Today, July 9th, we got up really early (5:00AM) and drove through Kootenay National Park (138klm ) to get to Banff National Park before the hoards descended on the park. The Canadians love their national parks just as much as we do, maybe more? Thousands of them show up every day during July and August. Lines miles long occur to get into the parks, so "get there early" we were told. It was true! We went to Lake Louise first, where I made friends with at least one hundred new people, many kids, and older people, and middle-agers too.
Lake Louise is very deep, feed by six glaciers and is a deep turquoise color due to the minerals picked up by the run-off from the mountains. The mountains surrounding the lake are all in the range of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the lake. Avalanches are common here during the winter, making it dangerous to be here in the snowy months.
The scenery is simply awe-inspiring and there are several hiking trails around it, above it, the length of it, or up to the glaciers themselves for the hearty and brave of heart. We chose the length of it (over 5 miles) trail which runs along the rim of the lake up to the base of the mountains that house the glaciers. Looking back from the other end of the lake gives you a great view of the huge Fairmount Hotel (500 plus rooms) too.
After that, we drove on to Yoho National Park a half an hours drive further on the Trans-Canada Highway (runs the entire length of the country from Atlantic to Pacific). There we stopped at Emerald Lake, named for the emerald appearance of its waters. There too, was a very nice resort with many cottages to rent on one end of the lake, and we made friends with many more people.
By that time I was exhausted from making so many new friends (Dad and Mom were too), so we went back to our apartment in Radium, BC, an hour and a half away. I finished dictating this to Dad and now I sleeping😉.
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