What an amazing drive today. 150 miles of stunning scenery through the Canadian Rockies.
First stop was Bow Lake.
The water colour is dictated by the amount of rock flour (particles washed down by the ice melt). Less rock flour creates vivid blues while more flour turns the reflected light green. Too much flour and the water becomes milky.
The Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier followed. The Icefields Centre was heaving.
The glacier is receding at the rate of 5m per year and lost over half its volume in the last 125 years. We decided our lives were complete without taking a tour up to it and headed onwards.
Suddenly the scenery changed and the views opened up.
Waterfalls were next on the list and we stopped at Sunwapta Falls where Matt decided he could only take photos from beside the river rather than the safety of the walkway
The Parkway followed the Sunwapta River for a while and we think we need to revisit in late spring when, as the ice melts, the rivers must be spectacular.
The trees are just starting to take on their Autumn colour, which we hadn’t noticed in Lake Louise.
Our final stop, before Jasper, was the Athabasca Falls. According to Kim, you can’t have too many cups of tea or see too many waterfalls!
Our next two nights are overlooking Pyramid Lake, a designated Dark Sky site. Our accommodation is definitely a step up from the rather dated ski lodge in Lake Louise
And this is our view from the balcony, thank you Trailfinders!
John was up and out for breakfast in 10 seconds flat. It was only 7:30 but he’d been awake for ages and had had enough….. of Matt sniffing and Kim snoring.
The remainder of the family struggled to catch up. Matt went for a short 10 minute run. 45 minutes later, a text arrived saying he’d got carried away and hadn’t been eaten by a bear. Quite honestly, we hadn’t noticed he been missing that long.
Today’s challenge was the hike from Lake Louise up to Lake Agnes Tea House, a round trip of 7km which is no distance at all.
We hadn’t reckoned with the 400m elevation climb over 3km. It was a challenge for the older Brays, stopping frequently to catch our breath. We blamed it on altitude sickness rather than being unfit and made a note to spend more time drinking tea at base camp to acclimatise before attempting mountaineering feats. Most of the climb up was through trees with just an occasional gap offering a view of the lake below.
About 3/4 of the way up you could glimpse the Tea House above the trees, but it was still a huge climb.
1km before the top, there was a chance to catch our breath at Mirror Lake. It gets its name from the reflection of the trees and Big Beehive in the water. Not a great photo, sorry!
After another 800m climb we finally arrived at Lake Agnes and the Tea House at an elevation of 2135m above sea level.
It’s the oldest in Canada, opening in 1901 and is family run. There is no electricity, supplies are helicoptered in at the start of the season and topped up by staff, on their way up, on a daily basis. Everything is made fresh on site and our soup with homemade bread and pot of tea were delicious. Walkers are asked to assist by carrying bags of rubbish back down with them. It was well worth the effort with Lake Agnes in the background
We set off intending to walk to another Tea House at Plain of the Six Glaciers. It’s elevation was lower, so we thought the extra 7km should be easier. We picked up the trail back down at Mirror Lake and stopped at the first serious incline. Sometimes you need to know when to give up!
The descent was hard on knees and calves, it was difficult to imagine we’d actually made it to the top
Back at base camp Lake Louise looked stunning in the afternoon sunshine.
Tonight’s dinner was at Lake Louise Station Restaurant. It is one of the few remaining log stations in Canada, built in 1910 and still active. Staff are rushed off their feet – meeting one train a day, the famous Rocky Mountaineer. As we dined a couple of freight trains rumbled past, they are huge and can be up to 4km long, taking 15 minutes to pass which is very inconvenient if you are waiting to cross the track while out on a run as Matt found out.
It was raining when we left but decided to take a final trip to Moraine Lake. The approach was misty and moody in the fading light however the lake itself totally eclipsed anything Lake Louise could offer. These pictures were taken at the same time, we couldn’t believe how different the lake looked from two perspectives
Tomorrow we drive the Icefields Parkway, across the Rockies, to Jasper
We caught our breath and headed for the hotel overlooking Lake Louise, it had taken 2.5 hours! Despite the challenge of cycling, we were pleased we had. The car parks were full and the lake was heaving with tourists.
The history of the cycle track dates back to the late 19th century. Travellers would take a month to sail to the east coast of Canada, many days travelling across the country by train before arriving at Lake Louise. The final step was the tram ride up to the Lake – we had retraced the steps of many travellers before us.
Lake Louise is the highest settlement in Canada, about 1800m above sea level. By the time we arrived at the lake, we were 2k above sea level. No wonder we were hot, sticky and a little bit smelly. Despite this, we approached the concierge with confidence and were directed to the hotel’s cycle parking. More uphill as we negotiated ramps in the spiral car park. Then there was a mad dash to buy deodorant to make ourselves more socially acceptable!
We were served by Dan, a Canadian with an Irish father and mother from Manchester, who’s very excited by his first trip to the UK in November.
Afternoon tea overlooking the lake was civilised, however whipped cream in place of clotted cream was disappointing.
John and Matt were particularly taken with the self serve dessert buffet..
The ride back took a fraction of the time, downhill all the way, woohoo! John and Matt were off like demented things while Kim was on the brakes all the way – there were some steep drops down the side.
We dropped the bikes off and Kim had strong words with the owner, re-defining flat cycling for him! He awarded her ‘Hero of the Day’ and gave her a prize to shut her up and get her out of the shop….
No you didn’t, we hear you cry! Yes, we did and here’s the proof!
We needed something to keep us out of mischief until lunchtime. Afternoon tea is booked at the Fairmont Hotel on Lake Louise. Kim had found an easy 7k route along the Bow River and agreed to get on a bike.
The only trouble was that John chatted to the cycle hire guy who persuaded him we could cycle all the way to the lake. It was only another 6k and there was only one hill. Let’s just say that a Canadian’s idea of a hill is different to a Kim’s. She should have listened to the guy who said it’s a 200m incline over 5k – she valiantly pushed the bike most of the way!
The sky was dark grey and orange as we approached Calgary. There was a strong smell of burning and the ash settling over the city has drifted in from the wildfires 500 miles away!
Calgary Airport was interesting. Very clean and populated by elderly Canadians driving electric buggies. At no point did we see passengers in any of the buggies, perhaps it’s simply a kind way of keeping pensioners out of mischief?
Mathew heroically drove us 2 hours to Lake Louise through torrential rain. We stopped briefly by the Bow River so we could at least say we’d done some sight seeing.
Exhausted, we made it to Lake Louise Village where dinner beckoned. Fed and watered, we drove up to Lake Louise, it’s 7pm here and still very busy. Even on a fairly overcast evening, the lake is stunning
Our final challenge was the 12 miles round trip to Moraine Lake
So we’ve been up 24 hours with only a little snooze on the plane, we’ve all got colds, I wonder how we’ll feel in the morning!
After four years of planning, we are finally on our way. We left home at 5:30 and were at Gatwick just after 7 – some sort of record, we think!
We fly to Calgary and drive to Lake Louise, for our first three nights, before heading to Vancouver via Jasper, Kamloops and Whistler. There is white water rafting, kayaking and zip lining to be experienced on the way.
From Vancouver, we take the ferry down to Seattle for a couple of nights before finishing our holiday on Vancouver Island, in Victoria.
We are flying with budget airline WestJet which saved us a fortune, I’m sure we’ll let you know whether that was a sound decision!
Our first crisis has been telling Matt that data costs £5 a megabyte in North America, cue frantic checking of phones.
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