Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Banff (Canadian) National Park -- ALBERTA

4-25-09 -- We plan to make a day trip to Banff and to Lake Louis on May 5th. I have been told by many people over many years that this is some of the most beautiful scenery any where in the world! We will give you our own impressions after we see it for ourselves.

Unfortunately the Icefields Parkway running between Lake Louise and Jasper still have winter driving conditions as of April 30th, with full snow cover, so we are making this just a day trip instead of driving the full length of the park.

For more information: http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/index_e.asp



May 6th -- We took a day trip to visit Lake Louise and Banff in the National Park. The visitor's centre was excellent at Lake Louise---focused on the geology of the area, including a video that Jakob enjoyed. We also liked the animals posed on "cliffs" in the lobby area--including a mama bear who finally had to be killed because she kept returning to the area campgrounds, no matter how far they flew her away!

Lake Louise is indeed in a beautiful setting, a high lake surrounded by mountain peaks. Unfortunately it was still ice & snow covered so we enjoy mountains reflected in bright turquoise green water.

We oohed and aahed over the views along the drive back toward Banff. Then we walked along the falls just outside of the town of Banff. They were quite different than any other falls we have seen---with many, many narrow channels of water jumping and splashing between layers of rock. That was definitely worth taking the time to see!

I've heard from a number of friends how gorgeous this area is---and it is indeed beautiful. But...since then we have travelled to many other areas that are just as beautiful...plus have almost NO people. We enjoyed this day trip---but I suspect we would have hated it in full summer with a zillion people crowding around.

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