September 4, 2018

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Tuesday Sep 4

We started early again today to get to Lake Louise at a decent hour. On the way there, we hiked the Marble Canyon Trail in Kootenay all the way up to the waterfalls, maybe about 1.5 km in. Frost was clinging to wooden structures as we walked in the brisk sunny morning and air relatively clear of smoke, thanks to yesterday’s rains. We found the two red Muskoka chairs, a relatively new Parks Canada trademark to encourage visitors to explore more. We did not sit on them when we took our pictures, they were covered in frost and we did not wish to get our pants wet. The falls were spectacular to view, even with what must be considered reduced summer flow. We wondered what this place would look like in the Spring.

Lake Louise is as beautiful as ever, but we cannot remember ever having seen this many people there. The Chateau Lake Louise is not that hospitable to non-guests and we wondered if perhaps it’s time that Parks Canada allow another establishment to cater to the thousands of tourists coming here for some coffee, drinks and light snacks. Not everyone can afford to stay at the Chateau!

The Moraine Lake parking lot was apparently filled by 5:30 this morning, mostly by very keen photographers wishing to catch that million dollar shot of the sunrise there. Needless to say, the 11 km road in was closed to traffic and we had to pay $10 each for a shuttle from the overflow parking lot. Wait times were up to an hour either way.

Once we got there, the views were of course stunning, but we kind of found ourselves hoping for a quiet private spot to enjoy it, away from many, many ignorant tourists hogging prime photo sites. We went for a good walk down the shore and did find some quieter areas, albeit still far from private. We also saw the lodge, shops and condos for rent that were not there years ago. These beautiful spots become victim of their own success, but that comes with promotion of these kinds of sites that we all own as Canadians.

Since these two sites took up a lot of our day, we only had enough time for a quick visit to the Cave and Basin, that Ferdy also had an involvement in while with Parks Canada, and have a great dinner at Melissa’s Steak House in Banff. We’re going back tomorrow for more!

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Photos

Chateau Lake Louise flowers
We’re trespassing on “guests only” areas!

Comments

[Annemie]

Lake Louise
Wow!!!!! It's still breathtakingly beautiful! But, like you're saying, It's a shame that there are so many disrespecting tourists. It was even like that, when we were there in 1996. I love the way you describe your trip, feel like I'm there with you.?.