Today’s adventures started off at Lake Louise. This is probably one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever been to. The other contenders are Bow Lake from earlier in the week and Lake Bled in Slovenia. It’s also one of the more iconic lakes thanks to the hotel situated perfectly at the end making for a perfect view of the lake – if you can afford to stay there. We opted to skip the low budget coffee view from there and headed straight to the trail along the perimeter of the lake.
There were a lot of people there but this is what happens when something so beautiful is so easily accessible from the parking lot. Also tour busses. Tour busses never help thin out the crowds.
The further we ventured away from the parking lot and the start of the trail, the fewer people there were – and also the icier the trail became. By the time we got to the opposite side of the lake, there were just a few people and lots and lots of snow.
We kept going through the snow just to get away from the few people lingering at the water’s edge and life was great again.
This lake though.
Once we headed back towards the crowds, we made a bee line to the car and fixed our sandwiches for lunch where the sky was on point.
Next up on the agenda: Marble Canyon. My second canyon yet so different than the first one. Here, the walkways criss crossed and looped around the top so it was a lot of fun to explore since you didn’t have to stick to a straight line.
I know I say something about the water for everything I’ve seen so far – but the water though!
I’m not sure I’ve seen clearer water before.
Once we had oohed and ahhed enough, we headed back to the cabin for a quick rest before we headed out after dark so Cory could do some more night scenes. Tonight, we headed to Lake Minnewanka. The moon was super bright and lit up the water. It also made for some intense reflections.
Not going to lie. Tonight was a struggle. At this point I’m already over having to change 50 times a day: every time you get in and out of a car, every time you stop hiking, every time you go in and outside etc etc.
And even though I had layered up one more time (because who are we kidding I’m not going to sit at home on vacation when someone is doing something) I was not looking forward to sitting in the frigid air even though I was armed with hand warmers in each shoe and glove. I was pretty miserable to be honest. But per usual, Cory got some great shots, so in the end, since I left with most of the feeling in my extremities, it was worth it (especially in hind sight in the warmth of the cabin where I saw these pictures).
Fortunately Cory knew how I was feeling and didn’t ask me to move when he reframed for this shot (I had made my warm spot just a further out of frame). And even more fortunately for me, we headed back quicker than I had anticipated.