day 16 - Lake Louise

Sunday June 18  - Day 16 of trip – Lake Louise, Canada – and a day for Erik and family to arrive!!!

Amanda gave me a handmade book for me to take Bible notes in, with a dedicated section per Bible book. Travis made a list of things I need to recognize about mom to better interact with her. “when to be quiet, when to listen, etc”

Today we discovered that there are 5 of us on the trip.  An unexpected hole in the Big Scoop Fritos raised suspicions, but a scattering of “smart pills” confirmed that we now have a mouse in the camper. Hope he’s alone.  We’ll start up the trapping operation for the unauthorized inhabitant tonight. =/

In more expected news…… Lake Louise just might be the most beautiful location on the planet.  It’s about 30-40 minutes away from Banff and such a “draw” that they have overflow parking on the highway with a shuttlebus hauling travelers in and out of the area. 

It’ll be impossible for me to describe, but I’ll try. The (natural/God-made) lake is far smaller than I expected.  Probably 400 yards wide and maybe a mile long. On either “side” is a matching mountainside.  The lower portions are steep, but flat enough to hold a healthy stand of lodgepole pine trees.  They look like matching sideburns.  Above the sideburns is steeper mountain face that is all rock and above treeline.  A considerable bit of snow sits up there. At the head of the lake, where the creeks feed in (from FIVE different glaciers) is a narrow-looking V-notch where those two mountains meet. Beyond that V-notch is yet another mountain, and on it sits a huge glacier. It’s impossible to accurately gauge how thick the ice is, but I’d wager it’s close to 100’ thick. The lake water itself is a milky turquoise. Turquoise blue because it's clear glacier runoff and milky because the glaciers have ground so many rocks to powder from their slow migration across the region.

Lake Louise - a pic for Jud. :)

An easy to follow hiking trail runs the full eastern length of the lake body, and we took it to the headwaters and beyond.  If you stay on the trail far enough, it’ll take you up onto some of those feedwater glaciers.  The mountainsides are so steep and the snow so thick that the fresh remnants of avalanche are visible on both sides of the mountain.  While glaring at the beauty, I noticed 4 “somethings” about half a mile away, maybe 1500 vertical feet above us.  Closer inspection through the binocs confirm that these are billy goats, including two “nannys” and two “kids”.  One of the kids is tiny. Gauging on mom's known body size, it can’t be more than 16-18” from nose to tail and a foot to the top of its back.  He can’t be more than a month old, but there he is at ~8000’ of elevation and standing on a 45 degree steep slope and looks to be as comfortable as I would be in my barkalounger at home.

fellow Billy Goats (actually nannies and kids....)

My description falls grossly short of its glory.  Simple enough to say that a trip through the area is not complete without a visit here, and I hope today wasn’t my last.  Still, it’s a long way from home, and likening back to that hiker in Yellowstone, you never know when your last day arrives.

Erik and fam were in camp by the time we got home.  Deanna made chicken pad thai for dinner.  (have I mentioned how awesome that woman is?)

Quote for the day: “those aren’t boogers, that’s mouse poop” – Travis White