DAY-07 Banff to Lake Louise

Day-07: Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Starting Location: Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, AB
Interim Location: Drive from Banff, AB to Lake Louise, AB via Field, BC

Ending Location: Fairmont Lake Louise Hotel, Lake Louise, AB

We were up and having breakfast by 8 AM this morning. As with yesterday we were well fed but "Yes! We have no bananas!" (old time song; for those who might not know, check out this link: No Bananas) was the crisis of the morning. Seems that in the past a notorious travel guide would enter the Fairmont dining room and abscond with a back pack full of fruits including bananas. The management has since limited the number of bananas out on the buffet but with a simple request to the wait staff we all had our bananas.

After breakfast we checked out and bags were delivered to Ronni and the van. Once loaded we were underway for a sightseeing tour en-route to our destination at Lake Louise. We didn't go three miles before stopping for coffee and hot chocolate at the White Bark Cafe.

In a previous night's tour, Ronni had seen a herd of elk in the Banff area, not far from the city center. We drove into the park and soon came upon an animal spotting clue, a series of cars pulled off the road. We slowed and finally stopped and in a moment or two, eagle eye (or in this case "elk eye") Jan spotted an elk reposed in the woods about 30 yards away. We hung around for 20 minutes or so, enough time to have seen a large number of elk including several males amongst twenty or more females.

We resumed our trip north through the river valley surrounded by high snow-capped peaks. Along the way Ronni stopped at scenic overlooks and other places of interest including a bridge bedecked with a large Osprey nest. The bird itself was down river about a hundred yards high in a tree looking down for lunch. After pictures we moved on and soon came to a camp ground and general store. The location had a neat mountain view with the rock face capped by a line of low hanging clouds. Actually for many this stop was really for relief if you get my drift.

One other comment about the camp ground related to food. While in the general store the thoughtful lady folks bought snacks for the trip, snacks comprised of various concoctions of Lays chips. Seems that in Canada there are annual potato chip competitions wherein strange but true flavors are prepared and sold in limited amounts during the year.

In addition to the Osprey sighting there was a barn owl sighting though we'd passed it before I could even look to the right. A bear sighting turned out to actually be a stump sighting but heh, it was worth backing up a few yards, one never knows and we were in bear country.

Somewhere during the ride we crossed the continental divide and into British Columbia. Sure enough the water flow changed direction at the divide; instead of flowing to the Hudson Bay and Atlantic on the eastern side of the divide, the water flow on the western slope was destined for the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. We visited Takakkaw Falls, water careening from a high glacier in a 700 foot drop into the valley below.

Plenty of water for the "Thirsty Almond"!

An interesting manmade feature was the complex of spiral railroad tunnels; a series of circular tunnels bored into the rocky hillsides that reduced the railroad grade from about 4.5% to about 2.5%, a longer but much safer and more manageable grade for traversing the mountain pass.








At Field, BC we made a brief stop to check out some 505,000,000 year old fossils; finally something older than ourselves. Seems the fossils of the Burgess Shale Field were found almost 150 years ago years ago but serious work to interpret them didn't happen until the mid-20th century. (If interested here is a Wiki Link: Burgess Shale Fossils).


While in British Columbia we visited the Yoho National Park. Here Ronni demonstrated her van driving skills as a steep ascent road actually required backing the van up to navigate the 180 degree turns. Also in the area we visited a natural bridge area that crosses the Kicking Horse River where a high volume of water continually carves a path through the stone.

Mt. Dennis

 

After one more stop at Emerald Lake, we pressed on to our destination of Lake Louise. At Emerald Lake the water was as one would guess emerald green in color. There is small lodge and restaurant there and kayakers and canoeists can be seen gliding across the lake.

Thought this was interesting; it appears that Mom (with selfie stick) and Dad were busy taking photos while the child in the center of the canoe had to paddle.

At Lake Louise we pulled into the Fairmont parking area where our bags were unloaded and we were welcomed to the hotel. Our rooms were ready and by 3 PM we were all in our 2nd floor homes for the next two nights.

As we had not eaten lunch and were only three hours from dinner, our post check-in bar visit was limited to drinks and two flatbread pizzas, one a Tomato Pizza and the other a Tomato & Venison Salami Pizza.  We finished them off and returned to our rooms to prep for dinner.

The Fairmont provided transportation to a nearby restaurant, The Post, a smaller lodge with what was reported to be a great restaurant (by Ronni our driver and Trip Advisor as well); it was just that. We had a variety of drinks and starters with main course comprised of steaks, veal, halibut and for me Caribou. Everything was great, the service was excellent and the atmosphere perfect for a mountain retreat. After dinner while waiting for a ride back to the Fairmont we sat in the lounge by a real wood fire and had a nightcap. Around 9:30 the hotel driver returned us to the Fairmont and without further ado most of us proceeded to our rooms and the day was over.