When you share with people that you are planning a trip to
Alberta Canada, one of the first things they say is "you must go to
Banff and
Lake Louise!" So, as with our habit, we happily added them to our
"list" of places to see. Once the Stampede was over and we spent some
time with our friends, we learned that
Banff wasn't all that far from
Calgary and that it was actually more practical for us to leave our
rig at their place and just take our small truck and do a two-day/over-night trip there and back. So that's what we did.
We
decided to drive straight to Lake Louise first. The drive itself goes
through
Banff National Park with the
Canadian Rockies all around you.
They are breathtakingly beautiful. Not as much snow on them though as I
would have thought, so that was a bit of a surprise. It was also
interesting, I thought, how different their shapes were from each other
and as you traveled through the Park and saw them from different
angles. I never tired of looking at them. Another sight that I have
enjoyed my whole time in Canada is all the
Canola fields. Acres and
acres of sunshine yellow flowers! They are so very pretty to look at.
It seems that the farmers are not particularly keen on growing them, but
that they are a higher cash crop than the grain crops are, so that's
what they have to grow, and boy do they! Miles and miles all across the
country. Besides seeing the cultivated lands, all the wildflowers are
in full bloom too. So as we drove to our destination green and yellow
fields, dotted with open grazing land full of wildflowers, interspersed
with creeks trimmed with trees and all of this edged with those
beautiful mountains, filled our scenery. Jealous yet? (had to tease!)
You
would think all that would have prepared us for the lake we were about
to see (that and every one's insistence on us going there), but I don't
think anything could...it's that spectacular. I don't think I have ever
seen a turquoise colored lake before. Deep blue perhaps, even emerald
green, but the shade of that lake is almost surreal, so when you see my
pictures, don't think they were doctored up, it really
is that
color! Put that in front of those Rocky Mountains with the Victoria
Glacier and you have a perfect picture postcard! It was mesmerizing,
you just wanted to sit there and stare at it for a long long time. We
lucked out and the day was perfect as well, sun shining and just warm
enough. Only down side were the crowds, hunting for parking took almost
as long as you stayed looking at the lake! Oh well, guess one can't
always have everything (not sure why not, but that's what they keep
telling me anyway!).
After a bit of lunch, we headed
to another sweet lake that our friends recommended that they said wasn't
as "popular" as Louise, but that they really liked as well, Moraine
Lake. A little smaller, a little bluer, a little less crowded but very
nice. It had a large "rock pile" next to it that people were climbing
to a high plateau to see further. I walked around it and found some
stairs to it and climbed them (150!) and the view was worth the effort,
besides I figured it worked off my lunch! A nice gentleman took my
picture up there to prove I actually made it that high (Jack declined the
climb).
After the two lakes, we traveled into the
town of
Banff and to the
Banff Ave Bed & Breakfast spot we had made
reservations at. Connie was a wonderful hostess as well as the B&B
was the perfect place to stay.
The next day we took the
time to walk around
Banff then headed out to see a couple of lakes
& waterfalls nearby and to take a look at "the castle" as the The
Fairmont Banff Springs National Historic Hotel is called locally, and we
could see why. Phew, what a place! We even ran into some friendly
wildlife...a small heard of Big Horn Sheep (Ewes), that wandered over to
see who we were.
Time to head back to Calgary and
start to get ourselves ready to head back to the US and our next
adventure, Glacier National Park.
Canada, you've treated us well, and it's been a beautiful trip that we will long remember.
Canadian Rocky Mountains
Canola Fields
Wildflowers
Lake Louise & Victoria Glacier
Moraine Lake
 |
| City of Banff |
 |
| Johnson Lake |
 |
| The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel |
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| Ewes saying Goodbye as we left Banff |
...kicking back in Alberta Canada, Marie
If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my
Flickr account at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/
