Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers

Banff, Tunnel Mountain,
and Hoodoos
August 27, 2009

At 4,540 feet above sea level, Banff is "Canada's Highest Town". It is now a year- round attraction. Banff town and park is named for Banffshire, Scotland - birthplace of two of the original Canada Pacific Railway directors. Banff's 2000 population was 7726. There are more than 1,000 glaciers in Banff National Park.

Below - a beautiful mountain with very jagged edges


This is the first time that the two RV Gypsies ever had a campsite alongside the roadway. They still had to pay for the site. Here they had electric and water but no sewer. It was strange having cars drive on the road beside the RV.

Below is the view of the two RV Gypsies' RV, known as AWO, as seen from the road below them.

Below is the view looking out the window on the left side of the RV. Besides seeing another mountain, another road can be seen with a RV camped on one side of the road and a picnic table where another RV could camp. The traffic drove on the road between the two RV's. A first for the two RV Gypsies.

The bay windows on the right side of the two RV Gypsies' RV provided a wonderful view of Tunnel Mountain. The elevation of tunnel mountain is 5,551 feet.

Tunnel Mountain was originally surveyed as the site for a railway tunnel. Plans were abandoned for a more economical line, which is the current route of the TransCanada Highway.

Below: A sign in store while shopping in town - and Karen with a big stuffed moose.

The two RV Gypsies walked high up the hoodoo trail and looked down into the valley at spectacular views from the lookout point off Tunnel Mountain Road. Mt. Rundle is named for Robert Rundle, the missionary who passed through the region in the 1840s, and it rises 9,700 feet. It is one of Banff's signature sights and is often seen on postcards with the Banff townsite nestled just below it.





Hoodoos were nocturnal giants who awoke to pound the passerby with rocks hurled from the mountainside. Geologists believe the formations were cemented together with dissolving limestone over 20,000 years ago. Scientific analysis tells us the hoodoos were pillars of glacial till.



There are two trails down to the Hoodoos but they are extremely steep and the two RV Gypsies chose not to hike down these trails because then they'd have to hike the steep trail back up again.






The entryway to Banff Hot Springs where Karen went to relax in the hot springs which turned out to be nothing more than a heated pool outside, unlike the hot springs at Liard and Chena that Karen visited earlier - as they were in a natural setting, not a pool. However, the waters in the pool at Banff are from a natural hot spring bubbling from the base of Sulphur Mountain. This discovery led to the establishment of Canada's first National Park and the 3rd oldest in the world, established in 1885.

While at Banff Hot Springs, Karen signed up for a one-hour facial, a full-body massage, and a body wrap. She got the facial which was fine. The massage was inadequate - they didn't even do her feet. And Karen never got the body wrap as they said time was up. No, Karen does NOT recommend Banff Hot Springs to anyone. Karen was completely dissatisfied with the service.