Today, we visited Lake Louise. We intended to get up somewhat early and go since we knew the parking lot would be filled by 9 and it's about a 40 minute drive up the Trans-Canada Hwy. I remember looking at the clock at 6 and thinking I should think about getting up. But after a night of being ninja kicked and punched by Eleanor, I went back to sleep. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 8. Oops. We had a breakfast of muffins and yogurt in our room, got dressed, and hit the road. Our first attempt at parking at Lake Louise failed, so we were going to go back to an area to take a shuttle, but then we noticed signs for the gondola, which Will (yes, Will) wanted to do. It is on a ski mountain behind Lake Louise. Will bought tickets for us as well as a guided Bear hike at the top. Will, of course, took the closed gondola (and Eleanor joined him), while Ethan and I opted for the open ski lift. This lift went even higher than the one at Whitefish Mountain, but I think I'm getting used to them because I didn't have anxiety. We looked for bears the whole time because there were a lot of signs about this being the best place to spot them. No luck!
At the top, we took in some views of Lake Louise from up high, as well as the Canadian Rockies in general. The tops of the mountains are all so different, some tree lined, others rocky, some pointed, some flat, some with snow/glaciers, some bare. It was a fairly cloudy day, so the tops of some mountains were in the clouds, but it was still amazing. Our bear hike, which I thought was some kind of guarantee to see a bear, ended up simply being a short hike with some stops along the way to talk about bears. We did get to see freshly planted bear scat (our guide has to go out scouting to collect it to show) and some other neat things. And, we learned some interesting tidbits. For one, did you know that mama bears give birth during their hibernation period, around New Years? And guess how big the babies are? About a pound! That's it! Anthony the guide showed us pictures. Baby bears come out looking like hairless moles. Then the baby feeds on mom while she is in and out of consciousness during hibernation and is about 3 or 4 months old come spring. Then they can fend for themselves a bit more, though still rely on mom. Kinda neat. So mama bear kinda gets to sleep through the hardest part!
Interestingly, the whole area of the ski lift and up at the top is surrounded by an electric fence to keep bears away. We had to go out of the area for our hike and also for a hike we did after our bear walk. There is a restaurant up there and they have a ton of tourists around, so I guess it's a precaution they take. Our guide said that in the spring, he was giving a talk inside the gates but, because there was still snow on the ground, the gates couldn't be turned on. He all of a sudden got a call on the radio that a big grizzly was coming his way. He said he wasn't nervous because he had a group of 20 people with him. So when the bear came up, Anthony started making noise but everyone else just took out their cameras. Luckily, even though he was the only one acting "big" and being loud, the bear ran back the other way. He pretty much told us to handle a bear encounter the same way the ranger in Glacier did. Make noise, try to look big, don't run, use bear spray as last resort, and if he charges lay on your belly with your hands on your head. He said in extremely rare cases, the bear will fake charge at you but mostly won't want to expend the calories it would take to fight you. They are lazy about their eating and just want to get berries they can just walk right up to and eat. They are one of few species that can smell frozen meat and will sometimes eat an animal that has died and been refrigerated under the snow. But they are not big hunters, it seems.
Anyway, after our guided hike, we left the protected area to go further up the mountain. Holy moly was that hike steep. We were on a road for most of it, so not narrow, but we were at a pretty decent incline. We got up pretty dang far, but as it started to drizzle, we decided we better go down so as not to get caught in a storm on the mountain. We did use an obliging rock and the timer on my camera to get a family pic from so high up. Lake Louise is a tiny green blob on the background. From there, we went back down in the gondola. This time, poor Will rode alone, since both kids wanted to be in the open chair. This time, we were facing Lake Louise way below, so it was just an amazingly beautiful ride. But, again, no bear sightings. Oh well.
