Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
July 8, 2007.
We are staying in the Tunnel
Mountain National Park Campground in Banff, Alberta. Tunnel
Mountain Campground offers no hookups, electricity only and full hookups.
We are in one of the $29.70 electricity only sites. I do not know
what FHU or no hookups cost but they are all in the same area. All
sites are paved.
Lake Louise Alberta, Canada & Fairmont Cheteau
We are visiting Lake Louise an easy hours drive north of Banff. The
area is so wonderfully beautiful is is hard to know where to start.
Just imagine arriving here in the 1880s...the smell of pine forest,
the sound of avalanches from the mountains above, and the wonder of
vast unexplored country ahead. Today, the ice-capped peaks, hidden
valleys and turquoise lakes are as spectacular as they ever were,
and are much easier to get to.
Early visitors came to Lake
Louise by rail or on horseback, until the road from Banff
opened in the 1920s. Travelers in winter explored on snowshoes and
in the 1930s the skiers arrived. The Lake Louise area has become a
mecca for climbers, walkers and tourist, summer and winter.
Road to Lake Louise & Fairmont Chateau
After turning off the Trans Canada Highway and entering Lake Louise
proper it is a short drive back to the lake along this mundane drive--------mundane
was tongue in cheek of course.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Alberta, Canada
We know we are almost there when we see the "Fairmont
Chateau Lake Louise" sign.
Lake Louise behind Fairmont Chateau
I am sorry about the lighting but we have to use what we have and
the sky is full of storm clouds on this day. The picture would be
so much better in the early morning with the sun shining directly
on that glacier.
Ice-age glaciers sculpted this famous Rocky Mountain landscape.
The glaciers began their work about two million years ago. They carved
these mountains and gouged this valley into a deep basin. The Victoria
Glacier once filled this entire valley.
About 10,000 years ago, the glaciers melted back and left behind
a pile of rocky debris that dammed Lake Louise. We are standing on
the remains of that dam.
In recent years, a warmer climate has accelerated glacial melt and
recession. If this trend continues, one day these glaciers will be
gone.
Mounts Victoria and Lefroy form part of the Continental Divide-the
backbone of North America. These glaciated mountains supply precious
water to communities across the continent.
The story of Lake
Louise began 10,000 years ago but it was Tom Wilson, a horse-packer
for the Canadian pacific Railway survey who heard the roar of a distant
avalanche in August of 1882. Edwin Hunter, a Stoney Indian, told him
it came from the "snow mountain above the lake of little fishes".
The next day, Edwin led Tom to this lake. Tom was the first non-Native
person to see it. Impressed by its color, he called it Emerald Lake.
In 1884, the lake became known as Lake Louise, in honor of Princess
Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.
And now you know this little story about Lake Louise.
Glacier & Lake Louise as seen from back side
of Fairmont Chateau
The upper glacier is a LONG way from where we are at the Fairmont
Chalet. The glacier is twice the height of Chateau Lake Louise. When
ice breaks off the front of the glacier and crashes to the valley
below ------- Boom!!! The sound takes 20 seconds to reach the Chateau.
The water is a beautiful turquoise blue but the color isn't captured
in this picture.
Fairmont Chalet Lake Louise
Beautiful hanging baskets adorned every hanging place around the
famed Fairmont
Chalet Lake Louise.
Lobby entrance to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
This is the Lobby entrance to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Entertainment Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
As you might expect, world class entertainment was constantly performing
in the open areas of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
When you step out the door of the Fairmont
Chateau at Lake Louise, you are in one of the world's most
spectacular natural places. Banff
National Park is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
World Heritage Site - a landscape recognized to have world significance
and value for all of humanity.
Clark's nutcracker in trees at Fairmont Chateau Lake
Louise
There were numerous Clark's Nutcrackers in the conifer trees around
the Fairmont Hotel. Clark's Nutcrackers store whitebark pine seeds
in the ground as a source of winter food. By dispersing these seeds,
nutcrackers help regenerate this threatened tree, found at higher
elevations.
Lake Louise & Fairmont Chateau
Lighting is better in this picture and you can better see the color
of Lake Louise but this picture still does not do justice to the lake.
Of course that is the Fairmont Chateau. Look closely at the building
and realize that the upper glacier on the other end of the lake is
twice as tall as this building. When a block of ice that big breaks
off and falls to the bottom it must make a loud BOOM!!!!
Fairmont Chateau & Lake Louise
Hundreds of people, like us, visit Lake Louise without staying in
the Fairmont Chateau. You can see some of these people gathered on
the beach all enjoying the cool air and beautiful view.
Lake Louise entertainment on dock behind Fairmont Chateau
This fellow was performing on the boardwalk.
It is time for another geology lesson. Remember the difference between
Front Range and Main Range mountains?
The Front Range mountains, like Castle Mountain are generally made
up of softer rock and are several million years younger than the Main
Range mountains to the west.
Front Ranges can be identified by: Sloping rock layers, tilted table-top
slopes with jagged ridges, lower elevation peaks and mostly grey colors.
Main Ranges can be identified by: Horizontal rock layers, Blocky,
castle-like shapes with bands of cliffs, more browns and reddish colors,
higher elevation peaks.
Mountains surrounding Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise
Here at Lake Louise the mountains are easily identified as part of
the Main Range of mountains because of their horizontal rock layers
and especially their elevation. This particular mountain is so high
that it has a huge glacier even in mid-July.
Lake Louise Village a few miles from Fairmont Chateau
We took this last picture of the mountains around Lake Louise at
the Village located near the Trans Canadian highway.
Mike & Joyce Hendrix
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& Joyce Hendrix who we are
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