My brain’s about to explode. Moreover my eyes are about to pop out of my head, and my lungs threaten to rupture at any moment. I can barely stand what I’ve seen today.

OK, so we slept like babies, got up at 7, had some breakfast, got ready and set out to meet the bus at Lake O’Hara. It’s a controlled access area, and they only let in about 40 people a day. We stowed our bags and climbed on, shivering in the cold. It was about -1, and though we were all wrapped in layers (there were forecasts of wet snow and a high of 6) it was still pretty chilly.

A long bus ride later, we’re at Le Relais, the small cabin run by the caretakers. We unload and go our separate ways — experienced hikers toward the more challenging alpine circuit, less experienced hikers toward the simpler plateau nearby or just around Lake O’Hara itself. Nellie and I opted for a hike considered easy, but very rewarding, by our guide book: the hike to Lake Oesa.

The trails all start at Lake O’Hara, and within the first five feet we both stopped, awestruck: the view of the Lake and the surrounding mountains was unreal. We joked that we didn’t need to hike anywhere, that this view alone was worth it. We were only half kidding. Have a look for yourself.

After an easy stroll half a mile around the lake we saw the trail to Lake Oesa. It went up. It went way up. We thought “easy” would mean a few hills, but after the fifth long, steep switchback we were already tired. It took us a while to adjust to the thin air; Lake O’Hara itself was at an elevation of 6700 feet and we’d just climbed another 800, so we were puffing a bit. But you recover quickly and press on. By this point, though, we were quite warm and removing layers.

The walk now went up and down through small clumps of trees, over rock fields created by yearly avalanches, alongside streams and waterfalls, past a few small lakes and many little inukshuks. When I saw a third lake I thought we’re reached our destination, and was a little underwhelmed, until I realized by the geography that we weren’t quite there yet. At that point, Nellie was about ready to punch me in the mouth. Fortunately, just a short climb later, there it was.

I was awestruck. It was this incredible blue lake surrounded by huge mountains all around, with glaciers covering their slopes. I’d seen Moraine Lake and Emerald Lake, but this was in a class by itself. It was partly because of the size and grandeur of these mountains — we learned later that they were part of the actual continental divide — and partly because there were no tourists around or signs pointing to parking lots. It was just us. One Australian couple showed up and we said hello, but they were soon off as well. We sat there had some lunch, gawping at the incredible sight before us and fending off tiny chipmunk-looking animals (which may well have been chipmunks) who were practically crawling on us looking for food. Unfortunately Nellie had some technical difficulty with the video, and none of the pictures we took really captured the setting, but it’ll be burned into my mind for a long time. Finally, we decided to head back down the trail we came up.

On the way back down we took many more pictures, encountered lots of little pikas (which look like a cross between a mouse and a small rabbit), and Nellie suffered an injury when she fell and banged her shin on a sharp rock. But, like a trooper, she carried on down the hill. Eventually that pain went away but a new one — in her knees — started up and climbing down all the steep switchbacks was pretty difficult for her. But she made it, and we set out to do the last little bit of the journey along the edge of Lake O’Hara.

We walked past a waterfall, got a great picture of a pika, sat by the lake and admired the view and eventually got back to Le Relais for some amazing carrot cake and hot chocolate. We still had about an hour to kill, so we walked back to the trailhead for Lake Mary; I ran up over the hill and snapped a few quick photos before coming back down and we returned to Le Relais once again to catch our bus. Half an hour later we were in our car and happily on our way home.

Well, not quite; we decided to stop off in Lake Louise. We pulled up, bypassed the Chateau, took some pictures of the lake and surrounding mountains — all undeiably beautiful — and then jumped back in the car. We just couldn’t take being around all the tourists taking pictures of themselves in front of a hotel dining room. Fortunately, when we returned to our hotel at Moraine Lake most of the tourists were gone, so we were able to take pictures from the lakeshore and atop the rock pile in relative peace. The valley around the lake — called the Valley Of The Ten Peaks — is incredible too, and we couldn’t leave without getting more shots of it.

And now we’re back, resting our tired feet and cleaning our wounds. In a little while we’ll have dinner here at the lodge and then probably collapse into bed. We are tired little beasties and have a long drive up the Icefields Parkway ahead of us tomorrow, not to mention five more days of this! I can’t imagine I’ll ever see anything more beautiful than Lake Oesa, but the week is young.

It’s killing me that nobody can read this yet!!

[tags]lake o’hara, lake oesa, lake louise, moraine lake, pikas[/tags]

Since I’m only now able to post, I’ll be posting my descriptions the first two days’ worth of events. We’ve just arrived in Jasper and I have to blog from the inn’s lobby, so I’l try write up today’s journey after dinner and post it then. For now, occupy yourselves reading these two LONG entries. –dan

Holy crap. Ye gods. Sweet baby jesus in a birchbark canoe. I’m in the Rockies. It’s been a long & eventful day, and I can’t possibly keep up in my usual verbose way, so I shall have to work in point form on this trip. Here goes:

We spring from our beds at 5 AM, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to ready ourselves for our flight. Energy lasts until about College Street when we both begin to yawn. Good thing we did the web check-in; that saved us a good 15 minutes of sleep-in time.

Our flight is reasonably uneventful. Only thing that freaks us out is the woman one row ahead of us, sitting by the emergency exit, who proceeds to get good and hammered during the flight. And remember, the sun is barely up. The flight arrives at 9 AM Calgary time and this woman’s half in the bag. She can’t even get off the plane without falling over. Good thing there was no emergency.

