Canadian Rockies: Sheep, Bears, Gondola

Our next major animal sightings were a herd of bighorn sheep, and two baby bears:  Sheep, Bears, and Banff

I thought we might see the mama bear, too, but we didn't...  From what I've heard, they can be pretty scary, so probably it was a good thing.  :)  As for the bighorn sheep, that was super exciting because we'd never seen them before, and there were so many (more than in the pictures)!

There's also a picture I took in Banff...nice town with lovely mountain views, though very touristy.

We took the nearby gondola ride, which was amazing:  Gondola Ride

The views were well worth it--360 degrees of epic mountains, valleys, and lakes; and on several levels, because once you get to the top, there's a boardwalk you can take up to a "cosmic ray" tower (looks like a Gondorian beacon to me).  The large, castle-like building in the valley is the Banff Springs Hotel.

Next installment: glacier rides, elk, and creepy canyons...