July 3rd

We did two more hikes in Kootenay Park yesterday—one relatively short one to Dog Lake and a longer, steeper one at Simpson River. Both were beautiful, in different ways. Simpson River was the site of a lightning-ignited forest fire in 2002. So instead of a heavy, old-growth forest, it was open and sunny. Lots of baby trees and wildflowers. After the hikes, we were exhausted. We drove to a nearby campground and collapsed for the rest of the day. Steve watched a DVD—Memphis Belle—while I got out my little Featherweight sewing machine and worked on a Quilt of Valor.

This morning, we left Kootenay and drove into Banf National Park. Didn’t seem like it could get any prettier, but it did! We are definitely in “the good part” now. Very tall, craggy mountains with beautiful rivers and lakes below. We drove to Lake Louise and then to Moraine Lake. Lake Louise is gorgeous and justifiably famous, but I must say we both preferred Moraine Lake. The lake is smaller, but is the same deep turquoise blue, and the mountains surrounding it were even taller and more magnificent than the ones around Lake Louise. And being a little off the beaten path, there were fewer crowds. Lake Louise was quite a zoo, and everything was very pricey. We thought it would be fun to rent a canoe and see the lake that way, but it was $40 an hour!!!! Instead, we walked the lakeshore trail a ways. We had planned to take the hike to the teahouse above Lake Louise, but it was a steep trail several miles long, and neither of us felt us felt up to it after our hikes yesterday.

We’re staying in the Lake Louise campground tonight. Not our favorite campsite. It’s huge campground—several hundred sites, and although there are lots of pine trees and shade, it’s pretty close to the highway and you can hear all the traffic noise. Also, there are train tracks right outside the campground, and the trains blast their whistles as they go by, every hour or so. Should be an interesting night! There is electricity, which is the first time we’ve had it since we left Salt Lake, but the internet connection is extremely slow, and I still haven’t been able to post a blog.

Not sure yet what our plan is for tomorrow. We are definitely moving on, but don’t know which direction. I want to go west to Yoho National Park and take the guided hike to the trilobite beds, which are world famous. We also plan on heading up north through the Columbia Icefields and on to Jasper National Park, and would have to do some backtracking if we go to Yoho, so we’ll see what happens. Either way, it’s bound to be great!