Lessons from the Eagle Eyre–and a Canadian Pub
Sulphur Mountain Gondola
©Bert Gildart: Other than drinking a glass or two of that delicious dark Canadian beer, the other must-do thing for us was to take the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain for a panoramic view of Banff National Park. The other alternative was to hike the three mile trail to the top of the mountain, but we wanted to get started learning about this first of Canada’s many wonderful national parks–so we rode.
The ride was brief, probably no more than ten minutes but when we stepped foot on the mountain’s pinnacle, the view was spectacular. Features we could not see below now unfolded. Hundreds of mountains engulfed us and included names such as Mt Rundle, Mt Norquay, Mt Edith, Mt Cory, Mt Lewis. Our view included Tunnel Mountain, the name of the mountain where our Airstream was parked, but on the back side.
As well, we could see the Bow Valley, which provided the first route to Lake Louis; we could see the Banff Springs Hotel and we could see the townsite of Banff.
INSTANT GRATIFICATION
Indeed, because of the instant gratification it provided, the gondola has become exceedingly popular and since its opening in 1959 can boast the following statistics. By the end of its fourth season, over 500,000 people had ridden it to the top. By 1994 over 10M had made it to the top.
Other than the panorama provided from the building that anchors the end of the gondola and that offers food and a shop with a few curios, what we found most interesting was the short boardwalk that takes you to several towers once used for scientific investigation-and the trail to another pinnacle also part of Sulphur Mountain.
The boardwalk was constructed in 1994 to give native vegetation a chance to rehabilitate, which it is now doing. The plants are a hearty bunch as typified by mountain avens, which grows low to the ground in self-protecting mats. Other plants collect solar energy in their upturned cuplike flowers. The warmth attracts insects which ad in pollination. I was familiar with these adaptations because of graduate school work in botany.
Banff townsite
As we walked the several hundred yard long boardwalk we could also see stretching out below the Bow River and the Bow Valley Parkway which was constructed by WWI prisoners. We were told that the remnants of old interment camps still remain and that if we poked around a bit, we might find them.
EAGLE EYRE
Sulphur Mountain tops out at 7,500 feet and we found it strange that with all the other signs that this statistic was not posted, rather we had to ask. What was called to attention, is that fact that in the spring and fall at least 6,000 golden eagles travel through this area migrating north and south. They ride thermals and updrafts at heights of over 10,000 feet, traveling between Alaska and the Yukon and northern Mexico.
Because of the elevation, a tower was erected back in 1902. Called the Eagle Eyre, it once provided a post where Norman Sanson worked for 10 years gathering weather observations.
More recently scientists constructed a Cosmic Ray Station on Sulphur Mountain for the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). Cosmic rays are still studied because their presence can alter cell growth, as interpretive signs inform.
“Although life has evolved in the presence of cosmic rays and presumably acquired a tolerance for their effect, it may be they are responsible for mutations of organisms in the evolutionary process.”
LESSONS FROM “WILD BILLS”
Signs atop Sulphur Mountain go on to say that “…the atmosphere continues to evolve but human activity and the effects of pollution are overtaking nature in determining the changes.” Since this station is part of Banff National Park, it’s apparently a lesson endorsed by the Canadian government.
View from the Eagle Eyre
And so we returned at the end of a long day to relax at a pub in Banff known as “Wild Bills.” Here, I ordered a dark Canadian beer and listed attentively as our server informed us that the huge buses providing public transportation in the townsite were all powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
If that’s true, then it would appear that Canadians have benefited from the lessons that science provide, something from which we, too, might be benefiting, if only one of our very top muckety mucks had started pushing alternative energy eight years ago.
TWO YEARS AGO AT THIS TIME: *The Cabot Drive (Nova Scotia)
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