The hotel is a little spooky, it being so old and empty. But the internet connection is good and the view of the mountains is truly unreal. I’m told some rooms are only $99 a night on occasion and even at high times just $300. That truly is well worth the lesser comforts (no TVs and the place has clearly been lived in since it first opened in the 1920s). At the Chateau Lake Louise, just two minutes walk away, I heard one man complaining of $600 price tag for even a simple room. “Not sure I’ve ever slept in a $600-bed,” he half-jokes.

The deck at Deer Lodge faces the mountains in parts, as do the balconies from many of the rooms and that is great during both sunrise and sunset. And even without the finer touches of the Fairmount, it is pretty much a priceless perch. Upstairs is a hot tub on the deck, itself with spectacular views and I could see how it could turn into a serious social experiment at the right time.

The grocery store where the owner used to give the vagabond hippie ski bums credit to get food between government cheques, now sells furniture marked up 600 percent (at least) and is destined for the patio of one of the Calgary politicos who now calls Canmore home. It’s just one of the massive changes that were always bound to come to this small mountain town, but were sped up after the opening of the Olympic Nordic Center for the 1988 Olympics. 

The place I stop to eat and oogle the mountains and reminisce is across from what was the new library 27 years ago when I lived here. Now it is such a rich place that the restaurant I write this from actually has two owners, who serve entirely different menus. The Mexican fellow I talk with (Aroma) takes breakfast and lunch, the other owner (Zona’s) takes dinner. “It is very expensive to rent this place,” he says. “But I think it works well sharing with the other people.” And he definitely seems happy, like perhaps the view of Chinaman’s Peak is more inspiring than the one he had in Mexico City or even Montreal after that.  And I have to agree; This is one of the best patios in Canmore, or just about anywhere else I’ve travelled.

For me it is very nostalgic getting back to this eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, almost like getting a hug from mom after a long absence. Memories flood back and somehow even the Lafarge plant on what I think is Gap Lake, looks beautiful. Heart Mountain, Mt. Baldy and Dead Man’s Flats roll past before winding into Canmore. And the changes, no matter how big, take nothing from the wonder of the Bow Valley. You’ll see.