Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise

4-17-2015

     Just outside the city of Calgary the mountains popped into view, and I felt free. Finally! The real adventures could begin. In less than an hour we were at the mountains. Just before driving into them we took a detour and drove South on AB 40 to Spray Lakes, and then took the Smith Dorrien Trail back North to Canmore. It was a beautiful, scenic route that wound up into the mountains, around rivers and fantastic peaks, with some seriously cool campgrounds and recreation trails scattered throughout. We even discovered a community of small, beautiful mountain houses and cabins around the Spray Lakes Reservoir. We even saw a movie set for a movie that's supposed to be released next year, starring Tom Cruise. We'll be keeping our eyes out for it.

    Canmore came into view just when the road was at its best, where it was wedged in with a river between tall cliff walls. The top of a dam was just visible ahead, and then just when I thought we were going to drive over the dam the road turned and began its long descent into Canmore.

     What a cool town Canmore was! We had some good food at the first place we could find (we were hungry!), at a pub on Main Street, and headed to Banff right after that. Some locals in the pub told us about a lot of cool stuff in Banff, and between Banff and Lake Louise, which was a little further west. Also, Canmore is best for hiking and trails, which were mostly covered in snow still. A lot of trailheads were down roads that were still closed for the winter. So we moved on to Banff. 

     Banff was cool, too! The locals all seemed to have their opinions on which town was better, but I can't decide. They were both so cool. Banff had a castle, so that's pretty persuading. Not really a castle, I guess, but the Fairmont hotel there sure looks like a castle. It's all stone, and it's 9 stories tall, plus the suites and towers that could only be accessed from the 9th floor. It was built in the 19th century, and the inside reminded me of Hogwarts. It had full suits of armour, weapons displayed on the walls, and crests carved into the stonework. The crest of the thistle was all over the William Wallace dining room, and the hotel in general. The crest of the wild rose, for Alberta, was also prominent on the walls and in the stained glass in the back lobby. It was so cool. Someday I am determined to come and actually stay here.

     We had drinks in the William Wallace room. I got a pear Cosmo that was indescribably amazing, Luke got a gin and tonic with a heap of kiwi fruit and hint of pineapple juice that was also really good. I hate gin, and even I really liked his drink. 

     After our drinks we left and went to the Banff Upper Hot Springs, which was very commercialized but still pleasant. The water was treated and fed into a big pool that was situated like a deck on the mountainside, with views over the town of Banff and the Canadian Rockies. Because it was treated, it didn't smell like sulfer, which was nice. 

     We watched the sun set behind the mountains and then left before it got truly dark, since we were staying in Lake Louise that night and I didn't want to miss any views on the drive there. The Canadian Rockies are incredible. Unlike the Rockies in the US, whose peaks build on each other, the Canadian Rocky peaks are all very distinct. It's like a group of stand alone mountains all crowded together, stretching on forever. The mountains are all patterned, too, and each one is different. Some are striped horizontal, some are striped vertically, some are striped diagonally, and some are striped and twisted. Others look like smears and slabs all built up. Some look like they got sliced by a giant sword because half of the mountain is sheer cliff, and some look like slices that got thrown into the ground, because they're sheer cliff on both sides. I've been taking pictures all day every day and with each new turn, I feel like I need another picture. I may have too many now, but someone wise once told me that it's better to take too many pictures and pick the best ones than to have to go all the way back for a shot you wished you'd taken. 

     By the time we got to the hotel in Lake Louise, it was almost 10:00, and we were hungry again. The only place still open was the bar in the lower level of the hotel, which had good food, but not amazing. No complaints, though. After that we went right to bed. We had all day the next day to check out the town. There was another Fairmont Hotel on the lake that was supposed to also be amazing that I was excited to see. I'd also heard Lake Louise was prettier than Banff, so I couldn't wait to check it out in the daylight. 

     Since we had all day to see things, we decided to go skiing first. Best decision ever. Lake Louise is the coolest mountain I have ever skied at! Every run was right at my comfort level, and yet I felt like I could improve a lot if I spent a whole season skiing there. There wasn't anything too scary but there were plenty of challenging runs. And the conditions were awesome! They had just gotten dumped on the night before last (when we got snowed on in Calgary), but it was warm and sunny now. 

