Tuesday Aug 18 – Banff to Lake Louise

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Hello Travelers.



This morning we started with a 6:45 wake-up call and needing to have the bags in the hall by 7:30. We had selected the option for a 2^nd wake-up call 15 minutes after the first, but we’d not hung up the phone correctly, so it did not ring again. They sent a bellboy to the door to make sure we were awake. Anyway, we were able to get the luggage outside on schedule and we went down for another big breakfast in Banff. We boarded the bus at 9:00 after verifying all our bags had been loaded, and we were traveling again.





The first stop was just across the river at the “Surprise Corner” where we had not been able to view the hotel 2 days ago (because of the rain). This morning was bright and sunny, and we had a great view for quick photos before leaving town.





We drove west on Highway 1 (the Trans Canadian Highway) and headed for Lake Louise. Along the way we were regaled with a lot of interesting information about Canada. A few of the items included the following:




Peter explained that there was a tall fence line on each side of the highway to keep wildlife off the road. In order to allow the animals to travel North/South across this barrier, they periodically built wide high overpasses for the animals. Basically they look like tunnels in the middle of a fairly level section of road. The animals are so far removed from the traffic, that neither sees each other. Sensors and camera though record the travel of animals and they have found this system to be very effective. Animal-vehicle accidents have been reduced by 90%! (MISSING)



The Bow River flows through the Bow River Valley and the headwater comes from Bow Lake which is fed by Bow Glacier. So why is everything named Bow? Who was Bow? It turns out that the Indians (Ooops, First Nations) discovered long ago that the best wood in the forests for making bows and arrows came from a species of trees found primarily in this region. So it all became named Bow because of this. It they had used slingshots then the name of everything around here probably would have been different.



The Bow River is about 380 miles long, but flows into another which does the same several more times until it finally flows into the Hudson Bay. It happened that at one point the King of England awarded the fur trappings rights to the Hudson Bay Company. Their boundary encompassed everything that flowed into the Hudson Bay and any contributing tributaries to such rivers. So effectively a couple of thousand miles of territory to the west was assigned exclusively to this company. Apparently he did not know how generous he was being because he tried to rescind that decision later, but it was already a done deal.



We were also told a number of stories about the difficulties of building the Trans Canadian Railway and Peter talked about the exploration and surveying and eventually building of the railway, and the associated development of towns and such to this territory.


We stopped at a scenic overlook of the mountains and river, and then eventually arrived at Moraine Lake. There is only one narrow road to the primary viewing point of the lake. Although this was very scenic, it presented a logistical problem as many vehicles had gotten there ahead of us. When they ran out of parking in the lot, cars started parking along the side of the road (on one side anyway). But this 2-lane road had very little shoulder on the right as it was pressed closely against the rock wall of the mountain. On the other side the shoulder was also narrow with a drop down into the river which flowed from the lake. With cars parked on the right we had to drive along the opposite lane and take turn squeezing past one-coming traffic. Since some of these vehicles are rental travel trailers, which apparently are driven by people who aren’t very proficient, it became quite a challenge to get to the lake. Jessie was very good and Peter got out and walked ahead of the bus directing on-coming traffic to make a path for us. But we finally made it.





Moraine Lake is located in the dramatic Valley of the Ten Peaks (each named for the First Nation name for one through ten). The ten mountain peaks soar above 10,000 feet and surround the tranquil water (there were several canoeist out on the lake while we were there) of the lake. Moraine Lake was formed from a large landside at the exit of the river, which backed up the water creating the lake. It is extremely clear cold water which is the color of emeralds on a nice sunny day like today. David was able to climb to the top of viewing location atop of the landslide scree. It was kind of challenging, partly because of the high altitude and thin air and also with a limited amount of time before the bus had to leave again. But the view was terrific and hopefully the pictures partially convey the scenic views.





We traveled back down the narrow road to the small township of Lake Louise. We had a little over an hour to eat lunch in any of the small sandwich shops around. The weather was so nice that we got our sandwiches, chips, and drinks and sat outside at a picnic table and had a nice light lunch. Janet then got a package of brownies for our dessert and David went to a wine shop for some bottles (some for the next few evenings and 2 to take aboard the ship – Princess lets each passenger bring one bottle of wine aboard before sailing which is much cheaper than always buying their wine) so we are all set now.





