Rocky Mountain High: Lake Louise and Banff ~ October 12-14, 2018

Lake Louise and Banff 

October 12-14, 2018

Friday, October 12, 2018

We were up bright and early this morning as we planned to leave Jasper at about 9:30 a.m. and head to Lake Louise.  My alarm went off at 7:30 a.m., and unlike at home when I am content to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely wake up, I was out of bed and organizing our suitcases.  Jeff was a bit slower to get up, but eventually he got up and dressed.  Folks were enjoying breakfast and coffee, and we were all doing our part to clean up the place as best we could.  We never did see our hostess or her family -- other than encountering Nero, the doberman, one afternoon on our way back from town.

We were all loaded up, in the car, and on our way at 9:40 a.m.  The skies over Jasper were brilliant blue, but as we headed up into the mountains of Banff National Park, it was cloudy and rainy.  And ... only two degrees celsius.  Before long the snow was flying, and at one point the twisting mountain roads were covered with slushy snow.  I was sitting in the back seat and could not see much out of the front windows.

I was sitting behind Jeff, so all I could see out of the windshield in front of me was this headrest and if I leaned to the right, I could see the park receipt that we had to tape to the windshield and display at all times.  When I look to the left, I could see Betty Lou, who was driving, and not much else.  However, I did have a great view out of my side window, and that was delightful.

 The sun tantalized us for a moment, but then disappeared!

Skies brightening a bit

A stop for a rest just outside the Beauty Creek Hostel

Keep trying sun!

And then came the snow!

Pine trees just as the snow is starting

Pine trees ten minutes down the road

Another teasing peek of sunshine!

Dramatic skies all day long

 

Beautiful mountain views all along Trans Canada Highway 93 - even in the snow.  It amazes me how steep and jagged the Canadian Rockies are, which prompted me to see what I could find about them.  According to Wikipedia, "The Canadian Rockies are quite different in appearance and geology from the American Rockies to the south of them. The Canadian Rockies are composed of layered sedimentary rock such as limestone and shale, whereas the American Rockies are made mostly of metamorphic and igneous rock such as gneiss and granite.

"The Canadian Rockies are overall more jagged than the American Rockies because the Canadian Rockies have been more heavily glaciated, resulting in sharply pointed mountains separated by wide, U-shaped valleys gouged by glaciers, whereas the American Rockies are overall more rounded, with river-carved V-shaped valleys between them. The Canadian Rockies are cooler and wetter, giving them moister soil, bigger rivers, and more glaciers. The tree line is much lower in the Canadian Rockies than in the American Rockies."  

There are five national parks located within the Canadian Rockies.  Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, and Yoho national parks are adjacent to one another, and the fifth one, Waterton, lies farther south.  These five parks as well as three British Columbia provincial parks, were declared a single UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 because of their unique mountain landscapes.

We had a great stop at Lake Louise, the name of a small hamlet within Banff National Park as well as the name of a beautiful, turquoise, glacier-fed lake.  The lake and village were named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria who was the wife of John Campbell, the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883.  The village was originally called Laggan and was a station along the Canadian Pacific Railway route.

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Photo Credit:  Wikipedia

We stopped at the iconic Chateau Lake Louise for lunch.  Like the Banff Springs Hotel (which we hope to visit tomorrow or the next day), the Chateau Lake Louise was developed at the turn of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway.  It was conceived by the railway at the end of the 19th century as a vacation destination to lure the wealthy travelers into taking trains and heading West.  It was originally built as a summer destination, but it was winterized in 1982 and is now open year-round.  I can attest to the fact that even on a cold wintery day in mid-October the hotel was full of tourists.  We had a lovely lunch in their lower level "pub" served by a delightful Irish girl named Claire.

After lunch we got back in the car and drove the last hour to our accommodations at Tunnel Mountain Resort in Banff.  We have a "condo" with a small living/dining room, a small kitchen, a lovely bathroom and a bedroom all on the first floor.  A large loft area above the kitchen and "master" bedroom functions as a second bedroom, which is where Jeff and I will sleep.  It has a half-bath, which will work fine for us.  It is quite spacious and has its own balcony.  

