Banff to Lake Louise

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007
We arrived at the Banff Visitor Center by 8:30 am. Didn’t go into the town - - too congested. We stocked up on hiking books,maps and bear spray and we were off. The weather was beautiful; mid sixties to low seventies and no wind, just a little breeze.
Frank has been anxious to see some wild animals. I read that Lake Minnewanka had a herd of Big Horn Sheep that hung around the parking lot so we decided to check it out. No sheep, but we did take a short hike around the lake to Stewart Canyon. Frank happened to spy an animal crossing the path in front of us and it looked like a mink to both of us. It had a deep brown coat and bushy tail. Hard to verify, but they are supposed to be in the area. The area was nice, but not impressive.
We took the scenic Bow River Parkway to Lake Louise. This route is noted for its wild animals. Well, we saw 3 big bull elk grazing right off the road. Frank was happy about that because he felt the wild animals are avoiding him!
We took another hike in the afternoon to Johnston Canyon; a popular and fairly easy 3 mile hike. There were walkways that were right out from the canyon walls and over the water. That was neat.
We arrived at the Lake Louise Campground around 4:00 pm and there was a line of RV’s checking in. This is RV central with 189 sites. There are oodles of rented RV’s here. There’s electricity which is nice!
A couple observations about Canada; the Canadian Rockies have much more of an alpine feel - - more spruce trees and snow capped summits. The lakes, rivers and streams have an icy blue green color and they are very clear. It’s very attractive. The color is because they are glacier fed. Glaciers make “flour” from ground rock and this white sediment that is suspended in the water reflects the sky’s color. Everything is metric so I don’t know the temps or how long the hikes actually are (which probably is a good thing) or how much the gas costs so I feel alittle out of it. There’s not problem with money - - we pay everything by credit card.
We plan to spend several days in the area. Hiking tomorrow!

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Photos

Johnston Canyon
Canyon wall colors

Johnston Canyon
Life on the edge

Dwarf Dogwood
Common wildflower in Canada. Has red berries in the fall

Elk on the Bow Valley Parkway
He's camera shy and hiding his face, but he's there all right.

Comments

[Nancy]

Kilometer vs miles
Just remember kilometers are shorter than miles. something like .62 to every mile. We were married at the Banff springs hotel 20 years ago. Enjoyed reading your blog! Have a great time!