Banff & Lake Louise day trip, Alberta, Canada

21st June 2012-Banff and Lake Louise Day Trip

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We used Golden as our base for our foray into Banff and L. Louise.  With good intentions, we left at 7.30am only to be turned back at Hwy 1 - road closed due to landslip. We had to take an alternate route through Radium, which added another 1 1/2 hours to the trip.

Downtown Banff - what a beautiful village set against the mountains. The Bow River runs just at the edge of the village. Bow Bridge takes one across to Canada Place (I guess its the Governor's House), the Banff Gondola, Hot Springs and the prestigious Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

Architecturally, Banff village could almost be a town in Switzerland.

There are lots of gift shops and restaurants.

There are many activities one can do in Banff and the surrounding areas. There are lots of trails for hiking,horse rides,museum, hot springs,gondola ride.

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We found this Saloon to have lunch-it was quite reasonably priced.

View of Banff Village from the Wild Bill Saloon where we had lunch. One could easily spend a whole week in Banff and enjoy it at a leisurely pace.

Tom waiting anxiously for his lunch...he was very tempted by the ribs.

The Banff Gondola operates from 8.30am to 9pm in summer. Cost: $34.90 pp plus 5% tax. It was worth the money...you will see why.

Tom getting rather nervous.....are we there yet????

At the summit, there is a 360 viewing station with boardwalks that take you right out. There is no time limit on how long you spend at the viewing station...as long as you are out by 9pm!

The majestic Canadian Rockies...they just take your breath away! At 10,950ft Mt Alysma is the highest in this photo.   

You can make out boardwalks in the distance - you will have to be quite fit to do the walk out.

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The downward trip...just don't look down.

Although it was a sunny 19deg.C  it was rather chilly at the Viewing Station. Bring something warm!

The Rockies from a different viewpoint.

These mountain sheep were on the rocky terrain...haven't a clue what they were doing. Maybe they are glue sniffers! They seem to be licking the walls either for moisture or salt??

This little sweet thing was just chilling out whilst its mother was at the wall.

This is what you take to go to the Glaciers....wouldn't that be such a thrill!

Its tires were taller than me!There are 23 of these Snow Buses-22 of them are in Canada and the US Army has one in Antartica.

From Banff, it was only about an hour to Lake Louise.

The Bow River winding its way towards Lake Louise.

Lake Louise..they tell you to go before 11am or after 5pm.

We found out why...truck loads of tourists.

Gorgeous Lake Louise with the famous Chateau Lake Louise on the lakeshore.

We had to walk about 2kms around the lake to get this shot!...so worth it!

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The Foyer/Reception of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Tom on his way to the Deli at the Chateau.

Thank goodness we managed to see a live Elk.

This lovely harpist was entertaining at the main dining room of the Chateau.

Lake Louise was given its present name in 1884 to honour Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, sixth child of Queen Victoria. It is known to the Stoney people as "Lake of the Little Fishes". Elevation:5,860ft

Just a few minutes away from Lake Louise is Moraine Lake.

It sits in what is known as the Valley of the Ten Peaks.

From the main road, it is approx. a 3 km drive to Moraine Lake.

In winter, the road to Moraine Lake is closed to traffic and becomes a cross country ski trail.

Lake Louise Village.....much smaller than Banff.

Golden area, British Columbia, Canada

20th June 2012-left Revelstoke at 10am for Golden, British Columbia

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We left beautiful Revelstoke on a sunny morning-the weather into Golden along the highway was a mix of blue skies with quick showers.

The drive to Golden is an experience in visual overload-although it is already June, the mountains still carry snow.

Approaching the town centre of Golden, BC, we have to adjust our watches one hour forward to Mountain time.

We are excited as we see our RV camp for the next 7 days - the Golden Eco Adventure RV Park. There is paragliding and horse riding available at this Park.

Eco Adventure's office where we were met by an amazingly placid German Shepherd called Ralph.

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Stunning panoramic view of the mountains with the RV office in the foreground. This RV park has no tv, no cable and you have to go to the Washroom to get Wi Fi coverage. The mozzies have a great feed whilst you keep in touch with the rest of the world. The only "econess" about this park is the lack of the entertainment facilities - no sewerage either, you tank it then dump it on departure!

See the gopher - these critters are just everywhere at this park.

These little munchkins were gorgeous - believe their Mum works at the RV Park.

Al nestled amongst the trees.

This lake was just minutes from the RV Park. Its called Reflection Lake.

There is a bird spotting platform on this lake. We were rather surprised at the lack of birdlife so far. I guess we are so spoiled in Oz with our exotically coloured lorikeets, galahs etc. we forget that other countries may not have the same flamboyant birdlife.

We saw this Beaver dam on Reflection Lake - a few ducks can be seen swimming around it.

The gophers make a sort of a chirping noise to warn their mates of any danger - I guess this one's the sacrificial lamb, he's on guard duty.

This is the kind of burrows that the gophers make - they are quite a nuisance as horses, cows can break their legs if they inadvertently step into one of them.

One of the trail walks on the RV Park has this suspension bridge-I wisely allowed Tom to go first!

This beautiful Whitetail Deer was peacefully cropping the grass near the Washroom. We were told there is a bear that comes onto the property - the only bears we have seen so far have been either behind bars, stuffed or cast in concrete!

A covered pedestrian bridge spanning one of the rivers in Golden.-called Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge.

Tom thought of the movie, Bridges of Madison County when he saw this. To celebrate the first day of Summer, Golden was having a 2 hour band performance in the Spirit Square and we decided to go check it out.

 It was a true family affair - the kids all had a ball playing and dancing in front of the stage.It was close to 8pm but it was still sunny.

Some of the children were drawing with coloured chalks on the pavements-future grafitti artists?