Can't Figure Tourists

Wendy and I are somewhere in the middle of British Columbia tonight. Earlier I witnessed some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my life. So then, what's wrong with the above picture.

I took this photo along a particular scenic stretch of Banff National Park. The snow-capped mountains overlooking a particularly vivid blue river really attracted the shutterbugs. So why were so many people in the above picture interested in the motorcycle instead?

Short answer: I don't know. They all got off the same tour bus and spoke a foreign language that I gathered to be Russian. Maybe they don't have motorcycles in Russia, but jaw-dropping scenery they do. I'm thinking of Dr. Zhivago.

Here's another interesting anecdote. We were following a couple other cars on a winding mountain road leading to Lake Moraine, also in Banff NP. As we neared the lake, there were a line of cars parked on the right side of the road. I couldn't even see the lake, nor the parking lot, but it seemed obvious that the lot was full so people were parking up the road.




The two cars ahead of me spotted a couple empty spots on the road shoulder and quickly maneuvered to take them. Wendy and I drove on, and on, and on. I didn't see any open spaces that a poor parallel parker like myself could squeeze my Grand Caravan into.

We ended up down at the official lakeside parking lot. And there was a vacant spot for my van there. Actually there were a few empty parking spaces. Wonder what those people who were following us thought after they walked a half mile down the road to find they could have parked in the designated parking lot and saved themselves some effort.

Speaking of effort, many tourists were intrigued by a pile of logs lying next to a large rocky hill at this same lake. OK, including myself. Many decided to hop the big deadfall of logs and climb over the rocks to get a better view. Me too, though I didn't ascend too far.

Like the tourists who hopped a canoe on the lake, their first time, and ended up facing eachother so when they paddled they worked against eachother, I had the feeling that many of the brave souls tackling the log and rock pile had never done anything similar.




One young lady slipped, her shin striking hard on a dead log. She winced, then sat down for a long time right there. Eventually, when she felt comfortable enough to walk again, she turned around and went back rather than continue onto the rock pile. Another young lady stepped on a log and found out it was floating on water. She just suffered a wet shoe, sock and foot. She continued on to the rock pile.

Moral of the story: just because somebody is doing it doesn't mean that you should too. Sometimes though, you just want to take that picture that you think is going to be a little bit better. My effort is below.