Lake Louise (7/10/2005)

We spent most of our second week in Canada in a campground in Lake Louise. From Cranbrook we drove to Radium Hot Springs: and from Radium Hot Springs we drove to Lake Louise. On this drive we actually saw a black bear along side of the road.
While staying in Lake Louise we drove to Banff one day and spent the day walking around town. Lots of shopping and a trip to see the Banff River Falls. I could have spent more than one day but Rich gets bored with too much shopping. We took one day and walked around one side of Lake Louise. They have a very nice trail that starts at the Chateau and goes to the far end of the lake. There are lots of awesome views of the Chateau and the surrounding peaks. We spent some time walking around the village at Lake Louise but it is quite small. We spent an afternoon walking around the Chateau and it’s shops and had dinner at one of the less formal restaurants in The Chateau (Rich was not going to put on a suit and tie). The meal was wonderful. I had lamb marinated in maple sauce, it was awesome. (spendy but awesome). One day we took the Tram above Lake Louise. It was not a very nice day weather-wise but the view is very nice.
When we left Lake Louise we drove the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North) from Lake Louise to Jasper. This is often called the most scenic highway in the world. We saw amazing glaciers (there are 8 in the Icefields), beautiful peaks (from jagged edged peaks to peaks that reminded us of the monuments in the desert of Utah), and wonderful drifts of flowers; white, yellow, pink and lavender. We stopped at the Columbia Icefield Center and took photos of the Glaciers there, including the Athabasca Glacier, on which they offer Snocoach tours. We did not take the tour as we were traveling with Max. Perhaps some other time.