As best as I can count, Canucks get about 34 - 36 holidays a year and Monday was one of those days. "May Long Weekend" means nothing to us in the states, but to the people in Calgary its a Monday off and when in Calgary take the day off like the locals. Despite a less than optimal looking weather forecast for the mountains, we loaded up and headed up with a first stop of Banff.
I had been to Banff a couple of times, and it doesn't disappoint. Sure its a bit over-touristed and kitschy, but step a block off the main through-way and the serene setting makes you feel a long way removed from all that. We walked around Banff along the main drag, stepping into the traps that caught our touristy eye or the one's that Cooper ran into yelling "Yah. Yah. Yah".
It didn't take us long to shed the touristed areas and find a nice park for Cooper to run and play in. It didn't take him long to find some other kids about his age to play with. We were talking to one of the kid's parents, who was asking us if we lived around the area when he told us he lived in Banff. That prompted me to ask "How does one afford to live in Banff?" His response, which I think range quite true was "It is really a lifestyle choice." which I interpreted to mean "We may not be able to retire at 60, but man its cool living here".
We took a short drive to a scenic overlook of the Bow River and Bow Valley Falls. We stopped took in the views, snapped some pics and Cooper proceeded to roll around in some dirt and get himself filthy. Pretty much standard issue stuff.
Mandatory "Big Arms"
From Banff, its a pretty quick 30km up to Lake Loise so we decided that since the weather had turned out gorgeous that we'd take advantage and head further West. We found a still frozen Lake Loise not ready to show its incredibly turquoise hues quite yet this season, but it won't be long.
We did a nice little 5 mile hike around the lake, taking in the views as we went. Cooper got a free ride in the backpack and was a big hit. I think he likes being up high where he can see everyone and he exchanged loads of hi's with the passers. I bet we heard "Oh isn't that cute" in about 10 different languages. Living in Boulder County, we sometimes forget that not everyone totes their toddlers around all over in a backpack.
Self portrait
Looking back at the Fairmont. Lake has a lot of filling to do with the impending meltoff
Some color starting to peak through
Jill at the southern end of Lake Loise
A couple of days of work in Calgary, and then a couple more days off and some more time up in the mountains. Hoping for warm temps all week to give us some melt on Lake Loise so we can get a glimpse of the colors I've always seen and been envious of in countless pictures.
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