East Ventures West (Banff National Park, Banff) May 11, 2019

Deja-vu, out her back door again and that is where our hike began!  

Immediately the conversation began with so much to catch up on with each others life happenings.  It was a treat to be hiking right from the get-go and experiencing early morning Banff without traffic and without people.  We are at different places and experience and level with our hiking history but today we were equal.  We enjoyed five hours of mountain air and exercise. 

early morning view as we started out

a pretty picture

We crossed over the pedestrian bridge.

See our early morning reflection?

The route followed the river down low and then lead us up hill to Surprise Corner.

We hiked the switchbacks up Tunnel Mountain.  This kind of walking was new to my east coast visitor. Her specialty is hours on end of walking beaches.  There would be no sand between her toes today.  We reached the summit and this was our view.  That's Banff down below.  

Yes to thumbs up!

our group summit shot

We each had our own way of expressing our accomplishment.  

V for victory!

No check mark made here, X marks success!

I feel like I can fly!

We had snacks at the summit and then carried on with our morning.  We hiked back down the switchbacks then veered right and followed the road for a bit.  We took a trail that I did not know existed.  It wound through the forest and we ended up out in a meadow on the back side of Tunnel Mountain. That's where we were, up there!

in the middle of the meadow

We had a few ups & downs along the way.  This up gave us a perfect view of those canoeing down the Bow River.  What a great time they must be having.  The day was so delightful weather wise.

We completed a great big loop and then it was time to call it a day and head on home .

I was sorry I did not record a track for today.  I built one that roughly shows the route we took.  I know it is not smack on but it gives a close idea.  It was close to five hours later that we arrived back home and we still had a full day ahead of us.

After cleaning up and packing up, we headed to the Banff Springs Club House for lunch.  The day was gorgeous and we choose to sit outside.  This was our view from the table.

enjoying the view and being with each other

After a leisurely delicious lunch, we hopped in the vehicle and headed on further west!

I could not imagine our visit would get any better!

But.....