Wednesday, 30th December 2015
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| Bear proof rubbish bin |
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| Remains of a 1993 prescribed burn |
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| Powder snow |
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| Snow angels? |
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| Shan and Dave (birthday boy) |
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| Cool public loo |
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| Castle Mountain |
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| Looking through icicles |
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| A fire would be nice ... |
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| Lake Louise |
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| Another selfie |
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| Fairmont Lake Louise |
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| Gingerbread Village |
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| Ice sculpture |
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| Ice castle (bit hard to pick out) |
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| Photo bombed by Aidan |
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| Father and son |
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| Frozen waterfall |
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| Grandpa and Grandson |
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| Hot drinks and an icy seat |
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| At the bar |
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| Castle Cliffs |
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| Ready for bed |
Today is David’s birthday and we spent the day at Lake
Louise. With the temperature at -25, we
were on the road by 9.30 am for the most spectacular journey we have had so
far. Instead of staying on the
Trans-Canada Highway, we took the scenic route along the Bow Valley Parkway. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, so we were
able to stop whenever a photo opportunity presented itself. The valley was heavily forested with the
mountains for backdrops. The snow was
fine powder, the trees were heavy with snow, the mountains were stunning and
the sky was blue. It was a tad cold,
though. We stopped for a play in the
snow at one point, with many snow angels being made in the powder and even
found an unheated public loo. Jack
informed us that wee freezes when it dribbles accidently onto the seat – just in
case anyone is interested. There were
many, many photos taken today, too.
We arrived at the Lake Louise Village about 11.30 am, and
visited the Information Centre for a map and a look at the displays on the area
and how it was formed, geologically.
Then it was time to find an empty space in the large carpark and find
the lake. Dave and Co had brought their
own lunch, we (being on holiday) decided to eat in the coffee shop (along with
hundreds of others) at the Fairmont Lake Louise. After meeting up again, we proceeded to the
lake for a look at the ice castle on the frozen lake before everyone (apart
from me) set off for a walk to the end of the lake. Shan and Aidan didn’t quite make it to the
end, but the three big boys discovered an ice waterfall at the end of the
lake. On their return, they stopped for
a drink in the ice bar – coffee, hot chocolate and spirits were on offer. Before we departed, the boys had a quick
skate on the ice around the castle, then we all walked across the lake back to
the car park.
We returned home via the same route, in the hope we might
spot some wildlife. Apart from the
scenery from a different angle, we did see two cars which had run off the road
into the soft snow. One was being loaded
onto a tow truck as we passed and the second car and occupants were waiting …
It was nearly dark by the time we arrived home – and Cat
went straight to bed, after muttering all day about cold feet and a cold nose.