                               Living/Dining Area                                                  View from our Back Balcony

                                   Fireplace!                                                                      Kitchen

We have a fireplace, and Jeff started it up tonight and promptly set off the smoke detector.  Peter and Betty Lou shopped for and prepared dinner -- delicious treat of grilled steak (our first place with a grill available), potatoes, and broccoli.  It's now 9:33 p.m. and Betty Lou has gone to bed -- I'm not far behind her.  Tomorrow we explore Banff!

Saturday, October 12, 2018

The forecast is for snow this afternoon, so we are going to have a relatively quiet day, taking a bus into town, and then maybe doing some laundry this afternoon.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day, so we plan to do the Banff Gondola ride and perhaps go over to the Banff Springs Hotel (another railway hotel, like the one at Lake Louise).

We got a lazy start this morning, waking after the sunrise at 8:06 a.m., and then dawdling over coffee, oatmeal, raisin bran, yogurt, and the writing of post cards.  Shortly after 10:00 a.m. Jeff and I decided to try to catch the 10:38 bus downtown.  Peter suggested that we drive, and after a bit of scurrying about we were ready to go ... but not before we spotted this little beauty nibbling the grass outside our condo.

We drove the short distance into town, parked the car and agreed to meet back at the car at 12:30 p.m.  Jeff and I set off on foot to the Banff Railway Station (of course).  

Today Banff Train Station is used by the Rocky Mountaineer, which provides luxury service from Vancouver, the Royal Canadian Tour Company, and also as a Greyhound Bus Station.  It was originally built for the Canadian Pacific Railway and was declared a heritage railway station by the Canadian government in 1991.

The locomotive that used to pull the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Whistler.
Alas, it is no longer in service, much to Jeff's distress. 

The original train station.

When we arrived inside the station, Jeff noticed that there was a load of platform track (? I may have that wrong -- have to check with Jeff) on a siding, and a couple of railroad workers, so (of course) Jeff just had to go out and see what was happening.  I decided to wait inside the station where it was warm.  Good thing, because he was out there kibitzing for over a half hour.

While I was in the station, a young couple came in with their twins and the grandmother of the twins.  The boys were enamored with the trains and could not wait for one to come by.  The woman who was working the Rocky Mountaineer desk came out with two conductor's hats and a device that they could pull on that made a train whistle sound.   

We then walked back into town, stopping to peek into several stores.  I loved this vista as we walked through the streets - all named for animals: Wolf, Bear, Otter, Lynx, Osprey, etc.

A walk down Bear Street in downtown Banff

I ended up purchasing a bowl made by a Canadian artist that I truly love, along with a refrigerator magnet of a moose, and a couple packs of cocktail napkins - one for me and one for Betty Lou - one has a black bear on them; the other a moose.  Jeff went over to a book shop and purchased a magnificent coffee table book of photographs of the Rocky Mountains.  It is a truly beautiful book that will be a great memory of the many sights we saw.  It has been fun to go through the book and see how many of the mountains we have seen along the way, and I know that every time I browse through it I will want to start planning our next visit ... and YES, there WILL be a next visit.

After we met up with Peter and Betty Lou at our appointed hour, we drove past the Banff Springs Hotel.  The hotel opened in 1888 by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a means of luring wealthy passengers to ride the railway in order to take the waters of the Banff Hot Springs.  Another structure was completed in 1914, but in 1926 a fire destroyed the original structure on the property.  This was rebuilt in 1928.  We did not go into the hotel, which seemed massive compared to the other two railway hotels we saw.

Banff Springs Hotel
Photo Credit ~ Wikipedia

My feeble attempt at capturing the Banff Springs Hotel

From there we made another swing past the railway station so that Peter and Betty Lou could see it, stopped at the grocery store for a few things, and then headed back to the condo for afternoon naps and doing some laundry.

Tomorrow's plan is to do some walking in Johnson Canyon in the morning and then ride the Banff Gondola in the late afternoon to see the sunset and perhaps have dinner at the top.

What a marvelous day!

