Geez, Lake Louise, Another Journey Done!

Lake Louise, AB → Calgary, AB
298.0 km (185.2 mi)

More 2024 Adventures

We’ve Cana-done it, everyone!

Our last morning in Canada began on a drizzly note as we motored south from Silverhorn Creek to see what we could see between downpours and Calgary. I, for one, voted to hike to the historic Lake Agnes Tea House for tea and pie, but our day was going to be determined by the weather. So we kicked things off with a little side hike to the Peyto Lake overlook!

It was a short, steep, slick schlep up a paved trail to the overlook, which was crawling with lookie-lous, both on deck and below it, fighting for selfie space over the brilliant green water and rainbow-decked valley! This lake got its name from Bill Peyto, who came here as a railroad worker in the late 1880s and went on to become a trail guide and superintendent of Banff National Park! From this vantage point, it looked like a big old alligator hand stretching out to the horizon!

But our main destination today was one of the major attractions in Banff National Park, completely inaccessible by car (only because of the jam-packed parking lot). This was Lake Louise, originally called Ho-run-num-nay, or lake of the little fishes, by the Stoney Nakoda, but renamed for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, wife of Canada’s Governor General and daughter of Queen Victoria. In the 1890s, the Canadian Pacific Railway started bringing folks here, including Swiss Mountain guides who introduced mountaineering to the Canadian Rockies, plus lots of tourists who needed accommodation. So, the Chateau Lake Louise rose up on the shore, originally for summer retreats, now as a base for winter sports too!

Like at Moraine Lake, we’d taken a shuttle bus to get here and only had two hours to experience the lake. Sadly, that meant the Lake Agnes Tea House just wasn’t going to happen. So, we walked around the edge of the lake a while, very uninterested in fighting crowds on the eastern shore by the hotel, which was closed to non-guests, but there were at least some tasty gooseberries to enjoy on the side of the trail!

While waiting for the shuttle back, we pushed back through the crowd and sat awhile looking out over the glassy water, a tranquil haven surrounded by chaos. That’s kind of what made this trip so wonderful, and indeed, any trip into the mountains and nature. The world can be so crazy, but if you look hard enough, you’re sure to find a place that’ll give you room, and air, to breathe.

Our trip concluded about two hours away, just past Calgary. The Mountain View Farm Campground was not exactly what the name made it out to be, my first real trailer park with full-time residents and everything! But this was the closest camping place to the airport, and we made the most of the facilities to dump, wash, and whittle down our groceries before tomorrow’s flights home.

I had a really great time tooling around this part of Canada and felt very proud to take part in a 40-year anniversary celebration with Ross and “Trolley.” I don’t think such a thing is in the cards for me, so I sure am impressed with all they have weathered together. I wonder what our next big trip together will be!

See you south of the border!