Banff - End of the Trip!
I expected the peak to be closed but it wasn't. The section for sitting was, but the peak path wasn't. The path to the top was all laid out as wooden decks. The peak used to be used as a weather station and cosmic ray meter. Now there sits a little stone structure on the top. [It was still really cloudy and foggy]
I was told the way down was 15$, so I set that money aside. When I was being loaded in, the girl told me not to worry about it. I guess because there was no view that day. Before I went down, she took my picture which I wasn't ready for. The gondola was much smaller than the tram cable cars at the other mountains. The view was still cloudy and the ride was really long. [At least this time, the cable car consisted of just me]
I got down and my cheesy bad picture was waiting for me. As it was the $15 I expected to pay anyways, I got it. The girl at the desk seemed surprised I'd pay for it. She was right to be, I wouldn't have paid that much for a bad picture of myself if I had to get a ticket. [I doubt many people actually bothered buying their picture in general]
I packed my things, called Nita and waited for my bus. I changed out of my sweaty cold clothes and put on my warm sweater.
I bussed to town and went to a place called Mellissa's, as recommended by the greyhound desk guy and the local bus driver.
The place was nice, with a log cabin feel to it. I came at a weird time between lunch and dinner with shift changes, so it was pretty empty. I ended up ordering beef stroganaf on a bed of noodles. It was good, but I didn't expect hwo full I'd get. My stomach has definately shrunk. I finished it, but was really full. A quick stroll through town and I went back to the bus terminal.
[I would love to go back and spend a little more time in Banff, but by the end of this trip, I was pretty done with it after my hike up. It actually took a lot of will power to trudge through the freezing cold and rain and bus just to get to the foot of the mountain. I told myself to push on, and once I hit the mountain trail, it was a lot better. Once again, initiative is my one weakness, which I overcame this time at least]
I guess there's a school trip because 2 women and a bunch of children came on with me. Maybe it's through a religious thing, because they're all indian and all girls. [I had gone outside and played a little guitar by myself waiting for the bus. I didn't play it much during the trip, but I'm still glad I brought it]
A bit less than an hour from Calgary where I can take it easy. This week should go relatively fast.
In terms of my week in Calgary, it was a lot of bombing around town by myself. I actually had a lot of fun hanging out with my cousin Polman and his girlfriend Jenny, as well as Bernard and a blast from the past, Alex (who I didn't even recognize at first, even though he looks the same). There are some good stories, but as I didn't write them down, you'll have to ask me what I did personally. I doubt many people read this blog in its entirety, but now that it's done, I can save it on my comp and save it for a nice nostalgia a good 10, 20, maybe 30 years from now.]