Back on the ground, we drove back to Lake Louise, but this time stopped off in the Lake Louise Village, a short drive down the road. We got lucky with a parking spot and planned to take the free shuttle from there since we knew the parking lot at the lake would likely be filled. We stopped for a snack at a deli, (pbj sandwiches only carry so long), where Ethan got a pineapple and Canadian bacon slice of pizza, and Eleanor and I shared a chicken mulagatawni soup. Honestly, I had no idea what that was and have only heard of it on Seinfeld. I didn't know that it had Indian curry flavors. It was delicious! And luckily Eleanor thought so too. I'm glad to know she liked it because I've got a butter chicken and chicken tikka masala recipe I'd love to use. Will's snack was a big peanut butter cookie.
The shuttle dropped us off at Lake Louise. The Chateau Lake Louise (owned by fairmount hotels I think) is right there and a beautiful building. The lake itself looks just like the pictures I've seen, milky emerald. It was so pretty but also crowded with a billion tourists taking selfies. It was hard to get a picture without people in it. You can rent these red canoes, so there were a ton of those floating around, and the color contrast is neat. After enjoying the view for a bit, we started up on one of the two tea house trails. We had been told by a guy in Glacier not to miss it. Basically, these Swiss guys opened the tea houses for hikers back in the 20s, I think, and they are still operational. This was another steep hike, and went pretty far up the mountain. There was one place where you got a pretty good view of part of Lake Louise, but for the most part you were surrounded by trees. Toward the top, we got a look at Mirror Lake, a small but very pretty, glass-like lake, and then some falls. Then, at the base of the tea house was another lake, larger and with glacier filled mountains flanking it: Lake Agnes. The tea house itself was a log cabin. We went up to it, but the signs said they closed at 5. It was almost 5:30. People were still crowded inside, but I didn't want to be responsible for keeping the poor workers, who have to hike down, from closing up shop. Will left at this point because the last shuttle back to our car left at 6pm. If we missed the shuttle, he was going to have a pretty long walk to our car. I stayed behind with the kids, but we left shortly after. The way up had taken over an hour. Will said he was down in 22 minutes. That's how uphill it was. When we looked down at the Chateau from the top, it was crazy to think we had hiked so far up. Going down was hard on the legs, though, that's for sure. By the time we got down, we all had sore feet. Will had made it on to the shuttle, thankfully, and was able to pick us up. We had failed to get a family picture in front of the lake, but we were all too tired to walk back to the lake to get someone to do it. So we drove out of there.
I could do this drive all day. It's not typical national park driving with winding roads. The main highway is 4 lanes with a large bank in the middle. You are just surrounded on all sides by mountains. I love it! Will and I were saying that this was definitely not what we saw last Tuesday driving through. So happy the smoke has cleared and we can take it all in. One neat thing is that they have fences all along the highway to protect wildlife. But there are, I think, 6 bridges for the animals built along the highway. So the cars go under a tunnel and then the top is a tree and grass lined "road" for animals to cross. They also have something like 15 underpasses for animals, too, so they can get from one side to the other safely. I took a picture of the animal highways.
Back in Banff, we parked and then went to find dinner. Tonight, we chose a place we've walked past several times that was very intriguing. It is a crepe and waffle place. They have sweet and savory options. Will got the vegetarian (with chicken, so not so vegetarian), I got bacon and maple, Ethan got Nutella, strawberry, and banana, and Eleanor got pancakes with strawberries and bananas. Success!
Back in our tiny room, it was shower night for the kids, who are filthy, and us parents. Now, they are passed out. We broke out the camp pad for Eleanor tonight, as Will and I both wanted our bruises to heal from last night. Eleanor can be a very violent sleeper! We will, no doubt, make the most of our last day here. I will not want to leave here, of course, especially with so much left unseen, but I think we will all be happy to get back home. It's always good to get home after a long trip.
1 comment:
Thanks, again, Michelle, for taking the time to write such a complete report of your day's activities. Banff and Lake Louise are on our "bucket list", especially after reading your blog. Stay safe and we'll welcome you home soon!
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