Mountain view along Highway 2 on the way to Lake Louise

 






More mountain views.

 







Still more mountain views. They are everywhere!!

 







A wildlife walkway to allow animals to cross Highway 2 safely. The entire road is fenced on both sides as is the walkway.






We rode the ski lift to the top of a mountain and view Lake Louise in the distance.
It was snowing and misting and a little foggy!

 











Lake Louise. A hanging glacier is high above the lake in the distanc, but it is too foggy to see it.

 











Lake Louise - so beautiful!

 











A fox we saw on the way to Banff.
 











An Elk with lots of velvet on his antlers.
 











Elk on highway on way to Banff.
 
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Monday, June 13
Day 6

Today we drove from Spring Hill RV park near Cochrane, Alberta to Lake Louise - a distance of about 101 miles via Canada Highway 1, a major highway that runs from New Brunswick to Vancouver- 5000 miles. The drive took us from rolling prairie where we saw mountains in the distance to being in the midst of the mountains. It was a beautiful drive. The Canadian Rocky Mountains are different from the Rockies in the U.S. The mountains here are made of limestone, sandstone and shale while the U.S. Rockies are made mainly of granite. Canada's mountains are more rounded and less jagged. The are heavily covered in trees and the tops are covered with snow.

We entered Banff National Park west of Calgary and continued to the Lake Louise exit. Along the highway they are building special bridges that are fenced so that wildlife can get from one side to another. Both sides of the road are fenced too. It got a little confusing when we exited at Lake Louise. Our guidebook said to turn right when we actually needed to turn left. When we got that straight, the guidebook said to go to the 2nd stoplight. There were only stop signs. Everyone was going in every direction trying to find the campground. It was confusing but just a part of the adventure! After getting set up at our campsite, a large contingent of our group went to the Lake Louise Gondola ride at the Ski Chalet. We rode an open air chairlift to the top of the mountain in the hope of seeing bears. People coming down told us they saw a bear near tower 16, but he had moved on by the time we got there. They had bear watchers stationed around the chairlift watching for bears - so I guess the people going down told us the truth. After going to an observation deck and the Interpretive Center, it started to snow! We managed go get back to the chairlift but had to stand in line behind about 40 other people who also wanted to go back down. Naturally, everyone wanted and enclosed gondola for the return trip so it took a long time.

After we got off the mountain we journeyed to Lake Louise. Two of our new friends, Robert and Bet, went with us to the Lake Louise Chateau where we had coffee and a dessert. Then we walked about 1 mile on a trail along the side of the lake. Lake Louise is indeed beautiful. A glacier hangs high above the lake and runoff from the glacier makes the water in the lake a beautiful blue/green. It actually changes color the higher up you are from the water. It stared to rain lightly,and we were pretty wet before we got back to the Chateau.
When we left Lake Louise, we stopped by the trailer for a dry shirt or jacket and then we went to Banff.

Robert and Bet went to Banff with us too. We took a long winding highway because we were told we would see more wildlife. We did see a coyote, fox, and several elk. The elusive bear has yet to be seen. We have been told that bears move through the RV park at night. The tent camping area is actually surrounded by an electric fence to keep wildlife out.

Banff is in a beautiful setting, and the architecture of the buildings is neat, but it is just an over-rated tourist trap. The streets were lined with restaurants and shops. It reminded me of a Swiss village you would see in a movie, except it was trying too hard to be quaint. After dinner in Banff we returned to Lake Louise and our little trailer. We didn't get back until after 10:00.

Tomorrow we go to the Columbia Ice Fields. We will be going to the highest point on the caravan - over 6000 Ft.
No hookups - just dry camping. The temperature is expected to bottom out around 32 degrees. BRRR!

Til next time, Happy Trails!