The group met again and we headed to a section of train track where ingenuity was required to overcome the steep descent from the mountains. The first attempts had come downhill at too sharp a grade and many trains ran off the tracks and crashed. This being unacceptable, someone designed a series of spiral switchback tunnels to gradually come down the mountain. We had seen an Omnimax movie about the building of the Canadian Railway and now seeing this location really made the movie more real. To top it off, there was a train traveling past shortly after we arrived and we were able to watch 150 car train travel past us in the trees above before spiraling through a tunnel to exit lower down in the opposite direction below us (which we could see), and then spiral through another tunnel to head in another direction, into again through another spiral tunnel, finally heading out the original direction but much lower down. Due to the length of the train and the strategic location of the viewing point, we were able to see the same train heading in 3 directed directions at the same time. Remarkable!





Next we drove to the Takkakow Falls. This is off the beaten track with another narrow road. This had a peculiar section where the road did its own switchback (zigzag) up the mountain, but the 2 turns are so sharp that the bus could not make the turn. So it pulled forward along the 1st stretch and then backed up the 2nd stretch up the hill. When this was done it could pull forward again on the 3^rd stretch. This exercise was complicated even more by ordinary cars which could make the sharp turn and wanted to proceed up or down the hill. Anyway we got to the falls without incident. Takkakow is the First Nations word for “it is wonderful”, and this is a pretty spectacular waterfall. It is fed by melted glacier water but also by the rain which had fallen in the previous few days. This is the second highest waterfall in Canada. We were allowed to walk almost to the base of the falls, although we were warned about getting too close because of the spray in the air could get our clothes kind of wet. Anyway, David got a close as he could and has some pictures. Back on the bus, all we had to do was traverse that switchback again, but this time backing down the hill instead of going up the first time. But all went well.





The next stop was up the road at a place called Natural Bridge. The Kicking Horse River used to flow over a hard level of rock, but which has a softer level below it. Gradually the river found small cracks in the soft rock and eventually eroded a channel beneath the hard level. Now it is a natural stone bridge across the river. However the soft portion only allowed erosion of about a 5 foot wide path, so the whole river shoots ferociously through this very narrow passage and zooms with great turbulence out the other side. We were cautioned several times NOT to get off the path or we could slip into the river and be gone immediately. We obeyed!!!





Next we were driven to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. During our lunch break the luggage had already been taken to the hotel and we found it waiting in our room. We have a Lake View room with a spectacular view. The hotel is at one end of the lake with Victoria Glacier reflecting off the other end. The room is equally nice to the previous two hotels.





Before disembarking from the bus, Peter told everyone that he would need to leave the tour tomorrow afternoon. He had previously mentioned that a forest fire was in the area of British Columbia where he lives, but he thought it was moving away from his home. He chose not to explain what problem caused him to depart early, but another Tour Director will join the tour tomorrow and finish the trip with us.





This evening is the second night of “dining around”. We had to select our restaurant back on Sunday and we chose the Walliser Stube restaurant, which specializes in Swiss-German food. We had already seen the menu on Sunday and we selected the 3-course Fondue Dinner (Cheese, Chateaubriand, and Chocolate). However the reservations are later than we usually eat (8:15) so we will have a good appetite. So far we have been able to order anything from the menu and Princess paid the bill (except for alcohol), but the fondue meal ($92 each) is a little over the budget so we will have a small additional charge. But this is a special meal and we plan to enjoy it a lot.





Since we need to have everything packed and in the hall by 7:00 tomorrow, we will need to wrap up the evening fairly soon after we get back from dinner. For that reason we will publish this BLOG before we got to dinner. It has been a busy day and we’ve had great weather with plenty to see, so we have to call this a very good day.

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Photos

Janet & David
Bow River with Storm Mountain behind us

Train
running through the Spiral Tunnel

Natural Bridge
with Kicking Horse flowing through