Thursday June 9, 2022

 Today we had 2 activities planned.  We got up at 7:00 to a gorgeous morning!

We packed and loaded up the car, then drove into town to … McDonalds.  Yes, we were craving Egg McMuffins!  Hopped in the car and drove about 45 minutes west to Lake Louise.  We bypassed the hordes going to the lakes (Moraine and Louise) and headed to the ski hill.  Gondola Ride at 10:00 today!  Beautiful ride up the hill, good weather, not full sun but the mountains were fully visible.

 

We walked down to the wildlife interpretive centre, and saw this guy on the way back.

We had taken the enclosed gondola up, so we took the chair down.  It had warmed up from toque and glove weather to just toque weather.  We shared soup and a salad in the cafeteria, then got out in the nick of time, as several busses had just arrived.  The gondola parking lot is also the Park and Ride to the lakes, so it was getting very busy.

Time to make our way across the valley to the Chateau Lake Louise for High Tea!

Again, we were lucky enough to avoid the mad crush for a parking spot; we were able to park in the hotel parkade - pricey but well worth it.

We had a couple of hours to explore the grounds, the shops and the lake.

Then it was time for our very exotic tea.  There were the usual scones and fancy pastries, but also wild boar paté, trout caviar, and broiled lamb, all on teeny tiny little toasts.  It was beautiful, beautifully tasting, and filling.  Not to mention the 2 pots of tea we each had.  We waddled out.

My turn to drive, an hour and a half to the Columbia Icefield.  It was windy and cold (10°C), as usual.  We have been there many times before and it always saddens me to see how far the glacier has receded.

Brad took over the driving for the next hour and a half to Jasper.  We saw a couple of elk along the way, and the ground squirrel at the gondola, but that was all the wildlife for today.

I always love returning to Jasper, having lived and worked there for a summer long (long!) ago.  That summer I canoed on Lac Beauvert at Jasper Park Lodge, visited friends in the staff housing at JPL, went on a trail ride at JPL, but I never thought I would stay at JPL – but that is exactly where we are!  I got a Dirty Dancing vibe from our cabin as soon as I saw it.

The grounds are so peaceful, extensive, beautiful – we are right on the lake, and I can’t wait to hike around it tomorrow.  We had picked up pizza and wine for dinner in town on the way here.  When we checked in the young man said he heard it was someone’s birthday, and we told him that unfortunately the birthday girl wasn’t here.  When we got to the room, this was waiting for us.

It was a delicious red velvet cake - even the little sign was edible.

I have been typing like mad since dinner and haven’t even begun to go through my pictures yet.  More work to be done tomorrow!