Lake Louise to Jasper 9.7.16

Lake Louise and Lake Moraine were our destinations this morning.   We arrived at Lake Moraine by 9, hoping to avoid the crowds since this is a favorite stop for the tour buses.   Lake Moraine, 7 miles south of Lake Louise, is in the Valley of the Ten Peaks  and  the mountain peaks are reflected in the tourqouise blue water.

image
Wildlife  bridge over the highway.  Since they have installed these, the  loss of wildlife has decreased  about 80%.

 

image
Lake Moraine with a few peaks reflected in the water.
image
Luckily for Frank no one was there to rent us a canoe.

Lake Louise was our next stop.   We got there around 10 and unfortunately did not beat the tour buses.   There were a lot of people in front of the hotel by the lake that is was disappointing.   As the morning progressed it did improve.  Lake Louise is the starting point for the hike to the Lake Agnes Tea House and other popular hikes.  Our daughter Kate, a seasoned thru-hike,  would have hated this place.

Of course a big attraction for me was to see the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.   It is a beautiful hotel overlooking Lake Louise.   We walked along the shore of the lake about a mile each way.image

image
Three horseback  riders went up the hill behind the shoreline trail.
image
There were lots of canoes on the lake, but I had other plans for after the hike along the shore.

image

My strategy was to built up an appetite to eat a lunch at one of the restaurants in the hotel.  We sat a window overlooking the lake.    I loved it!

After lunch we headed north on the Icefields Parkway to Jasper for about 150 miles.   Everything here is listed in kilometers and we constantly have to figure what that is in miles.   We passed so many glaciers, it became the norm.

image
Crowfoot Glacier

image

Bow Summit and Peyto Lake-this is the highest drivable pass in the national parks of the Canadian Rockies

In the picture on the left below, Peyto Glacier is shown as it looked in 1885.  The picture on the right is one I took today.  The flat light tan area is where the glacier once was, but now has become Lake Peyto.  Some climate models predict that many of the large glaciers will be gone by 2030.

Tonight we are in the town of Jasper.  I’m ready to call it a day.  This touring can wear one out!  In fact, I now have 16,739 steps on my Fitbit to be exact!

4 Replies to “Lake Louise to Jasper 9.7.16”

  1. I hope you went out on the Columbia Ice Field. We found it very interesting to see the melting of the ice from the top of the glacier. When you get to Jasper, tell Frank to see how the shrubbery in yards is covered with netting to keep the Mule Deer from eating them.

    1. We will be going to the Columbia Icefields tomorrow on our way south to Kalispell where we will be flying back home. We will look for the shrubbery netting while we are here in Jasper.

Comments are closed.