Lake Louise has been on my Bucket List for 40 years. And it did not disappoint. The view from our room was postcard perfect!
Lake Louise is part of Banff National Park and is one of the most photographed glacial lakes. Lake Louise is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada. The hamlet is named for the nearby Lake Louise, which in turn was named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.
The first question everyone asks when they see these photos is, “Is the color real?” Yes! The lake looks exactly like the pictures. The color of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The rock flour suspended in the water filters out much of the light spectrum. The result is incredible blue colors. As my photos show, the color can change depending on the light and time of year. The optimal time to see the brilliant colors in my photos is June and July.
Allan and I flew from Los Angeles to Calgary. We spent one night at the Fairmont Palliser in Calgary and then headed to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise the next morning. The weather was perfect. Our room had view of the lake and Mount Victoria and Victoria Glacier. The Chateau is beautiful. The only downside is the large number of tour buses that stop to take advantage of the spectacular scenery.
There are so many activities. It’s hard to choose. The valley above Lake Louise is called The Plain of the Six Glaciers. One of the highly recommended hikes is the 9.4 mile hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse. We hiked one of the shorter trails, Lake Agnes Trail, which was perfect for us.
We had a bird’s eye view of Lake Louise from the Lake Louise Gondola. We enjoyed spectacular views and a leisurely lunch on the open deck of the Lodge of Ten Peaks. We were told the gondola was one of the best places on earth to see wild grizzly bears in their natural environment and we were fortunate to see a grizzly wandering the ski runs.
On the drive back to the Chateau we detoured to visit Morraine Lake and we were really happy that we did. It would have been a shame to have missed this beautiful spot. Morraine Lake is smaller than Lake Louise but just as beautiful. The view of Moraine Lake from the top of the moraine rockpile is one of the most photographed locations in Canada. At the entrance to the lake near the lodge there is a massive log jam that you can maneuver to get to a rockpile. We did not. However, plenty of people do. The view of the mountains behind the lake in Valley of the Ten Peaks is known as the Twenty Dollar View, as Moraine Lake was featured on the backs of the 1969 and 1979 issues of the Canadian twenty dollar note.
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