Overnight, the rain hadn’t let up and it continued until early afternoon. We were glad we had altered our plans earlier in the vacation and had moved the Banff Gondola ride up by a few days, as today would’ve been a total washout. By 2:00 p.m. the downpour had stopped and we drove to Lake Minnewanka, where we came upon five bighorn sheep—two rams and three ewes. They appeared oblivious to our presence, but grew weary, it seemed, when more people arrived and the picture taking turned into a full-blown photo op. That’s when they decided to head back up the mountain. A local, working near the lake, said the sheep make an appearance almost daily, and then return to their grazing range in the high mountains.

The rain returned, and we drove back to the Fairmont Banff Springs. To entertain ourselves, we took a self-guided tour of our own hotel and the shops, and then changed for dinner. We ate at 1888 Chop House in our hotel. We shared an order of the crab cakes for starters, and for mains, the Canadian Rangeland: bison tenderloin with roasted sweet potatoes, thyme butter, and maple; and an order of Seared Black Cod with butternut squash, winter vegetables, and citrus soy beurre blanc.

Our self-guided tour of the Fairmont Banff Springs is dedicated to my Canadian editor Caroline Kaiser who has a passion for the 1920s. http://www.carolinekaisereditor.com/

June 21, 2018—Canada 2015: Banff to Kamloops, BC.