in shorts and singlet but had windbreaker jackets luckily. Apparently this area is covered in snow up to 3 m deep for 10 months a year. We then carried on and did the Grizzly/Laryx Lakes loop, then headed up to the Standish Viewing Deck, this had a great view of the three lakes we just walked around, and the mountains behind. You actually cross the Continental Divide on these tracks, so some of the walk is in Alberta and some in British Columbia. From the viewing deck you could carry on and take the chairlift back down to the village, but we backtracked and took the Twin Cairns to Monarch Lookout Trail. It was after the lookout heading back to the village, I saw an animal sitting on the track about 50 m ahead, I stupidly said to Doug in a loud voice "what's that", so therefore it became aware of us and scarped. It was a red fox and we didn't get a chance to get a decent photo, but It was great watching it as it took a large arc to avoid us. We then carried on to the village, and started contemplating the 5.1 km walk back down, when I noticed there was no ticket check to get on the gondola and since it was 5pm we decided to take the easy option. So after a 20 minute gondola ride - it was the longest gondola we have ever done - we were back at the carpark, and heading east to Calgary. Hike stats: 16.61 km, 3 hr 55 active time, altitude gain 923 m, highest altitude 2375 m. We have stopped for the night at the Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino carpark. Steps D 27494 / V 28322.Read more