 Our
Banff Wildlife Safari begins in the middle of town - right outside the
Park Information Centre at 224 Banff Avenue. We head east on Wolf Street
and turn left onto Tunnel Mountain Road. Watch Wolf Street and Tunnel
Mountain Road for some of the town's resident wildlife - especially elk.
Before you know it, a huge
bull elk with enormous antlers lifts his head from someone's front yard. We slow down and
pull over to the side of the road so everyone can get a good look. No one is allowed out of the vehicle, mainly because these bull elk can be extremely
aggressive, particularly during the fall mating season or rut.
More than a few people have
been sent to the hospital in Banff after encounters with these giant animals.
I used to live a couple of blocks from here and would awaken some
mornings with the sound of these huge elk scratching their antlers up
against the side of the house outside my bedroom window. A herd of bachelors
would often loiter around the front and back of the house. We would
always have to be very careful not to run out of the house too fast
in the event we ran right into a big bull. 
We pull back on to the road and head up Tunnel Mountain. On our right watch for faint
traces of the spiral road that horse-drawn carriages used to take up the side of Tunnel
Mountain. At the top of the hill we pass a few resorts and glimpse more elk grazing on the
roadside grass at Tunnel Mountain Campground before we pull in at the Hoodoos' parking
lot.
The view of the Bow River and Mount Rundle on our right is superb. A couple of large
ravens are sitting on the fence as we begin our short walk along the path to the Hoodoos.
These interesting geological formations were considered guardian spirits by the Stoney or
Nakodah native peoples.
We hear the ravens squawking as they catch the breeze and lift up
overhead like spirits into the wind. Along these south facing open slopes we find the Rocky Mountain Juniper. This tree is
at its northern most range here in Banff. Of the three species of juniper in the park it
is the only one to grow tree-like (although not very tall). Most of the trees around us
are lodgepole pines, but I point out a few white-bark pine trees growing below us. After our brief jaunt out to the Hoodoos, we return to Tunnel Mountain Road and turn
right, winding our way back to Banff Avenue at the Rocky Mountain Resort.
Again, we turn
right and head north under the train tracks and the Trans Canada Highway, past the airport
and Cadet Camp, until we come to the junction to Two Jack and Johnson Lake. This junction
is the beginning and end of the Lake Minnewanka Loop. At the junction, we turn right, heading around the Loop counterclockwise.
After winding
up a big hill a kilometre past the junction, the road gradually meanders in a large open
meadow. This is the site of the old Banff dump, which was cleaned up in 1980 to eliminate
problems with garbage bears. The restored meadow is much more beautiful than the old dump, and provides impressive
views of the surrounding mountains. On our left is a small marsh that's frequented by
ducks and geese, as well as elk, deer and coyotes. Today, as luck would have it, we pull
out our spotting scopes and watch a few Canada Geese squawking on the far side of the
marsh.
When we have all had a good look, we are back on the road through the pine forest past
the turn-off to Johnson Lake and then past Two Jack Lake Campground and Two Jack Lake.
This is a favorite spot for wind surfing, fishing, ice skating and cross-country skiing.  Just up the hill from the lake we are stopped by a herd of bighorn sheep
walking along in the middle of the road. There's a big ram with a tremendous
curl, a couple of ewes, and four or five lambs.
We pull over to the
side of the road and watch the sheep licking salt from the road and
looking for handouts from passersby. The sheep don't find us offering any snacks, because we know that feeding them is more
harmful to their health than it is good, providing them with an unnatural diet.
From Two Jack Lake to the Lake Minnewanka Picnic Area is one of the most reliable
places to find sheep in the park. We spend a few minutes here and at the Palliser
Viewpoint where we find more sheep, including a big ram resting quietly beneath the trees. The Palliser Viewpoint offers a spectacular view of Lake Minnewanka and the Palliser
Range.
My wife has observed wolves crossing the ice on Minnewanka from here in the depths
of winter. We don't see any on this trip, but if you're lucky enough you can often hear
them howling or even catch a glimpse of the Cascade River pack racing across the road. We're soon driving across the dam on Lake Minnewanka where a few more sheep have
congregated.
The Cascade River outflow from Lake Minnewanka was first dammed in the early
1900's to provide power to the Town of Banff and the mine at Bankhead. During World War II
a larger dam was constructed in order to provide more electricity to Calgary and its
factories.  After crossing the dam we turn south to face the impressive cliffs and
summit of Cascade Mountain.
The road carries on through the forest on
the top of a glacial esker. At the end of the esker we turn right into
the Upper Bankhead parking lot, and just as we turn in we spot a coyote
chasing a ground squirrel in the grass. He pounces once, twice and grabs
the squirrel by the neck and starts shaking it like a dog with a bone.
Looks like lunch.... Once the coyote moves on, we set up the spotting scope and take a good
look along the cliffs of Cascade above C-Level Cirque.
Aha!
Just where I saw them hanging around last weekend when I hiked the trail
into the cirque -- two goats, just a white speck on the cliff to the
naked eye, appear rather large and magnificent through the scope. This
is a fairly reliable spot to find goats, and one of the best in the
vicinity of Banff. 
From here we pile back into the vehicle and make a short hop over to the Lower Bankhead
parking lot. Along the way we catch a glimpse of the old St. Mary's Church which once
proudly stood on the hill overlooking the coal mining town of Bankhead.
Out of the vehicle, we stretch our legs on the self-guiding trail that leads down into
Bankhead. It's an interesting and historical area to explore and a good place to see elk
and coyotes.
After Bankhead, we head back towards the hustle and bustle of Banff...it's been a great
day and we've been lucky with all the wildlife we've seen. Some days I come out here and
don't see anything, and other days I have piles of luck.
Then again, it doesn't really
matter to me - I just enjoy being out and looking around, hoping to spot a wolf or a bear.
Where else in the world could you hope to see all this in your own backyard?
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