Lake Louise

The gorgeous summer blooms at Lake Louise

We continued along the rest of the Columbia Icefields Parkway towards Lake Louise and into Banff National. A quick at Bow Summit, the highest point of the Parkway, gave us a view of Lake Peyto - the "bluest lake in the Rockies". Unfortunately due to the sun position and clouds, it was not the choice time for supreme blue, but this did not make the lake any less breathtaking. In the distance, one could still the remnant of Peyto Glacier which help form the lake.

We had purchased a touring guide app which gave commentary based on our GPS position. Thanks to the app we had thirty seconds of fake concentration and good behaviour from the children followed by another 5 minutes of giggling, poking and silliness. It was worth speeding to reduce the time between commentary. Before long, we are at Lake Louise village. Lunch was reasonable cafe food but involved the best hot white chocolate known to man. From there it was a very short drive to the stunning Lake Louise itself.

Lake Peyto 

Tonight we were staying at suite at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise - although the rooms were beautifully appointed and the views stunning, it was lacking "Disney magic" when it came to service...The concierge had written to us prior to arrival giving us a choice of our welcome platter and informing us that we would receive complimentary fresh cut flowers and internet. However when we arrived, there was no platter, no flowers, and there were going to charge us for internet! Our key cards kept failing despite several changes, and the air-conditioning in the living room did not work. The issues were all resolved but it was disappointing when you are paying a premium price for the room.

This did not stop us from enjoying the facilities of the beautiful resort. We took the opportunity to go out on the Lake in our complimentary canoe hires. The lake is only ice-free for 150 days of the year and temperatures range between 1 and 3 degrees celcius year round! Dinner was at the resorts Swiss restaurant. The black truffle cheese fondue was fun and delicious but we can put the set back in the pantry for another decade. The highlight for Malcolm was the swimmer quick spin dryer in the pool area's change room...The highlight for the children were getting their own fluffy robes and slippers.. The highlight for Jonah was having the living room to himself, his own double bed, his own tv and his own bathroom. He became very protective of his toiletries, warning everyone not to touch his "Rose 31 collection". Such a princess.

And tomorrow we will have our first hotel buffet breakfast since the cruise! O happy day!

Complimentary valet parking

Waiting while Daddy checks in

Exploring while the room was being readied

There's the famous lake!

Our welcome platter

Time to utilise our free canoe

Massive poppies

Swiss for dinner

Dinner with a view

Appetiser

Best cheese fondue ever - with black truffle

Child sized beef tenderloin

Nice view to look at as the sun goes down

Tickled pink to get bathrobes

The whole bed, in the whole room, with its own bathroom, ALL his

Including "his" Rose 31 collection which no one else can touch

Jasper National Park

Athabasca Glacier flowing from the Columbia Icefield

The Columbia Icefields Parkway is a scenic road linking Jasper with Lake Louise and is consistently voted as one the most scenic drives in the world. We undertook the journey through the rugged Canadian Rockies early to avoid the crowds as we were in the peak visiting season. Our drive started off with a bang with bear and deer sightings! Our destination was The Columbia Icefields Visitor Centre approximately halfway to Lake Louise.

Plenty of wildlife

Including a bear!

Athabasca Falls

Sunwapta Falls

We had pre-purchased our tickets for the Glacier Skywalk, Glacier Adventure as well as the Banff Gondola. The silly thing was that they wouldn't let you book the tour times online despite calling! Once we arrived at the Visitor Centre, we had to line up to get a tour time for both the Skywalk and the Glacier Adventure. Fortunately, despite arriving there at 1045am, we managed to get a Skywalk time of 11am and a Glacier Adventure time of 1230.

From the visitor centre, it was a 5 minute bus ride to the Skywalk - a self guided walkway hugging the cliff-edge including an overhanging glass platform 280m in the air! Free audioguides were provided with educational stops along the way. We learnt all about glaciers and local flora and fauna all the while enjoying spectacular views up, down and into the valley!

Skywalk

Proof that I was actually there...

The cliff side walk

Marine fossils on the walkway. This level was once at the bottom of the water!

View of the Columbia ice-field, just like icing on a cake, except it's a 100m deep icing....

Jonah especially loved the information on the animals

Interactive displays to engage the children

We inhaled our lunch back at the Visitor Centre just in time before our bus left for the Columbia Icefield! The 4 minute shuttle took us to a transfer area onto Ice-Explorers, multi-million dollar vehicles which then took us onto the Athabasca Glacier. Wow! It was definitely an awesome experience. The children were told to think of an Icefield like an ice lake and a glacier like an ice river. This helped immensely! A few quick facts:

• The average yearly snowfall on the Columbia Icefield is 7m!
• Although we can only see the edges of it, the massive Icefield is 325km2 and up to 300m thick at its deepest point.
• Water from the highest point (Mount Snowdome) flows into 3 Oceans! The Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific
• At the Visitor Centre, you can see 5 glaciers coming off the Icefield!
• Sadly since 1870, the Athabasca Glacier has lost more than 2/3 of its volume.

By the time we returned to the Visitor Centre, it was mayhem. People were packed in like sardines, either waiting to buy tickets, waiting to buy/eat food, or waiting for their tour buses! If anyone is considering any of the above experiences in July or Auguest, it is well worth walking up early to do it.

We returned to Jasper and stopped at Buck Lake. Our visit was hurried along when we heard a growl and a rustle in the bushes. Some were convinced it was a bear.

Our transport

The terrain we were travelling on!

Glacier melt

Athabasca Glacier. It was cold!

Oops...perhaps not the most appropriate footwear!

Collecting glacier water to try

Forest walk

Buck Lake