Banff and Lake Louise

Rocky Mountain Landscape near Banff

Woke up to a glorious day in Canmore after my usual fitful night’s sleep in a Sleepnumber bed.  I wonder how other people figure out their sleep number: I’ve never been able to make that simple decision.  I selected “50”, tossed and turned and finally – gratefully – got up at 6:30, feeling pretty good. We had breakfast in the excellent restaurant at the Canmore Radisson, and were on the road shortly before ten.

The drive between Canmore and Banff was as spectacular as we expected, but I was a little surprised to see so many tourists in Banff the day after Labor Day. We found beautiful Bow Falls soon after our arrival and enjoyed the people watching as much as we did the natural beauty surrounding us.  We decided to take the Banff gondola up Sulphur Mountain, even though I felt like “holding out” for the Lake Louise gondola.

What a wonderful experience! The gondola moved quite quickly up the steep slope, and we were soon at the summit where we delighted in the panoramic view of the mountain scenery. It was cold up there, more for Bob, in his summer shorts, than for me.  I smelled the pines and imagined how the lovely vistas would be transformed in the winter.

We had lunch at Tony Roma’s, where the best course was the beer: Coors for Bob, a mountain red with some unfamiliar name for me.  The booth was so tight that I wondered if I had gained weight in the last few days.  Bob enjoyed his chicken Caesar wrap (shared with me) and chicken noodle soup. I wasn’t so enthusiastic about the baked potato soup.

We rode to Lake Louise along the “scenic route” rather than on the TransCanada Highway. It was beautiful and not too full of traffic. We had frequent stops for photos until we arrived in Lake Louise at the end of the afternoon.  We walked down to the lake and I found that I remembered little  of my visit forty years ago, though the lake seemed less impressive and beautiful that it had then. I didn’t remember a boardwalk or canoes. No matter. It was a great way to end the afternoon.

I had the bright idea of staying at a hotel  “10 minutes west of Lake Louise”, with mountain views. That bright idea led us through road construction all the way to the border of British Columbia, where we turned around and returned to Lake Louise.

We checked into the Rocky Mountaineer, a hotel that has seen better days, very long ago. The desk clerks were very welcoming, though – one from Germany, the other from Japan – and we were too tired to look elsewhere. I walked to the little shopping center for some food and we settled down to watch the Democratic National Convention and the Quebec election results. The night is quiet and the mountain air is fresh and clean. Life is pretty good.