The Bow of Banff

So nice to have a day when we weren't getting our bags out early to scramble onto the bus in order to see all the sites we need to see in a day. Today we got a sleep in, get the washing done and have breakfast over by a leisurely 9.30 am. Then it was a chance to repack the bags with our clean clothes and plan our day. Our big plan was to keep it simple. Our one organised activity had been planned and booked beforehand and that was to float down the river in a raft. What a glorious, peaceful and stimulating hour. I felt like Mole on his first boating adventure with Ratty.

Our oarsman was from South Africa and one of the many young people who come to Banff to work in the tourist trade. We were told that sometimes as many as 60% of young workers in Banff will come from Australia, followed by other countries in the world and finally the Canadians. There is a special promotion that encourages this seasonal work and that it is very popular. It is great for the young people who work hard, party hard, get their bonuses, then move on to new destinations where they do it again, until they decide it is time to go home.

This young man was remarkably strong, steering and paddling a boat full of people down a fast flowing river, the Bow River, showing us the sites and telling us tales for an hour and then repeating it all again five times a day. His lunch, toilet and breathing breaks occur in the eight minutes between trips when the raft is transported up the river again and then put back in the water. The river runs too fast to paddle back up, so they do it by road vehicle. He does this every day while he saves up for his studies in adventure guiding. He told us that last year he had done the unit on rock climbing. This is not really his thing but it is a requirement so he did it. They were on a rockface that was deemed extremely safe when a tree uprooted itself high above and crashed down the side of the mountain. It missed him by inches. The man beside him was critically injured, helicoptered out, but died later in Calgary hospital, and the leader of the group had his spine broken. Scary!

He pointed out some very interesting things to us as we floated along. Alongside the river grows a silvery shrubby tree called the Silverberry. It is rather unremarkable. It is slow growing and very fibrous. The local first nations people made their bows from it because it bends well while still staying strong. They taught other bands of indigenous peoples in their regular powows and there was a lively trade in the wood. It is this bow wood that named the river, the mountain valley, and the region.

He also had us turn back towards Banff to see a small mountain. It was called Tunnel Mountain because the early white developers wanted to put a tunnel through it for the trains. This upset the local indigenous people for whom the mountain had spiritual significance. It could, like so many other similar disputes, have ended in bloodshed and the removal of the traditional owners. However, a Methodist (?) Minister who had lived among the locals for a long time learned of the significance and set about trying to achieve a suitable compromise. He succeeded and the train line did not cut through the mountain. The indigenous people called the mountain Sleeping Buffalo and if you look at the picture of it you can see the big head on the far right, the massive hairy hump behind his head and then the trailling off of his body towards his hind quarters. I prefer this name much more than Tunnel Mountain.

To thank the cleric for his fine work they named the largest (not tallest, but longest) local mountain, Mt Rundle after him. I agree. A fitting reward for a fine conciliator.

This brings me to an explanation that made a lot of sense. If a mountain is named for a feature of the mountain, such as Sleeping Buffalo Mountain or Sulphur Mountain, both nearby here, the adjective precedes the noun of the word "Mountain" as all adjectives in English should. If, however, the mountain is named after a person, such as Mt Rundle or Mt Robson then the person's name follows the word Mountain. A very sensible and satisfying device for nomenclature.

Our wildlife sightings grew again today in very satisfactory ways. No more elk today but we were told that the 27 hole golf course than runs alongside the Bow River (it brought sighs and gasps of pleasure from the golfers in our shuttle today as we wandered through it to get back to base) becomes a major battle ground for male elk in about two weeks' time. By that stage the elk will be in full rut and in order to demonstrate their prowess and defeat other antlered males, they need a clear open space. They fight for supremacy on the greens and fairways, churning up the ground by raking it with their antlers and charging at each other. The ground staff get very cross at having to patch up the fairways before play can commence each day. I suggested they should sell tickets and get their money that way. It may yet happen. Players also have to watch out for bears, both black and grizzly, who wander across every now and then from the forested side. Apparently it can be quite unwise to go searching for a lost ball with many near misses for the golfers who have not noticed the huge bear next to their golf ball. I noticed quite a few roanberries growing between fairways on the course and roanberries are a big favourite with bears. At the moment they are bulking up for winter and so are deeply attracted to the fruit.

