Lake Louise and some afternoon fishing

Tuesday, June 21

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I was up at 5:00 am. For some reason I hurt all over, especially my hips and shoulders, and just couldn't stay in bed any more. I tried to be quiet while making coffee, but Don soon joined me (which was okay--it was nice to sit outside together for the first time in a week.) Though it was chilly, it was dry. Finally.

We knew from what we'd been reading that we needed to get an early start on our visit to Lake Louise, so after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we hit the road.

We took the advice of our neighbors here at the campground and took the Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise. There are two ways to get to Lake Louise: the highway, Canada 1, and the Bow Valley Parkway. If you take the 1, it's a 4-lane, restricted access highway with a speed limit of 110 kmh. The Bow Valley Parkway is 2 lanes, with a speed limit of 60 kmh. It has frequent pullouts, exhibits, and picnic areas, and you're supposed to see wildlife along the way.




We saw this elk within 2 minutes of getting on the parkway, but didn't see any other wildlife the whole way.







There are beautiful mountain sights along the way. The mountains in the top photo are the Sawback Range,and the bottom one is called The Castle.




This memorial goes with a lesson Don and I learned today. This is the site of an internment camp for about 60 Ukrainian immigrants during World War I. About 6,000 had been lured to Canada to assist in building rail lines and roads. When the war broke out, the Canadian government forced them into internment camps. This is exactly what the U.S. government did to thousands of first- and second-generation Japanese during World War II. It's shameful what ignorance and fear can cause people to do.




At the end of the Bow Valley Parkway we crossed over the 1 and through Lake Louise Village, and then took the short drive up to Lake Louise. The parking lot was already filling up, and since construction forced the closure of two other lots, it was a crammed zoo up there. (Don and I hate crowds!) We took a few photos of the lake, and wandered over to the Fairmont Chateau in search of a cup of coffee. We saw that one cup would cost us each over $5, so we realized we didn't want any. I bought a few postcards and we were on our way.




Our next destination was Moraine Lake. It's below those mountains in the photo above.







Moraine Lake isn't as built up as Lake Louise. There's a lodge, but it's rather rustic compared to the Fairmont Chateau.

After we left the Lake Louise area we went back on to the Bow Valley Parkway, intending to stop for lunch at Baker Creek.







A few more stops with sights along the way.


We changed our minds about lunch, and at Castle Junction turned on to the highway to go back into Banff.


This is a wildlife bridge like the one we saw in Nevada.

We had the most wonderful lunch in downtown Banff. We ate at a restaurant called Grizzly, which specializes in fondue. But we didn't have the fondue--we both got their sausage of the day plate, which was a veal knackwurst. It was served on some mushroom sauce and topped with frizzled onions, with some rosti and bread on the side. We both cleaned our plates.

We went back to the campground to get Don's fishing gear and a book for me, and went to Johnson Lake so Don could spend the rest of the afternoon on the water.










He caught one fish, a brook trout, and had bites from several others. It was a beautiful afternoon, so it wasn't wasted.

We snacked for dinner, and are now watching a little TV. Well, the Tav is on, but he's snoozing and I'm writing. Who knows how long we can last on the longest day of the year?



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