DAY-08 A Day of Hiking, Water Sports and The Spa

Day-08: Thursday, September 10, 2015

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

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

Breakfast was almost routine by now, nothing startling other than a near unanimous agreement that the Bison Sausage should never make it in the U.S.A.; it was dense, almost no fat and had minimal seasoning. Otherwise the breakfast buffets have provided a plentiful supply of options for food from fruits and omelets to smoked salmon, pancakes and BACON, yes mounds of BACON, that would be real pork BACON!

We had more or less made plans for the day last night but firmed them up while at breakfast. Around 10 AM we were all on the trails in and around the lake. Sheila, Pat & Jack took off for a circumnavigation of Lake Louise while Diane, Greg, Jan, Pete and I took off for the Tea House (and I don't even drink tea).

The lake trail as termed by Sheila was "a nice lake trail with gorgeous scenery all around". On the Tea House Trail we marched uphill for about 2.5 miles amongst the forested hillsides of the lake. The trail obviously passes many overlooks and vistas, each spectacular in its own right. After a couple of hours we arrived at the Tea House and took a break. That break did not include tea or anything from the Tea House as it was over-crowded with little likelihood of a table. Some of us continued to the Little Beehive Summit and other returned to the lodge for a planned canoeing experience. From Little Beehive we had a wrap-around view of the Lake Louise valley and of course views of the Fairmont Lake Louise Lodge that one might see in a travel guide.

 

By 2 PM everyone was off the mountain and trails and into other events. Pat and Jack opted for therapy, that would be massage therapy while the rest of us opted for canoe therapy. As you might guess, both the spa and canoe events are "hands on" exercises with the only difference being just whose hands were doing the work. As for the massage it's all about someone else's hands whereas for the canoeists, our own hands on the paddles. At dinner it was clear that the massages were successful as Pat and Jack were a very relaxed and chilled dudette and dude.

Following all of the day's events we met for dinner at the hotel's Fairway Restaurant. This is the fine dining restaurant of the Fairmont the one that was difficult to get into even as a hotel guest. Having been spoiled by the entire experience last night at The Post, the Fairway had a high bar to leap if we were to be impressed. Overall the food was good, steaks were as good or better than the Post but otherwise dinner was not a highlight of the trip as service left much to be desired. Should you see Greg and be curious about dinner at the Fairway, just ask "how were the beets", that would be both of them, each the size of a radish? In the end we were well fed, we had enjoyed our dinner and were ready to move on to the next venue, a bar with TV to watch the Steelers vs Patriots game.

We all made our way to the Saloon Bar where even as guests we could neither secure a table for eight nor eight seats at the bar. Apparently the hotel wasn't fully staffed so tables were sitting idle. That said the hostess with a "wink, wink" mentioned that the pool table was available and with little hesitation we were on it, not literally but at least all hanging out in the area. soon thereafter we had drinks in hand and the pool match-ups were made. Either Jack or Greg remembered pool competition at the Treetops Lodge in New Zealand where it was remembered at least by "Indiana Jack" that the dynamic Indiana duo of Denny & Jack had defeated the opposition provided by Greg and me.

Games played out over the next couple of hours with Pete and me, the O-6's in Six unable to defeat the Career O-6s. The real story of the night was the introduction of P3 (aka P-Cubed). The final match of the night was Team: Jan & Pete vs Team: Pat & Jack. Let me just say that Pat pocketed 7 of 8 balls including a 3-ball run in a winning effort. Of course during the victory interview comments Pat let us know that "she had never played pool"; sure you haven't. Bottom line, the evening was enjoyable to many, maybe even most. Greg and Jack were winners, Pat proved to be a ringer, Diane purchased a new sweater and Sheila's New England Patriots prevailed over our family favorite Steelers. That left Jan, Pete and me to enjoy our drinks and chat up the nearest Aussie.

With games over it was bedtime. The night was done and soon we were all back in our rooms.

Here are a few samples of the flora an fauna of Lake Louise.