What we did see today, first padding along the rocks on the far side of the river in the distance, then later, in clear striking beauty and trotting towards us were two coyote. As always, the raft could not stop and, had it done so, might have scared the beastie off, but we took definite sightings and definite bragging rights. Just as we got off the raft and were waiting for the second raft to arrive and disgorge its passengers, I happened to glance down to see a really beautiful dragonfly at my feet. It stayed still long enough for me to capture its brilliant colours and translucent lacy wings. It was a striking blue colour. I was very pleased with the pictures of this one.The dragonfly also appears frequently on some of the totems but I can find no explanation for it yet. I must look further.

I also need to tell you that we passed a limestone rock formation called the Hoodoos, standing like Halloween sheet-draped ghosts on an outcrop beside the river. The river valley is U shaped, denoting its glacial origins, as opposed to V shaped which indicate fast running water carving through rock and earth. The river shifts its path regularly as bits of the river become clogged with the rocks brought down by the glacier, and then the water must find a new path. Sometimes these will be washed away in spring and sometimes the course of the river will be irrevocably changed and move off in a different direction. As we are now at the end of summer the water level is as low as it can be. Our raft captain said that he thought the river had dropped two inches (5 cm) since yesterday in some places because the clearance in some areas was much less. He also pointed out where the water would regularly rise to, when the Spring melt brought down vast quantities of melted snow and ice. Much of the lower sections of the golf course disappear under the overflow and the width of the river, instead of being just ten or twelve metres across would be thirty or forty metres and a raging torrent. With mountains as high as 12,000 metres all around us, glaciers above the permanent snowline can produce a lot of water. We learned that it takes 50 metres of snow to make one metre thickness of glacial ice so that makes it very dense and loaded with water for the melt.

This afternoon we wandered into town for a light lunch. We thought savoury crepes might do it until, coming to the end of our ham, cheese and spinach crepes, I decided to have a little party. I told Ross that I was going to have a waffle dessert. He stressed that nothing else would pass his lips. I knew that line and didn't believe it. This morning, as with all other mornings, Ross swore he was going to have a small meal of healthy fruit and came back with a cooked breakfast groaning on his plate, again. So when I ordered my wafffle and heard his protestations about how I was going to have to eat all I ordered, I knew what was going to happen. My waffle arrived and I set about adding the toppings. First, there was raspberry frozen yoghurt, then chocolate, then toffee, then cookies and cream. After that I added strawberries, raspberries and bluberries, followed by chocolate covered raisins, smashed m&ms , crunchy granola, and a couple of other sprinkles, then some chunks of cookie dough, brownie and nut bar. Not being finished yet, I added toppings of caramel and hot chocolate and sour cherry toppings. The waffle was then weighed and I paid just under $20! I brought it back to the table where I suggested Ross could take my picture. I then took his and invited him to have a taste. There was no holding him back. Rarely have I seen food go down so fast. It was a funny moment or two. When he realised he had scoffed well over half, he stopped, feeling somewhat ashamed of his reversal of intention, but as I steadily finished off the rest he kept pointing out bits I had missed and how it was best to eat it. Clearly he was still eating it in his mind, even if it was not passing his lips. It was a fun meal, never to be repeated.

Now here is another interesting factoid. Cars, buses and trucks must turn off their engines when they come to a stop. If it is just traffic lights, they can leave the engines on, but if they have stopped to let people on and off, they must turn off their engines. This is to reduce the carbon monoxide exhaust fumes polluting the air. Everywhere you go there are signs exhorting drivers to turn off their engines. No idling allowed. I really approve of this.

I know that many of the legislations here might seem a little like social engineering, but most sound really sensible and helpful to the community. There are strict rules about health care that insist that wealth should not earn the wealthy any better care than the poor man and housing assistance is provided for those who come to work in distant places. I respect that. I think the Canadians really do have the right idea on so many matters.

Anyway, I have now finished writing my blog for the day and it is not midnight and I am not propping my eyes open with toothpicks. It is nearly 6 pm and Ross has just finished off the second load of washing for the day. We will have bags full of clean clothes ready for the next leg of our journey. Tomorrow, we start early to get to the train station to catch the Rocky Mountaineer. This will be two days, stopping overnight at Kamloops, then finishing the next day in Vancouver. We have another break, then we head into US territory and up into Alaska and the boat trip. Another adventure on the way.Read more