I have a conversation with the car rental guy that goes something like this: CRG: “OK, you’re in the Chevy Cobalt.” Dan: “And how’s that on leg room?” CRG: “Lacking. But for $5 a day you can upgrade to the Pontiac G6. Lots of leg room and it has cruise control.” Dan & Nellie: “Done!” Nailed on the upsell.

It’s drizzling in Calgary. Lots of fog, very grey. This does not bode well. We drive out of Western Calgary (ugly!), past the ski jumps at Olympic Park and into farmland. That farmland becomes foothills, and suddenly the foothills are disappearing above the clouds. Now we’re talkin’.

Around the time we pull into Canmore we’re surrounded by some pretty substantial mountains and I can’t stop staring at them. We get some groceries for the rest of the week and head into the (ahem) downtown to get some lunch. The best we can do is a pub, but we’re so hungry by that point we’re ready to eat the maps they gave us at the car rental counter. As we sit and eat, all I want to do is point at the giant mountain looming over the town and scream, “People, do you not SEE THAT FREAKING THING!!?!?!?” I manage not to.

Back on the road, we enter Banff national park, buying an annual pass. It’s only $10 more than the daily passes would have been, and we can use it at any national park for the next year. Bargain. I’m still gawping at the mountains, so I don’t even notice that we’ve driven by Banff.
I’m admiring the Bow River, which we drive along for the next little while. I also admire Castle Mountain, which is huge and you can see for miles heading north from Banff. I am growing ever more freaked out.

We arrive at the (ahem) town of Lake Louise, drive through it and find the Moraine Lake road. It’s a twisting, winding, climbing road with a few views to die for. After about 15 minutes we hit the Moraine Lake Lodge.

Our room…zowie. Perfect combination of luxurious (fancy bathroom, Aveda products for Nellie, fireplace, comfy bed) and rustic (everything made from rough wood, night tables made from stumps, etc.), but it’s not kitschy or campy. The view is unreal; it’s hard to believe Moraine Lake is the colour it is, but from our little patio you can see it (and several looming mountains, some snow-capped) clearly.

Hard as it is, we tear ourselves away. We have much to do. We change, get back in the car and head for Yoho national park. We make a wrong turn and end up at the Chateau Lake Louise. We make another wrong turn and end up heading for Banff. One u-turn later and we’re headed west, into BC.

We stop to have a look at the spiral tunnel, which you can’t really see much of from the highway, so while the concept is cool — a tunnel they built that spirals around the inside of a mountain to keep trains from crashing on the steep grade — it’s a little underwhelming from afar.

Our next attempt was Takkekaw Falls, but the road was closed. Pity; it’s supposed to be quite something.

A few miles down the road, after passing the town of Field, we took a side road toward Emerald Lake. Stopping briefly at a very cool natural land bridge (where the river carved through the rock), where we got a taste of how colourful the river’s water was, we continued on to the lake. It’s an amazing place, and you really can’t believe the colour of the water until you see it. We took tons of pictures, but we don’t think any of them will do the colour justice. The surrounding peaks are impressive too. We walked nearly half way around the lake before turning back; our schedule was getting a bit tight.

We drove back to Field and sat down for dinner at a place we’d heard much about indeed. Truffle Pigs was recommended by quite a few people online, and I can see why: the food was amazing. Field is a tiny, tiny place, but this restaurant would do well in Toronto or Vancouver (if the chefs/owners only wanted to live there). My spring roll appetizers were very yummy, and Nellie near cried when hers — fresh chanterelle mushrooms in a philo pastry with three cheeses w/ merlot reduction — was done. Our mains — malaysian salad w/ caramalized chicken for me, freshly made pasta w/ tomato sauce for Nellie — were excellent as well, and the dessert was both delicious and unnecessary. We left very full, and very happy.

We then drove the 40km or so back to the lodge, in the dark this time, but without fear of marauding tour buses. We’ve had time to settle into the room, start a crackling (though short-lived) fire and type up this nonsense. Next up: download some of the pictures to the laptop and see how they turned out. Then sleep! Tomorrow’s a big day, and the weather promises to be nippy, so we’ll need our strength. And possibly some gore-tex.

By the way, we’ll probably be in Jasper by the time I can post this, which means you’ll get three days’ worth. Sorry!

[tags]calgary, canmore, banff, lake louise, moraine lake lodge, emerald lake, yoho, field, truffle pigs[/tags]

OK, I’m hoping this’ll get through in the few moments of coverage that I have while passing through Lake Louise. The lack of internet connection at our hotel has prevented me from blogging about the amazing things we’ve seen in the first two days, but I have the posts all written up and ready to go as soon as we reach Jasper.

Just wanted y’all to know that we’re still alive, and that my mind is completely blown.

[tags]radio contact[/tags]

It’s hard to believe the trip we began planning and booking and researching so long ago begins tomorrow. Early tomorrow too; our flight’s at 7 AM. We wanted to salvage the afternoon and do more than just check in to our hotel. The plan is to pick up our rental car at the airport, drive through Banff to Moraine Lake (near Lake Louise) and check in at our hotel. We’ll then jump back in the car and drive west across Kicking Horse Pass into BC and see Emerald Lake before it gets dark, and then we’ll stop in the closest town — Field, BC — for dinner.

The next day — Monday — is pretty much set out for us. We’ll get up early to look around Moraine Lake itself, then drive to the bus that takes people into Lake O’Hara and the surrounding trails. We’re there until late afternoon and will then head back into Lake Louise and/or our hotel. From that point on the plan loosens up somewhat.

Whatever happens, you can follow along here. I’ll be posting when I can; wireless access is spotty, and one of our hotels doesn’t even phones in the rooms, let alone ethernet connections. I’ll also try to upload a few pictures to flickr when the opportunity presents itself.

[tags]rockies, banff, moraine lake, lake louise, jasper[/tags]