Acrophobia

On our last day in the Rockies, we undertook our shortest day trip yet, to Banff. It is far and away the largest tourist-trap I've ever seen. And I've seen Niagara Falls. We took a wrong turn and wound up in a construction zone where a friendly flagger was kind enough to point us in the right direction and recommend a scenic drive. Although I didn't find anything in Banff that wasn't scenic.

Much to our surprise, the gondola at Sulpher Mountain was still operating (take that, shoulder season!) so Deborah and Neil grabbed a coffee...

and rode to the top while Veronica and I sat in the car and tried not to look as their cable car swayed in the breeze. 

It's a twenty-minute ride (round trip) and there's a scenic lookout at the top with a gift shop and a restaurant. There was also a wooden boardwalk that led to another peak but since it was snowing and windy, they opted not to attempt the hike. Also, Deborah is a doofus and wore her sandals. 

Outside the mountaintop gift shop there was a very lonely dog who looked eerily like Fera.

Next our excursion took us past a scenic waterfall, where we stopped to marvel at the breathtaking views and tourist stupidity. 

On our way out, Veronica spotted what we thought was a deer standing grazing right on the shoulder of the road. We stopped, rolled down the windows and took tons of pictures. It paid no attention to us whatsoever; just continued eating the grass. Later, Bryan informed us it was an elk. Although, when we got home there was much debate over whether it is an elk or caribou. Feel free to weigh in.

We, in fact, found a whole herd and took a million pictures. Smart tourists that we are.

After a quick stop for some Beaver Tails, we headed back to the condo for the night.