~*~ “And then there were
5…” ~*~
Touron
Day
at Lake Louise
and Lake
Morraine
Kate and I both got up around 8:00am, after a whopping 2 ½ hours of sleep in
the Castle Mountain Hostel. We walked over to the little convenience store/gas
station desperately needing some caffeine in our systems. We noticed Alpha’s
jeep was gone and realized he had gone into Lake Louise to pick up our new permit. Yay! We
grabbed a cup of coffee and a muffin and then simply ogled at the beauty of the
Canadian Rockies that surrounded us. Driving in when it was dark, we had only
seen outlines of these peaks but in full daylight, we were left speechless. “Oh
my God” and “Holy Sh*t” were about the extent of our vocabulary.
We found Susan, our friendly hostel caretaker and made
sure to thank her for the hospitality and special arrangements they had made
for our late arrival. Monty and Anna awoke shortly, also in dire need of some
caffeine. Alpha Male returned around the same time. After hello’s and some
introductions, we decided to play the part of tourons for the day. The weather
was absolutely incredible as we piled into the cars and headed for Lake Louise. Parking is apparently a rare commodity
in these parts because it took us forever to find a place. After some skillful
parallel maneuvers around a huge rock by AlphaMale, we walked over to the lake.
I’ve seen pictures on many occasions. I did
a full research paper on Banff when I was in 6th grade but nothing could have
prepared me for that first glance of Lake Louise.
The clear blue sky, dark mountains, pristine white glaciers and turquoise
waters were breathtaking, to say the least. The view nearly brought MsKB and I
to tears as we stood in awe of our surroundings. People swarmed around us, but
I was oblivious to most of them as I tried to process what I was seeing. As I
snapped photos, I thought to myself “It doesn’t matter how these come out…they
will never do this place justice.” I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.
A friend of ours
had told us that there is a great little Tea House on one of the trails that
winds around Lake
Louise. It’s
only about 2.6 kilometers and we thought it would make a nice little sunset
hike when we return from the backcountry. Had we been wearing appropriate
footwear at the time, we probably would have gone right then and there. As it
was, we never made it to the Tea House but that just gives a great reason to go
back again in the future.
We decided to go
into the hotel and find a deli for some lunch. After ordering sandwiches and
picking up some cold drinks, we headed back down to the lake and found a spot
on the rocks. We ate in silence, watching the tourists (that’s us!) and
blinking profusely just trying to take it all in. Men in kilts and carrying
bagpipes walked past us so we sat and listened to their sounds, 
carried across the water. At the time I
was thinking that I couldn’t possibly imagine a more breathtaking view than the
one before me. Even standing in front of it, it looked like a painting, like it
couldn’t possibly be real. I would have sat there all week if someone had
offered that as a suggestion, but I had no idea what I would be missing if I
had stayed there. It turns out that was just the tip of the iceberg of what the
Canadian Rockies had in store for us.
After lunch, we
headed to Lake Morraine. I thought Louise was great but Morraine was even more
sensational. The colors were even more vibrant and the 10 Peaks stood tall and
strong against the sky. Alpha, MsKB and I made our way over the logjams and
scrambled up the rocks and boulders for a better view (or simply, another
view). We made our way down to the water’s edge where we soaked our feet in the
chilly glacial lake. Monty and Anna, evidently smarter than us, took the
trail (there was a trail?) up to the rocks. We ran into them again when we came
back down.
Eventually we
tore ourselves away and headed back to Lake Louise Village. We decided on cheese, chorizo and beer
for dinner. Yummy! After purchasing our goods, we went back to the campground
(carefully avoiding the electric bear fence) and started a 
little fire. It was a great chance for
Alpha, Monty and MsKB to catch up, as well as Anna and I having the opportunity to get to
know everyone better. We decided that Alpha Male wasn’t the appropriate name
anymore…he needed to be upgraded due to his cool and collected demeanor and
willingness to take care of things in Banff and calm four stir-crazy and
semi-frantic women. And so Alpha God was born. (the Alpha Male name is now up
for grabs if anyone wants it…)
Alpha cooked up
the chorizo while we snacked on cheese and toasted the Banff Buttkicking
Adventure that we were about to undertake. Grasshopper beer! They must have
known I was coming. After dinner and many laughs (much needed laughs, at that),
we retired to our perspective tents. Alpha, Katie and I attempted to squeeze into my Marmot
NYX tent in the hopes that we would only need to carry one tent between the
three of us. Needless to say, the Alpha-sandwich was a wee bit tight. The poor
6’3” guy was getting smothered on both sides from witches. Hey…we warned him
that we cuddle. Tomorrow ~ the backpacking begins!
Day 2 – “Horseflies the size of Connecticut!” (Kim)
Mosquito Creek to Fish Lakes
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