111 Lake Louise Drive, Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
Named Lake of the Little Fishes by the Stoney Nakoda First Nations people, Lake Louise is a glacial lake within Banff National Park known for its turquoise colour. In front of it is Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a luxury hotel built in the early decades of the 20th century by Canadian Pacific Railway.
From the bus stop in front of Banff Community High School, my BFF and I took the first Roam Bus #8X. The one-way journey costs
C$8.00 (~S$8.20) per adult. If you happen to be around between 21 June and 3 September, you may want to consider Roam Bus #8S instead that passes through the scenic Bow Valley Parkway.
 |
| The first Roam Bus #8X bound for Lake Louise departs at 7.30am daily. |
 |
| There are free copies of Rocky Mountain Outlook near the driver's seat. |
It was a pity that the weather was rather gloomy the whole day, but that didn't allow it to dampen our spirit.
 |
| Banff railway station is used by Rocky Mountaineer and Royal Canadian Pacific rail tour services. |
We reached the terminus in slightly less than an hour.
 |
| "Imagine arriving here in the 1880s: the smell of pine forest, the sound of avalanches ..." |
 |
| The luxury hotel was originally built to function only in summer, but it was eventually winterised in 1982. |
The palace-like hotel has got a total of 539 guest rooms.
 |
| The grand staircase~ |
 |
| Perhaps one day I'll have the opportunity to check-in at the hotel. |
It was fun exploring the inside of the hotel.
 |
| A bar with a view! |
 |
| Art of Man Gallery offers fine Native Indian and Inuit art collections. |
There are lots of shops to browse.
 |
| I bought a few decently-priced postcards there. |
 |
| Even the bear feels relaxed there~ |
I also explored the lower level a little bit, which was really quiet.
 |
| Nobody else was there... |
 |
| I should've sat down and posed there for a photo. |
Time to see Lake Louise!
 |
Lake Louise is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria
and the wife of Marquess of Lorne, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. |
 |
| It was very cloudy that day, so the view was unfortunately not that spectacular. |
There are quite a few information panels along the walkway. Some of them are shown below.
 |
| Such a chubby hoary marmot! I spotted one while trekking up The Whistlers at Jasper National Park. |
Did you know that the hotel started off as a small chalet for outdoor enthusiasts and alpinists in the summer of 1890?
If you have the time, you may want to trek to Lake Agnes, but do take note of the steady uphill climb. There's a beautiful tea house, offering a large tea menu and some light bites, where you can reward yourself.
 |
The statue commemorates the centennial of Swiss mountain guides who've been "inspiring worldwide
appreciation of Canada's rich mountain heritage and sparking a mountaineering tradition
that continues to this day" since 1899. |
 |
| Get a copy of the Xplorers booklet from the hotel's visitor centre before starting your trek. |
 |
| From that point, it's another 3.1 km to reach Lake Agnes. |
Once we were done at Lake Louise, we walked back to the bus stop via a different route from the one we took to reach the hotel in the morning.
 |
| It's a cottage built in 1920 for Swiss guides hired to lead hotel guests safely up the nearby mountains. |
The weather wasn't very friendly indeed, but thankfully there was no heavy rain. Seeing the beautiful colour of
Peyto Lake was already enough for me, so I'm not complaining. Besides, I also experienced snow in early summer. Stay tuned for that!
Comments
Post a Comment