    It took us a few runs to get used to the rental equipment. I had boots so soft I had to crank them as tight as they'd go so I could actually edge on my skis. The first run was terrifying because I couldn't get my skis to turn. But, I tightened my boots, switched my skis, and I made it work. Luke had a snowboard that had some sort of triple edge with camber, and he really had to get used to that. By the third run, though, we had it down. And then we really started having fun!

    We skied at least one run on every open lift, and we found ourselves catching the last ride up the tow seat (I don't know what else to call it) up into the back bowl for the last run of the day. The tow seat was this awkward blue circle attached to a curved pole that you were supposed to put between your legs from the front, squeeze your thighs together, and the blue circular part caught your butt and pulled you up hill. I didn't think it'd be enough to pull me uphill without me also having to grab on for dear life and hold on all the way to the top. It wasn't that bad, though; I had an easy time with it. However, this invention was clearly made for skiers, not snowboarders. Luke had to deal with all this while standing sideways, with one foot free. He hung on for dear life the whole way up. It was tiring. By the time we made our last run, we were both glad it was the last run. My leg muscles were so sore it was painful to stop, especially from high speeds, but going slow was tiring, too. I think Luke was in the same boat. Regardless, the run down the back bowl was the best run of the day. The snow was dreamy, the run was perfect, and the views were epic. 

    Sidenote for likeminded people who worry about avalanche conditions on a nice warm day after a heavy snow: we found out that ski patrol had blasted the back bowls for avalanche control right after all the new snow. 

    Now, for the next part to make sense, it's essential to think of the back bowl as an upper bowl, rather than the backside of the moutain. It was the highest section of ridge on the wide mountain that is Lake Louise Mountain, only accessible by the tow rope, or steep uphill hiking from the next lift over. Once we were out of the backbowl, all we had to do to get back was keep going down the run. Eventually it went all the way down to the base of the mountain, and back to the lodge.  It was our longest run of the day, and the best. Even when we were down the mountain further, the snow was still buttery. It didn't turn to slush until the very bottom. It was great.

     Tired, sore, a little sunburnt, and hungry, we rallied and went right on over to the Fairmont Hotel on Lake Louise. From the outside, it was not as cool as the one in Banff. However, it overlooks some pretty epic peaks, a glacier capped ridge-line, and the lake, all in one view. It was awesome. We got a table with a window view in the restaurant there, and ordered some drinks and food. I tried another Cosmo, this one raspberry. It was not as good as the pear, but still good. Luke got a maple rum old fashioned. I liked that so much I basically stole it from him. He ended up ordering another drink, a bloody mary made with clamato juice (clam tomato juice), that he was surprised to find he loved, since he doesn't like clamato juice. 

      The food was also amazing. We got bison burger sliders that were phenomenal, and sweet potato fries that were good by themselves, but with the dipping sauces that came with them they were phenomenal as well! 

     Content with that, we decided to check out the lakeshore trail that goes back toward the glacier, with some pretty epic waterfalls along the way. We took a chance and walked across the ice as a short cut. I think a few more days and that would have been a very bad idea, but we made it just fine. No cracks or groans or anything scary. Eventually we ended up at a huge ice flow, which is 110 meters tall! That's 361 feet tall. It was impressive. Across the lake from that was a shorter, wider flow of beautiful, thick, blue ice that would have also been excellent for ice climbing. But the ice was unreliable and we were too tired, anyways. We walked a little further, but we turned around before we got into the avalanche fall zone. We stuck to the lakeshore trail for the walk back and it was beautiful. I bet it's even better in the summertime when the ice is melted and the water sparkles turquoise. I'm determined to go back to all these places again, both for more skiing and for a summer vacation. Heck, I wouldn't even mind being Canadian if I could live in the area! (I hope any Canadians reading this have a sense of humor. I'm just teasing.)

     Tomorrow we head out through the rest of Banff National Park and through Jasper National Park to Jasper and then to Grand Prairie, or thereabouts. Can't wait to see more mountains!