We began with, of course, Lake Louise. All the hype is for real, because it was so beautiful. The turquoise colour of the glacial lakes comes from 'rock flour' (rock finely ground by glacial ice) that is suspended in the water. Took this shot of the girls looking over the lake.
Fenten got his first chance to swim, I took him to an out of the way spot on the Lake. DH was very anxious about getting caught by a park warden, and I was hoping not to bother other people. However, when I looked behind me a bunch of Asian tourists were very excitedly taking pictures – so I guess we were ok. Had trouble convincing him to get out though. I can imagine that cold glacial lake was refreshing!
We then drove to Moraine Lake, where the lake was even more blue – almost aquamarine (because of a greater quantity of suspended rock flour). Walked up the 'Rockpile' and had our lunch overlooking the lake. Spectacular.
After lunch we headed up the Icefields Parkway and made it to Saskatchewan Crossing (about a third of the way) before turning back. The views from the parkway are splendid, they just can't be captured on film though. We stopped for a small hike up to the Bow Summit overlooking Peyto Lake. Peyto Lake was the most brillantly coloured lake yet, and from Bow Summit you could see the Bow Glacier that feeds it.
These places are packed with tourists, and the parking lots are goldmines for the licence plate game! In Banff and Yoho, I found licence plates from Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Montana, Wyoming, Maine, New Hampshire, and Arkansas. And, unbelievably, I even found a licence from Hawaii! It was in the parking lot for Peyto Lake. Who would fly a car to the US or Canada from Hawaii?
Well, there goes my licence plate bingo if you found Hawaii. I will have to pay up to my DH, we thought for sure that would be the missing one - surprising.
ReplyDeleteThe lake shots are breathtaking!