Camp and hike around Banff Town

It's also a birthday trip- a perfect way to celebrate my 35th birthday in Banff and Jasper National park with sister, Jim and Hao. Before we headed over to the national parks, we had a half-day excursion in Calgary, CA. Calgary is a typical Canadian city-pretty and amicable.
We hopped into our rental jeep and headed to Banff National Park around noon. Banff town is excessively tourist oriented. There are international cuisines, ice cream store, Louis Vuitton and of course a large mixed tourist crowd flowing around. Banff's weather is changeable every hour. We managed to set up our tent at the Tunnel Mountain Campgrounds in "cloudy, drizzling and sunny again" weather condition. After wards we went off for "Wild Billy" BBQ ribs and enjoyed some people watching from the balcony of the restaurant. The camp fire didn't go well that night due to the damp condition. It was chilly at night.

Hiking in Banff
We did a few hikes around Banff Town area on the second day. It was a day that went though " sunny, rainy, sunny again, pouring, thunderstorm and sunny again" weathers. It was a day mixed with gratifications and suffering and ended with some nice warm Chinese food, drenched shoes and socks and great camp fire.
We went off in the morning for the "Bow Falls" hike by the campsite. We got lost from time to time and eventually the trail we were on took us all the way to the magnificent Bow Falls. On the opposite side of the falls viewpoint, is standing a castle looking hotel " Hot Spring Hotel". It was a very pleasant hike and we indeed enjoyed every part of it including the part of "getting lost in the woods". From the trail we turned back to Banff town for "Sri Lanka" lunch combo. When we were out the food court and strolled though the town to get some self claimed " the best ice cream in the world" at Cow ice cream store, rain came down. We examined the ice cream and were convinced that the "best ice cream in the world" is completely a false statement. We turned back to the camp ground and took a nap in the tent in the rain. The sky cleared again and we were all in such a good spirit after the nap that we decided to check out the Banff Gondola. After voting for the hiking options, we got on the 5 miles Sulphur mountain trail. Half way on the trail, thunderstorm rolled in. Rest of the hike became very difficult. Food somehow became an essential fuel to jump start body and spirit along the way. For the last part of the hike, we stopped every 10 minutes on the trail to gorge chips in the lightening and thunder. It was a pretty funny scene. My role was a cheer leader and cheered everyone up when we were not eating. We made our way up to the peak only to find that there was absolutely nothing to see but fog and mist on the top. We were fortunate to take a free Gondola ride back down. To soothe our cold feet and empty stomach, we had Chinese dinner. Jim was able to manage to set up a decent camp fire that night which helps dry out our drenched shoes and socks etc.