Lake Louise and Banff

Canada

September 2006
4 days

9th to 13th September.

Jon Wrote:

Hello UK dwellers. We have now fallen so far behind with these updates!!! As you can see above we are now in mid October only just writing the blog for mid Septembers activities. Therefore I think we will try to keep the next few brief in order to at least get Canada complete as we are now in USA and our memories of Canada are fading fast.

So you can expect a few updates this week, Sorry! whilst we are relaxing in San Francisco and kindly, thanks to Sabrina and Martin, have a cosy apartment to stay at and access to a computer 24/7.

Some of you have problems with the netgallery site so if you want to view our photos you can now also get them on my own site at http://www.spicyapple.co.uk/worldtour2006/

OK back on the road and we have just left the very pricey lakeside lodge heading towards Lake Louise.

En route we passed through the town of Field with a tiny population of 200! Refuelling on gas and food here we were advised to visit Yoho Park which provided more magnificent views of waterfalls and then we were lucky enough to witness one of the many Canadian goods trains spiral its way up the mountain, weaving in and out of the long tunnels. The length of these locomotives is phenomenal, with some pulling up to 200 carriages/containers. Our photo doesn't really do it justice but at one point we could see the SAME train at three different points up the mountain, at the same time, chugging through the spiral tunnel which was designed to avoid having to travel up steep inclines.

Soon we arrived at Lake Louise and I can honestly say this was without doubt the most beautiful lake we'd seen so far. A clear calm water back dropped by snow capped mountains. At one end stands a majestic hotel. We popped in to use the amenities and watched people enjoy afternoon tea, looking out at the view whilst listening to a lady play the harp. I got talking to a very well to do elderly lady who's father had designed the good year blimp and brother was into racing cars... she was waiting for her lift to board the Rocky Mountaineer train, which isn't cheap so I guess she was truly minted!

We stopped loitering and left the luxurious environment to embark on a trek around the lake. After an hour of steep walking we arrived at a rather ugly lake but we did get to see lots of Jay Birds, chipmunks and then to one wildlife fanatics surprise we were honoured to see a Hoary Marmot! Google it and you will see its like a large guinea pig but about the size of a medium sized dog. Something new!

We carried on and followed the signs upwards and onwards hoping to make the tea house for some refreshments as we'd missed lunch. We foolishly missed the turn and plodded on for over an hour more up very steep woodland before some more experienced walkers passed us coming back. They almost left us to continue but they shouted back and asked if we were lost.... We said no confidently but when we mentioned the tea house they kindly put us right and probably saved us spending a night in the woods as we were going deeper in totally the wrong direction without a map, food or water. The walk back to the posh hotel was another hour or so, so we were on our last legs when we got there and fell in to the bar for dinner, relieved by our lucky escape. We did get a great photo though from the other end of the lake looking back towards the hotel. You can see how far and high we had climbed! Yikes!

The next day we hit Banff, another great ski resort and cool town. We spent a few days here relaxing reading in the flower gardens, went to the movies and drove up to the exquisite Banff Springs Hotel. This is truly an old classic hotel perched high up on the hills, cloaked in low cloud and intrigue. We missed afternoon tea here but spent an hour walking around its rooms reading about its history and how back in the 40's this had been a home from home for the rich with wives turning up with cheques for $30,000 to allow them to stay and be pampered for the summer. Nice!

The next day took us by surprise.... we woke up to a few inches of snow! The forecast showed no promise of anything but snow for a few days so we decided to take to the low ground and headed towards the large city of Calgary hoping for a dryer climate.