Sunday, October 13, 2018

Today's plan will take us to Johnston Canyon for a hike to the lower falls.  It is supposed to be a beautiful day, but it was a chilly 18 degrees and cloudy as we set off at 10:00 a.m. for the short drive to Johnston Canyon.  It is a really popular destination for hiking probably because the trail is paved and there are railings along the way.  We all set out together, and within a few hundred meters on the trail there were large icy patches.  Jeff and I hung onto the railings for dear life in several places, and eventually Betty Lou turned back and took shelter in a coffee shop, and then Peter decided that he would turn back as well.  Jeff and I persevered, and although I decided to take the upper falls steps up to a landing where I could see the falls, Jeff inched his way down the last steep icy path to get to the cave and look at the falls more closely.  Just as we go to the falls, the skies cleared and the sun came out.  It was breathtakingly beautiful with the rocky canyon walls on both sides, the sparkling, clear river rushing downhill across stones of all sizes, and the waterfall crashing down.  It was well worth the effort to get there, and it felt really good to be out in the crisp air.  Although I was worried that I would be cold, my three layers plus scarf actually made me feel quite warm with the exertion of remaining upright on the slick layer of ice and snow.

Our hike began here

I love the way the sun breaks through the clouds and the skies became that bright mountain blue that has captivated me all along this trip.  The cloudy days give way to the brilliant azure sky lifting the corners of my mouth into smiles of delight!  Majestic ... magnificent ... fantastical ... adjectives fail me in the beauty that surrounds us.  

The video to the right above is my feeble attempt to capture the scale of this place.  Again, images cannot do it justice.  It is a place well worth visiting -- and braving the fall.  Next time we come in October, we'll be renting the crampons in town.

Mount Cockscomb (2,777 m) on the right
Ranger Creek in the center

Mount Cockscomb to the left
Mount Cory to the right

I want to try to identify some of the mountains we keep photographing.  We were able to identify a couple from a sign we saw when we stopped in Hillsdale Meadow to take some pictures.  Jeff bought a beautiful book of photographs yesterday, and I may be able to identify some of my mountain pictures by looking back through that book when I have the time.

We are now back at the condo, and the house is relatively quiet as everyone but me is taking a nap before we continue on to our final excursion of the day - a ride on the Banff Gondola in order to take in the sunset, occurring at 6:51 p.m. according to Peter.

Our evening on the Banff Gondola was positively spectacular!  We left the condo at about 4:15 p.m. and headed for Sulphur Mountain, the location of the Banff Gondola.  It was a perfect afternoon - blue skies and a few puffy clouds -- the best conditions for viewing a sunset in the mountains.  We arrived at the base of Sulphur Mountain in plenty of time, and there were no lines at all - something that truly surprised me.  So we bought our tickets and hopped onto the next car and off we went.

There was a "harvest festival" going on when we got to the observation tower.  A young man was playing guitar and singing, there was hot chocolate, candy apple making, and craft sales.  Jeff listened to the music for a bit, and I saw him chatting with the musician afterwards.  I know he has a picture or two, which I will add once we get back home.

This panoramic shot doesn't really begin to capture our vista, but the individual shots below at least reveal the gorgeous blue sky with wisps of clouds that greeted us at the summit.

One of the things that surprised us all was that people can hike up Sulphur Mountain.  We saw a few hardy souls on the snow-packed trails beneath the gondola ride.  Once at the observation tower, you can walk up a boardwalk style set of stairs to a weather station.

It was COLD up at the top, and we were all glad that we had "layered up" -- even more so as the winds picked up and the sun began to set.  Scattered throughout the observation deck were fire pits, and at the doorway there was a radiant heater -- all of which helped to thaw our freezing "shutter fingers."

Enjoying a glass of wine by the fire pit (which I later found out was "forbidden")

By the time the sun began to set, there were only a few hardy souls left atop the mountain, and those that were there were there for the same reason we were -- to capture the glory of the setting sun!

It was hard to say goodbye, but between the four of us we probably have over a thousand pictures of this afternoon adventure to remember it by.  And then it was time to board our gondola for the trip back down the mountain.  What a perfect way to end our journey together!  Tomorrow we head to Calgary in preparation for the trip back home.  Farewell to Banff; I know for certain that Jeff and I will be back!

Banff at Night