Sulphur Mountain – Canada

Banff, being a national park, has so many opportunities for hiking. It seemed like everywhere we turned there were people in hiking gear headed out on a trail. The scenery is amazing and can change drastically on a single hike. We chose to hike Sulphur Mountain and the tea houses at Lake Louise, both are pretty intense hikes, especially for someone who prefers relaxing on a beach somewhere.

Sulphur Mountain, is a mountain close to the town of Banff, and it is also where you can find the Banff Gondola and the Canadian Starbucks at the highest elevation. The walking trail is 5.5km with a 655m elevation, and it took us a good 3 hours to get to the top. The hike itself was a pretty steep winding trail through the forest, with some awesome viewpoints along the way, and the gondola just above.

 

 

While the trail itself was quite busy, it was nothing compared to the masses of people on the top. At the top where the Gondola stops, there is a big visitor centre with a coffee shop, restaurants and an awesome exhibition explaining the nature and wildlife in the area. There are also tons of viewpoints with the most spectacular views of the Bow River Valley and Banff on one side, and a valley with more mountains on the other side.

 

 

Continuing on there is a walkway to a small hut that used to be a meteorological observatory building. Built in 1903, it is no longer in use today, however it is kept as a monument. The door has been replaced by a glass window, and inside everything is still kept as it was when the observatory was in operation. There are lots of chipmunks by the observatory, being fed by the tourists even if there are signs telling them not to.

 

 

The hike back down was obviously way easier, and I must admit I was pretty happy once we got back down and I could sit down in the car.