Lake Louise, AB (Canada) 1

The spectacular Canadian Rockies …

If you have researched “places to visit” in Canada then this is probably high on most lists you find – Lake Louise. Not a long drive today but we detoured to some spectacular sights !

Day 1 – Banff to Lake Louise

Due to our car issues we had to adjust our plans a bit so after another tasty Mixed Grill for breakfast we drove to Johnson Canyon to do a walk to the waterfall in the canyon. We got off reasonably early however it is a very popular area and there were already plenty of people on the trail when we arrived. It was a drive of about half an hour out of Banff..

The trail itself is nice with boardwalks built off the canyon walls in parts. The falls themselves are a bit underwhelming and the little cave which actually almost gets you “in the face” with the waterfall is quite a traffic jam and I don’t think really adds much to the experience.

Driving back to Banff after our walk to sort out the car, my skepticism after our visit yesterday was 100% correct. Our friend from yesterday was not on duty and the new guy knew nothing about having a car ready for us at noon. In fact he said we would need to have a USA plated vehicle to get back to Seattle as there was no arrangement between the USA & Canada without a $4,000 fee – and he didn’t have one and didn’t know when or where he might get one.

He said we might be able to try in Jasper or Kamloops or just see how the oil goes – “should be okay for a few thousand miles”. So let’s see what happens!

So, off we headed to Lake Louise. We detoured along the way to a place called Emerald Lake. The weather was starting to deteriorate at this stage – much in line with the forecast – however the colour of these glacier fed lakes are just beautiful preety much in any weather ! The area was busy again but we managed parking without too much difficulty.

We had driven along the Trans Canada Highway to get out to Emerald Lake however as it was actually closed out that direction for roadworks the majority of the drive was very quiet as all through traffic was diverted much closer to Banff.

The train lines seem to loom large – at least around this section of Canada – and at one point along the way back toward Lake Louise we came to a section of the train line called the Spiral Tunnels. In order to deal with the mountainous terrain, tunnels which create spirals in the train track allow the long trains to ascend at a much more slower incline up the mountain. We managed to arrive just as a train was in its “loop” and three sections of the train were visible as it weaved up the mountain – quite a sight !

From here we made our way to Lake Louise. We were really splurging staying at the Fairmont right on the lake however it is an iconic location. We were a little early for checkin and when we arrived the girl at the desk – another Aussie – told us she had some good news for us. Expecting that the good news was that our room was ready, we were gobsmacked when she told us we had been upgraded to the “Gold Floor” !! After she had done our preliminary checkin, she directed us to the 7th floor where they would check us in with our “inclusions”.

Our room was not quite ready so we were directed to help ourselves to the lounge offerings while we waited – coffee, tea, non-alcoholic drinks, cookies, pastries etc. We were told that this would then turn into canapes in the evening and breakfast in the morning !

When our room was ready, whilst we had booked a lake front view room, we now had a corner suite with vast lake views !

Whilst the weather had worsened and was now drizzly, we decided to do the walk to the “Fairmont Lookout” view. It is a bit of a hike and as we started climbing higher it actually started sleeting !. The view is spectacular so it is worth the walk and it is all downhill coming back !

After a few more photos, we made our way back to the room and to the lounge for some canapes before our dinner in the fine dining “Fairview” restaurant. We are sure our upgrade worked for us with our dinner reservation as when we arrived the girl said ” I just have a table coming up if you would wait a moment” and when we were taken to the table we had a window seat !

We had a fantastic meal – Adrienne had Halibut and I had Lamb ribs. After dinner we went back to our room very happy campers !

Day 2 – Exploring Lake Louise

Next day the weather had improved a little but was still cold. However, we had a couple of walks planned which would hopefully warm us up !

After a tasty breakfast in the lounge, we started off on our first walk to Lake Agnus Tea House. It was quite an up hill 2.4km walk to the top though zigzagging across the treeline however by the time we reached the top we had scaled about 490 metres. And it was cold ! There was frost on the ground and there had obviously been a slight dusting of snow on the peaks during the night. This didn’t stop a few “adventurous” lads stripping down to their jocks and taking a plunge in the icy lake. The moans and quick exit indicated the water was probably a tad cool ! 😂

The tea house had a line a mile long for coffee orders so we decided to head back down to the warmth of the lounge to get our coffee !!

After a break, we ventured out again along the lower path which went out to the end of the lake. It threatened to rain but other than a few spots we completed our walk without getting wet. When we got back we walked around the whole complex and visited some of the shops before returning to our room.

We decided we would “make do” with the lounge canapes for our dinner – we had a few snacks in our room with a glass of wine and then were able easily make a dinner out of the canapes with a selection of coconut shrimp,, small beef wellingtons, a savoury quiche amongst a vast array of cold meats, cheeses and other nibbles.

It also gave us a chance to call Adrienne’s Mum & Dad who had stayed at Lake Louise in the 1980’s and been blown away with the place back then ! Afterwards we also counted 3 separate “wedding groups” having photos taken with the lake back drop !

We had an early night as we had originally booked a sunrise tour to nearby Lake Moraine however had luckily been able to change it until tomorrow as the weather forecast was looking better – fingers crossed !