Day 8: Lake Louise

Lake Louise From All Angles

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise-- as viewed from the top of the Lake Louise Gondola

After a somewhat smoky night, we were very pleased to awake to a lovely day and great views of the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park.

 After a late start (remember this was our first night's sleep sans trains for 3 days) we decided to head over to Lake Louise-- the likelihood of traffic snarls and full parking lots not able to keep us away.

 However, we made a detour on the way to scout out where we'll be taking off on our mountain climbing for city-folk tour bright and early tomorrow. (You'll definitely want to tune in for that one.)

Views from the Overlook in Banff

We found a scenic overlook on the way, which gave us views of the entire town of Banff.  The following are views from the hill:

Looking Down on the Town of Banff
Selfie Over Banff

Drive from Banff to Lake Louise

As you can see from this video, we had a lovely day for a drive over to Lake Lousie.


Lake Louise Gondola

As we suspected, Lake Louise was packed and all of the parking near the Lake itself was full. So, we headed over to the Gondola for a ride and to view the lake from a distance.

 We rode up in the enclosed Gondola car, which didn't really make for any good photo or video opportunities.  But Bob shot some great pictures from the top, here is one:
Lake Louise from the Gondola

 This short video provides a feel for the view from the top:

For the ride down the mountain, we opted for the open ski lift, which made for much better video. Here are some highlights from that 14 minute trip-- including a sleeping bear at the end:

Lake Louise & The Fairmont Chateau


 The draw for the Gondola was plenty of free parking and a free shuttle over to Lake Louise itself.  So, we grabbed that shuttle-- even though the wind was picking up a bit and it looked like rain.

The thinking was that we would take the path around the lake and then grab a shuttle back in a couple of hours.  However, once we got to the lake, we found that the "path" was actually a four lane highway packed with slow-paced tourists from around the world.  So, we satisfied ourselves with a few pictures and a quick walk around the historic hotel-- which was nice, but we certainly didn't think it was worth the price they were asking for a room.

 Here are some pictures from the lake:
Lake Louise
Bob at Lake Louise
Retired Construction Manage Walks on Water


Bob Touches Lake Louise
Lake Louise (with Lisa in the corner)

Animals-- of the Large, Small, and Stuffed Variety

This trip was a big one for animals.  We've been seeing prairie dogs everywhere, and these were on the Banff Overlook.
Lisa goes for Prairie Dog while Bob takes pics of the scenery
Prairie Dog Up Close (They aren't just in Boulder)
This Grizzly Bear and her cubs were sleeping as our chairlift glided overhead.
Sleeping Bear!
And this bear caught Lisa's attention in the Fairmont Chateau:
Lisa & Canada Bear

The Road Back to Banff

After a full day in Lake Louise we headed back down the road to Banff.  This was the same stretch of road we traveled yesterday.  Yesterday the mountains were covered in smoky haze, today as you can see below they are just lovely.



We did find out today that we got incredibly lucky yesterday on our drive from MT to Banff.  The road we took was closed again today due to the forest fire, and there is not yet an ETA for opening it, but guesses are not for 3 or 4 days. 

 We had been bemoaning our luck with the trains and hitting Banff while it was smoke covered-- but it appears we did catch a giant stroke of luck with the road.

 Hopefully fate will continue to smile down on us for the rest of the Great Alaska Adventure, and for our Via Ferrata "mountain climb" tomorrow.

 Stay Tuned...

 --Lisa

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