OUR HOME BASE IN LAKE LOUISE
Because there are so many bears around, especially grizzlies, they only allowed hard sided trailers, no tents of any kind
When we left Revelstoke, we had no reservations but hoped to get in at the Lake Louise trailer park in Banff National Park in Alberta. We lucked out and got in for 5 nights, not quite sure how that happened because almost every night after that the campground was full. It’s the only one with electricity and showers so not a surprise that it’s popular!
It turned out to be the perfect location since it was only a 45 minute drive south to the town of Banff and a little less back west to Yoho National Park in BC. Lots to see in both places as well as Lake Louise.
The drive to Banff on the Bow Valley parkway is a great place to see wildlife from the safety of your car. Cars just stop in the middle of the road and create animal jams to watch and take pictures. But the speed limit on this road is only 60/K for just that reason.
We saw our first bear along the parkway and pretty sure it’s a grizzly based on the hump between it’s shoulders. That hump is the most obvious difference between the grizzly and the black bear. Also saw a group of moms and baby big horn sheep as well as male elk with some pretty big antlers. There were also some crazy or should I say stupid people out of their cars and within feet of them taking a picture. They just don’t seem to realize how much damage those racks could do if the Elk got a bit pissed off at them!
Check out our wildlife pictures taken along this road.
Our first day trip was to Yoho National Park right on the BC/Alberta border. In the morning we drove up a very long, windy road to get to the Takakkaw Falls which is one of the highest in Canada. It did not disappoint, it’s the most impressive falls we’ve seen on our travels so far. Then a short drive away we went to Emerald lake (very appropriately named) and did the easy 5.2K hike around the lake. Some incredible views with the mountains all around. Ended the day with a few beer on the Emerald lake lodge patio deck, so nice to sit there and relax in the sun!
On the way home we stopped at the natural bridge, a rock that arches over the Kicking Horse River and very glad we did. It’s amazing what the force of water can do over time, mother nature is extremely powerful.
Three must see places if you ever go there!!! Check out the YOHO ALBUM!
Didn’t hike around the town of Banff that much, had to go there to do laundry (would you believe no laundromat in Lake Louise!) so we took advantage of the fact that the hot springs were there and went 2 times. Once on a really crappy day, the other on a much nicer day. We did do one bike and hike combo on afternoon to Sundance Canyon which was nice.
The town of Banff is very scenic but quite touristy and to be honest, we didn’t walk around it too much, but we did see some of the sites though.
One extremely popular hike in Banff park is the one to the Johnston Canyon where you can see I believe 7 different waterfalls but to get to them you also get to walk along catwalks built on the canyon walls. The guide books recommend you get there before 10 because it’s a zoo. We did but boy was it cold that morning, a whole 4C.....brrrrrr! But at least it was sunny.
The hike was definitely worth the 2.6K trek and 120 M elevation gain to the upper falls but the additional 3K trek beyond them and extra 100 m elevation up to the Ink Pots was even better. When you see the pictures of the ink pots you’ll see why they’re so accurately named. I could have looked at them all day. Glad we went early to enjoy the scenery because as we made our way back to the trail head, it got quite busy!
Check out the Banff pictures!
We also set out our last day in Lake Louise to hike to the top of Fairview mountain. It’s 4.5 K to summit and 1013 m elevation gain, ambitious to say the least since our previous elevation gains were around 500 m. It was a gorgeous morning and and the trail head is right at the Chateau Lake Louise so the scenery is again, stunning.
Well by the time we got to the Saddleback which was 3.7 K and 595 m elevation we were almost above the tree line. That in itself was a big accomplishment. Then when we saw that there was only .8 K and another 418 m in elevation to go, we thought holy crap, not sure we can do that. It’s not only the going up you have to think about, it’s the coming back down....it’s killer on the knees and this was steep!!!! You’ll see what we mean when you see the pictures.
We decided we hike to the top of the tree line and that was only a 1/4 of 418 elevation needed to summit and we thought we’d better stop there. Dave’s hamstring injury is better but not 100% yet so didn’t want to push our luck! Glad we didn’t because we were pooched by the time we made it back down. We’ll just have to come back another time to summit!!!
Check out the attempt at summitting Fairview mountain pictures.