Natural Wonders in Banff, Alberta

Lake Moraine

   

     We arrived in Banff a few days ago now and have been smitten by this cute and multicultural town! It is extremely picturesque and feels very much like a winter resort town. Yes, I said winter because the days are beautiful, but brisk at a high of 60 degrees! One thing I love about Alberta is that they have 16 hours of sunlight! While driving back from Lake Louise, we got to watch the sun set at 9 p.m.! Weird!     

     Today (6/18/12) We started our morning early. We were trying our best to start our day as early as we could so we walked down the street to a Safeway (Looks like Kroger's). I am amazed at the cultural diversity in their food! I need to move here! I saw frozen meals like saffron and cranberry cous cous stuffed Chicken Courdon Blue, Beef samosas, vegetable gyozas, an amazing selection of vegetarian meals, freshhhh deli meats, and so on. They have tons of great restaurants also! Taste of Sri Lanka, German foudous, Greek, Indian, Samoan, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, Vienamese, french bakeries, bubble tea, fudgeries, you name it! Anyways, for breakfast we got little sandwiches. Mine included whole wheat english muffin, sausage, egg whites and cheese. Beats McDonald's any day. We ate quickly and headed out to LAKE MORAINE. I fell in LOVE! When we arrived the it was very cool and misty, just how William likes it. I was annoyed that the sun wasn't out, mostly because I was cold. William always tries to get me to appreciate nature in all its dimensions.       

Large rock pile

     We arrived there pretty early, but even then there were so many old people! I guess the early crowd includes the 65+ crowd. When you arrive, you see a giant mountain with snow covered peaks. As you get closer you see the bright turquoise water and it takes your breath away. The entire lake is surrounded by dark forest green trees reaching for the skies. Amongst the trees was a little cabin with a smokey chimney that made it story-book perfect. (By the way, the cabin served Cadbury hot chocolate :) ) Before we started hiking back, one of the old ladies pointed to a 30 something year old man who had climbed this giant rock pile. By giant rock pile I mean a small mountain of about 200 feet. William figured of that dude could do it, so could we. I was totally gunho and we started climbing. It was the type of climbing that used every muscle in my body and involved me crawling and climbing with all fours. I could hardly move the next morning. I reached about half way and the view was amazing, but I looked down and couldn't go up any further. I decided to seek refuge on a giant flat stone and William continued until he reached the top and it was incredible (according to him and the fab pics he took up there). I could see the old people below pointing at us.     

     Going up was way easier than coming down. This part was really intimidating. I did a whole lot of scooting down the rocks. When I finally was able to get all the way down we had to get past numerous logs that were put in the shallow base of the lake to reach the rocks. The logs had been the easiest part of the rock climb so I wasn't concerned. As I took my last step off the rock and onto the log, I stepped on one that wasn't supported. It rolled over and sunk down, causing me to lose my balance. My other foot, still on the rock, lost its balance and I went sliding down. My bottom hit a flat rock, but my back hit a sharp edge. Luckily, I was left unharmed and without any bruises. The downside was that my shoes were completely submerged in 15 degree water and that was no party.

     Later on, we continued to hike and enjoyed the rest of the lake as the sun came out. Eventually William decided he wanted to go back to the front of Lake Moraine and climb up the rock again. I opted to sit out. I found a nice warm rock the size of my bed and lied down with my shoes and socks off to bathe and dry off in the sun. Then we headed off to Lake Louise, another one of Banff's gems!