Author Topic: 4 for 30: The Canadian Rockies (Ergel's TR) (Read 18603 times)

Ergel · « **Reply #20 on:** July 10, 2015, 01:49:31 PM »

Quote from: Dan on July 10, 2015, 01:16:36 PM

B'Sha'a Tova

Thanks

Yaalili · « **Reply #21 on:** July 11, 2015, 11:25:27 PM »

Beautiful place.

Ergel · « **Reply #22 on:** July 12, 2015, 11:20:27 AM »

Tuesday: Fist activity Tuesday morning was a hike near Lake Louise. I had asked the concierge Monday night what she recommended and she said we could either do the Fairview Lookout hike or the hike to the Lake Agnes Tea house which passes Mirror Lake as well. She said that the Fairview was a shorter hike (and probably the wiser choice, considered my pregnant wife). So it was off to Lake Agnes (probably not the smartest decision).
The hike to Lake Agnes is a steep 3.6 km (2 mile) climb. It was quite taxing on my wife. The amount of comments we got that were to the effect of - "you are doing this hike - wow" or "if you can do this, we should definitely be able to do this" were probably indicative that the difficulty of this climb relative to the pregnancy of my wife was too great. Either way, after many stops, we made it to Mirror Lake (2.8 km). We stopped there, took a few picture and a long rest and headed back down to Lake Louise (we were not doing the last .8 km climb, was way too much and anyways, we couldn't eat at the tea house). The hike down was much, much easier and we went back to our room for a rest. If I had to guess, it probably took us 1 1/4 hours up and 1/2 hour down for the hike. There is a lookout about 3/4 of the way up of Lake Louise, however the views are relatively limited. Mirror lake is pretty, but I don't think the payout for this hike justifies the effort.

Ergel · « **Reply #23 on:** July 12, 2015, 11:39:53 AM »

Lake Louise, view from hotel area

Lake Louise view from hike

Ergel · « **Reply #24 on:** July 12, 2015, 11:42:16 AM »

Mirror Lake:

Ergel · « **Reply #25 on:** July 12, 2015, 11:54:40 AM »

After resting up in our hotel room, we were off for the afternoon. We had two items on our agenda: Morraigne Lake and the Ski area gondola.
It's around a 15 minute drive from Lake Louise to Morraigne Lake. The turn off is around 3 km down the road and then it's another 15 km to Morraigne Lake. There was a park ranger (or whatever they call it in this country) at the turn off letting everyone know that they had closed the road to Morraigne Lake as the parking lot was too crowded and people were parking over a km away from the lake and having to walk. This ended up working out very well for us, as we just went first to the ski area and when we came back we were able to drive to Morraigne Lake with no wait and park at the front of the parking lot, just a few steps from the lake.

Lake Louise ski area gondola: We headed over to the ski area, which is another 5 minute drive down the road. The concierge had told us that we were likely to see bears as they plant food special for bears in the area to attract them. Lift tickets are $31.95 plus 5% tax (much more palatable than the 13% we pay in Ontario, but I'm not bitter or anything). The guy before me had some sort of coupon which brought the cost down to around $25, but I'm not sure how he got it. We opted for the open air chairlift (and not the closed gondola). Definitely the way to go. The views from the top are amazing, and is worth the price of admission. On the way up we did see a grizzly bear, but it was from pretty far away so it was a little disappointing. However, the views from the top did not disappoint. We walked over to the visitor center about 5 minutes down the mountain from the chairlift. A nice little display of the animals that are in the area and some furs that you can feel. We probably spent around 3/4 hour walking around and taking in the scenery and then boarded the chairlift for the ride down. We did not get to see the bear again on the way down. He apparently had receded into the treeline.
All in all, worth the visit, but don't go expecting to see a bear 5 feet from the chairlift like they show online/in their brochure.

Ergel · « **Reply #26 on:** July 12, 2015, 12:02:03 PM »

If you squint, you can see the bear

Lake Louise from the ski area:

Ski area views:

Ergel · « **Reply #27 on:** July 12, 2015, 12:02:55 PM »

I can't find the pictures from the rest of the day with the rest of my pictures. I will look for them later and continue the report when I find them.

Ergel · « **Reply #28 on:** July 13, 2015, 12:36:17 PM »

More ski area photos:

Ergel · « **Reply #29 on:** July 13, 2015, 12:40:20 PM »

The next stop was Morraigne Lake. It's a 15 KM drive on a windy road to the lake. On the way there it was very quick. On the way back, we were stuck behind a slow driver so it took a little longer.
This was probably the highlight of the trip for me - the beauty of this place is beyond words. There is a path along the waterfront which we took. Just a nice easy walk along the water, with different perspectives of the lake all along. Just gorgeous. We probably spent a 1/2 hour here.
We met a frum couple from Ottawa while walking. They were staying at the Fairmont Banff Springs, but not with KRM. They claimed the hotel was able to get them kosher food from the program (without paying the $300/person/day that the program had asked them to pay to join without lodging). Not sure exactly how that worked.

Ergel · « **Reply #30 on:** July 13, 2015, 12:48:54 PM »

Morraigne Lake:

Prettiest picture of the trip:

sam28 · « **Reply #31 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:00:04 PM »

wow this pictures looks amazing .

Ergel · « **Reply #32 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:15:15 PM »

More Morraigne Lake:

Ergel · « **Reply #33 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:17:55 PM »

We then returned to the hotel. My wife wasn't feeling so well (probably because of the morning hike), so she took a nap. I went out to take some pictures of Lake Louise and hike up to Fairview Lookout. It's a shorter hike than the hike we did in the morning, but the climb is just as intense. It's 1.6 KM climbing almost all the way to the end. At the end is lookout point of the lake (better than the lookout point from the morning hike), as well as some signage about the history of the Fairmont Hotel. This hike is highly recommended.

Ergel · « **Reply #34 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:29:53 PM »

Lake Louise:

sammy n · « **Reply #35 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:32:56 PM »

Wow! Looks amazing!!

Ergel · « **Reply #36 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:35:46 PM »

Fairview Lookout:

AharonInIsrael · « **Reply #37 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:42:02 PM »

Really stunning views! Thanks for taking the time out to share!

Ergel · « **Reply #38 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:46:55 PM »

After that, we had another BBQ (including cooking food for the next night's dinner to eat in the airport), and called it a night.

Ergel · « **Reply #39 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:51:53 PM »

Wednesday: This would be the last day of our vacation

We would be checking out the Banff area and then heading to Calgary for our flight in the late afternoon. First stop was Lake Minnewanka. You can go on a river cruise for $55/person. You get to explore more of the lake, but we opted for renting a little speedboat and going on our own. It was fun to drive the boat and the views are nice (not as nice as the previous day). Cost is $55/hour. We didn't have anything to tell time with so we just drove around the area of the lake you are allowed and headed back when we had had enough. We were on the water exactly an hour.