We collectively decided at work that we should require each pathologist to attend one pathology conference every year so we stay up to date in our profession. I originally thought of going to one in Hawaii but when LuDene was still in rehab that week I looked for something else. I have wanted to go to Banff, a national park in the Canadian Rockies ever since I saw pictures of it, so it was nice that there was a GI pathology conference there on a week that I happened have off. It was also nice that BYU played Texas in Austin that weekend, so we took the long way home and visited Texas.
We flew to Alberta on Labor day in the evening and stayed in the hotel there. I packed my stuff in a bag that Doug gave us years ago for Christmas. I forgot to zip it until I was checking it, and then the zipper broke. Not to worry: they had duct tape.
Alberta is a nice little city. It reminds me of Denver; flat plains with high peaks off in the distance. We felt like we were in another country mostly because of the cell phone situation. Calls cost us a lot of money, and data was out of the question. With the transaction costs, everything cost about the same as US dollars but the cash was all colorful and pretty. Watching Sportscenter gave me another reminder that Alberta is NOT just another state. Hockey news dominated, then there was some stuff about Canadian football since they started their season already. At least they seemed to care about NBA basketball since LeBron James signing with Cleveland was a big story.
We took the scenic route to Banff.
I was surprised by how big the rivers were. There seemed to be water everywhere.
Tuesday was a rainy, misty day but we had some time in the afternoon so we walked around town. It reminds me of Jackson Hole with not quite as much old west feel. It feels like it's trying to be more of a European mountaineer base, which it was in the 1800s after mining didn't work out.
We had no idea how spectacular the scenery was because of all the rain. After trying the local Indian food restaurant for lunch we headed for Lake Louise via the Bow Valley Parkway. There were signs every couple of miles explaining geology, wildlife and history of the Bow Valley. I had to stop and read all of these.
At one of our stops we saw an elk off the side of the road and we stopped a couple times when the scenery was pretty.
We went on a long hike up Johnston Canyon to see a series of waterfalls.
There was a paved trail with catwalks over the narrower areas. It reminded me a little of Bright Angel creek in the Grand Canyon except with lush vegetation everywhere.
I was fascinated with the moss and lichens growing on the spruces.
I have seen lots of alpine forests in Utah, California, and Mexico but this was different enough to excite me. At higher altitudes there were these strange larch trees that are supposed to turn yellow in the fall but they were just starting to do that. There were lots of slimy mushrooms too.
We tried another little hike to another waterfall, Silverton Falls. It was a short hike with a view of a mountain that liked like a castle on a cloud.
Then we hit Lake Louise just before dusk. It has water that is an almost fluorescent turquoise blue. It's from all the "rock flour" washing down from the glaciers above.
It was damp and chilly but four people were standing by the lake in swim suits. They then dumped buckets of lake water on their heads. The ALS ice bucket challenge was still popular.
For dinner we celebrated our 15th anniversary belatedly at the Grizzly House. It's an old A-frame cabin with greasy smoke inside and the mouth watering smell of cooking meat. We had fondue. It wasn't really fondue, but they brought us meat with our own little grill on the table. The venison was surprisingly good, tender with a mild flavor. It was a splurge but worth it.
More to come in part 2.
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