Lake Louise
We decided
to spend the Easter break taking a closer look at the Columbia Valley and
the Rockies we have heard so much about. We left Vernon in beautiful sunshine
on Saturday morning and the mild weather stayed with us for our entire
journey. Our first stop was at historic Craigellachie, which is where the
last spike of the rail-lines was driven joining the east to the west...that
was the last of millions.!! The boys played on an old engine just as a
train went past. The freight trains carry dozens of trucks, sometimes over
seventy...thats a long train!!! We stopped at our favourite little
town, Revelstoke, for a picnic lunch beside the shore of the dam. The dam
is still closed this time of year but we were able to have a decent look
from our vantage point.
We were anticipating seeing our fair share of wildlife this trip and we
certainly weren't disappointed. Heading north-east along the Trans-Canadian
hwy, less than 10kms from Revelstoke, we scored big-time. Right beside
the road, a black bear cub was foraging in the grass. It was hard to tell
if it was a grizzly or a black bear, as some grizzly cubs are very black,
and black bears can be just about any colour. Unfortunately it was a really
bad place to stop and to save causing major accidents we had to move on,
sadly without a photo. But the boys had a really good look at a bear in
the 'wild'. Revelstoke is renown for its bear population, the tree-line
comes right down to the town. It is illegal to feed any wildlife here,
and even the garbage bins are "bear-proofed". Bears
that get too "comfortable" with humans are relocated. Unfortunately they
have excellent homing instincts and if they come back too many times they
have to be destroyed. No Yogi bears here!!
Travelling through Roger's Pass, we stopped for a break at the Information
Centre which was covered in thick snow and ice. As you walked in the front
door, water melting from the roof cascaded down along the verandah. Spring
thaw is amazing!! With all the snow on the peaks yet to melt, its easy
to see how the big rivers and lakes are fed. We stayed overnight at the
Columbia Valley Lodge which is about 20kms out of Golden.
Its right in the heart of the wetlands. The lodge has only 12 units, so
it was really peaceful. The lodge is distinctly Austrian, both in decor
and menu; it was very charming. The view from our balcony looked directly
between the two ranges: the Columbian and the Rockies...words cannot describe.
After discovering that the Easter bunny had done a break-and-enter
during the night, the kids had chocolate for breakfast and we drank copius
amounts of coffee to get us in the driving mood. The lodge would be an
ideal place to stay, and stay, and stay........its very handy to skiing(White
Tooth), snow-mobiling, hiking, heli-skiing, white-water rafting(Kicking
Horse), bird-watching and fly-fishing( literally right outside the
back door!). But, we were on a mission, so onward and upward!
Five minutes out of Golden we spied some very agile sheep. These
are wild sheep, but they look like goats. They perch on the side of cliffs.
They are quite big animals, not like our domestic sheep. They were not
white like the Dall sheep (pictured here), that are found higher up the
slopes. They even performed for us while we shot a little footage....two
males rammed horns together and the noise reverberated through the valley...ouch!!
The drive was really pleasant if you don't count some 14kms of winding
road that hugs the mountain, with 30ft high steel mesh nets preventing
the rock slides crashing down on your rooftop. They were very reassuring,
as the road was pock-marked with huge dents where giant boulders had bounced
off the road. The rock was mostly shale, easily eroded by the rushing water.
(On the drive home next day, an enormous pile of shale lay beside the road
where there had been none the day before...roadworks constantly monitor
and clean up the debris) crushed and broken rail-guards stand testimony
to the ever present threat of avalanche....and it ain't just snow!!!
In a little over an hour we found ourselves at Lake Louise. (We stopped
briefly at Vermillion Lakes to film some caribou grazing by the water.
They were fairly distant, and Richard said we'd probably find them walking
around the streets in town, .....as if !)
The day was pretty much like this photograph, gorgeous sun shining,
dazzling(blinding!) reflection from
frozen Lake Louise
Right at the end of the lake you can see the glacier feeding into it...the
wind coming off the glacier was fffreeezing, and it wasn't even really
wind, just a gentle breeze!!
We had lots of
time before checking into our room (no, not the Chateau Lake Louise,
the Hostel Lake Louise) so we headed up to the ski lodge. The snow
was slushy and icy, lots of die-hards on the slopes, but not worth getting
wet for. The lodge was something else with its foundations of giant trees,
and the scenery was, well, you know.....
Still lots of time so we went down to Banff(about an hour easy drive).
Banff is like Noosa in the snow!! Tourist Mecca...yuppy heaven....you name
it, they sell it...there were people everywhere spending mega dollars...(we
were just there for the view!!). Wouldn't you know it, ...there were elk
literally walking around town, very much in the wild, but oblivious to
all the concrete and chaos around them.(He didn't say "I told you so")
We spent
a very comfortable night in the hostel; we had a private room..the kids
had bunkbeds and were just beside themselves. The hostel has a cafe, kitchen,
recreation room, library,etc.(really roughing it, eh?). Next morning the
boys spied a squirrel making a getaway up the nearest spruce. They tried
enticing it down, I think it knew their plans which had something to do
with eternal captivity and a hamster wheel. Our Monday return trip
encountered light flurries just out of Louise and a full-on blizzard past
Field. By the time we reached Golden, the skies were clearer and we had
a smooth drive all the way home. About 900kms round trip and every
corner we turned we were tempted to take more photos, it was one of those
"oohs and aahs" sort of weekend. We look forward to seeing it in
the summer, as the scenery change is quite dramatic; white-water rafting,
fly-fishing, the new gondola will be open at Golden............
Back home.