Elk, Elk and more Elk

Jamie and I drove up to Banff yesterday to spend a few days exploring the mountains and trying to find as many animals as we could.  I would consider yesterday a success since we saw 27 Elk, 17 Bighorn Sheep and a coyote (although we didn't get a picture of him)!  

We drove up to the city of Banff, which is in Banff National Park, got a room at the Caribou Lodge and then walked around town.  Jamie had a prime rib for dinner, you should have Alberta Beef when you can, the cows are huge here.  After dinner and our downtown walk we piled into the car with our coats, it was getting chilly, and drove up to Lake Minnewanka.  The lake is a beautiful blue/green color and they have not yet been able to determine the depth of the lake.  When we were at the lake we built an Inukshuk, which looks like a rock-man and is used in the mountains to mark trails while you are hiking.  We left "Rockman" at the lake and drove back to Banff which is where we saw all of the Sheep and Elk.  The Sheep were in about three groups along the road and we saw one group of 5 Elk on the side of the road; the other Elk were in a big group at the bottom of a valley.

Well, we need to check out of the hotel so I am going to go.  We are on our way to Jasper, which is North of here, who knows what we will see today!