A peaceful night’s sleep with the fan blowing and the window open. The early morning bird calls were a delight as we generally don’t get to hear them when on the road. We packed up, loaded some of the car, and hit breakfast. Breakfast was described as a “light affair” when we checked in. That definitely described it. Three kinds of dry cereal, various bread and bagels for toast, hard boiled eggs, thin sliced Canadian bacon (may have been ham), and two kinds of thin sliced cheese. Coffee was watery, but did the trick. We loaded the rest of the car and struck out for Banff National Park and Lake Louise.

It was a cloudy day that turned into a gray and overcast day, but the mountains were still glorious. Fortunately there were more opportunities for photos today. We crossed through Robert’s Pass between Revelstoke and Vernon. It’s interesting that the highest peaks in the Canadian Rockies are shorter than the US Rocky Mountains. They seem so much larger, but I think the vastness of the space between them makes them appear taller. The hairpin turns through Canada are much easier to drive than those in Colorado.

Mom got to see a few trains along the way today as they paralleled the road, as did several rivers. We fortunately stopped to purchase our day pass for the park before we arrived which made entry much easier. The area is well marked for the most part. Lake Louise Village is the first thing you see, and it looked more like shopping and dining than an actual parking area for the lake. As we continued up the mountain, gut instinct said I should have continued straight rather than going right. A quick U-turn, and we were face-to-face with a wooly marmot. I thought it was kind of him to stand up and pose for me to get a few pictures!

We parked the car, found the rest rooms, then followed the crowd along the pathway. It truly is more glorious in person than in photos. (Aren’t most places, though?) Despite the crowds jockeying for position for photos and selfies, there was a palpable serenity to the place. The vast expanse of mountains and glacier, and the calm green of the lake . Even the canoes on the lake seemed to float as they paddled along.

We walked the pathway around to the Fairmont Lake Louise Chateau, and checked out the shops inside. We admired the flower gardens in front of the hotel and took a last look at the lake.

Just as we began our walk back to the car, it began to sprinkle. By the time we reached the car, it was a pretty steady rain. We couldn’t have timed it any better!

We drove through the town of Banff, but didn’t get a chance for photos. The sky was threatening more rain, there was no parking anywhere nearby, and it was very crowded. A cute little town, though.

The terrain flattened quickly, and we were back in rolling hills and farms. About an 75 minutes later or so we were checking into tonight’s lodging in Calgary. On our way in to town we passed the Calgary Flames stadium and the Olympic ski jumps. Reminded me of watching the ski jumpers practice in Trondheim, Norway just over 2 years ago.

We lost an hour today as we crossed into mountain time zone. Waiting for dinner to be delivered, then calling it a night. Tomorrow we are off to Medicine Hat. I think we will both be a bit glad to be out of the mountains for a while!