Vancouver and the Rockies July/August 2018 - Day 15 - Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon

[jocat]

Index is here.

Day 15 - Monday 6th August 2018 - Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon

The alarm went off at 6:30 am and by 7am we were in the virtually empty breakfast room. It did allow me to take a few photos though, without any strange looks. We were trying to be quick so I just had a croissant, toast and orange juice and Martin had granola, yoghurt, toast and orange juice.

By 7:30 am we were driving out of the hotel car park. The temperature at this time of the morning was only 5 degrees, but the sky looked much clearer today.

We decided to drive up the Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise. We knew it was a marginally longer journey, but thought it would be quiet at this time of day and we’d have more chance of seeing wildlife. We didn’t end up seeing any signs of wildlife at all, but there were some lovely views.

We arrived at Lake Louise at about 8:40 am but they’d already closed the parking lots. We drove back round the loop and parked at the overflow car park on Highway 1 and caught the free shuttle bus in. You can also catch a shuttle to Lake Louise village from here, plus Moraine Lake (but I believe they charge for that one.)

We arrived back at Lake Louise at about 9:20 am and were surprised at the crowds already. We decided to take the lakeshore trail, and the crowds thinned out considerably. There were also several other lovely spots for photos as we worked our way round, without the crowds of people. Are you ready for lots of photos? I'll apologise now for lots of similar photos, but I just couldn't narrow them down very much.

It didn’t take us too long to reach the other end of the lake and we had a sit down for a whole to enjoy the views. On the walk back we heard some thundering sounds. We turned round just in time to catch some snow falling off the mountain.

You can just see the slight cloud of snow that flew up after it landed - if only I'd been a bit quicker with my camera!

We walked back towards the hotel and went inside to find the deli to grab a drink and a snack. Martin had a banana and chocolate chip muffin and I had a slice of cheesecake. It had been a long time since breakfast! We also had a Diet Coke.

One refreshed, we walked back to catch the shuttle bus, then drove the car back to Johnstone Canyon. The car parking was mad here! Cars were parked at least a mile up the road in either direction of the car park. We turned round to go back and see if we’d missed a space, then decided to go into the car park to see if we could get lucky as someone was leaving. We only drove round the car park once before we found a space.

We walked to the lower falls, which is just over 1 km away. You’ll have spotted a pattern that we only ever walk to the places nearest the car park! The walk can be narrow in places, as much of it is built onto the side of a rock.

When we got to the falls, there is a little cave to the right hand side of them, which you can go through to get a closer look. There was a bit of a queue across the bridge, but people generally were being polite and waiting until the family before them in the queue had come out. Not the people behind us though! There were quite a large number of family members so we were then trapped and couldn’t get back out, as there wasn’t enough room at the viewing point for them and us.

We left at 3:30 pm and noticed on the sign by the entrance that the car park had 4 spaces at that time, so if you can’t visit in a morning, then late afternoon might be better. There were still a lot of cars parked on the road though.

We got back to the hotel and relaxed for an hour before showering and getting ready for dinner. We had booked a table at the Elk and Oarsman, which calls itself a gastro pub - it’s not a gastro pub in our sense of the word, and is more like a sports bar really.

I ordered a glass of wine and Martin had an IPA. Food wise, Martin went back to his salmon and added on a portion of prawns. I opted for a Canadian pizza. The food was lovely (although I only managed half of mine) and quite reasonable for Banff. I wasn’t convinced my wine was the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that I’d ordered though - it was a make that I had been drinking elsewhere during the holiday, but this either tasted off, or was a cheaper substitute. The waitress took it back and came back with a taster of a ‘new bottle’. That tasted absolutely fine, so she brought me a fresh glass. I’m still not sure that was right either. It was more drinkable than the first, but it tasted a bit watered down. I’m not one to make a fuss though - I’d just rather they called it a house wine and didn’t pretend that it was something it wasn’t. We paid the bill and walked back to the hotel, where we sat on the balcony for a couple of hours and shared a bottle of wine that I’d bought earlier in the holiday and not opened yet. That tasted much better!

We were supposed to have started packing when we got back from dinner, but drinking wine was much more enjoyable. We’d have plenty of time to pack in the morning!

[parisdisneyfan]

What a great thing to see, a mini avalanche! You got a lot done today as well!

[Melbatb]

Amazing photos! We skiied a lot at Lake Louise - but didn’t have to deal with the crowds so much!

The blue if the lake is so wonderful!

Shame about the wine/water!

[CrispyA]

The lake looks so beautiful. I’m really enjoying these Rockies trip reports - definitely going on the future holiday list!

[WileyCoyote]

Gorgeous pics. Wow parking is definitely a big deal at these places ( mental note made in case we ever visit ) . Dinner sounded a bit average and definitely the wine !

[MarionG]

Once again I love the scenery, brings back such wonderful memories. Can't believe how busy everywhere is though. We were so lucky 10 years ago!

[Gunna]

Loved LL and the canyon, great places to visit and your pictures are brilliant