Lake Louise

Our fantastic hosts gave us a fantastic breakfast overlooking Kelowna before setting off this morning. We couldn't have asked for more from this lovely stay.

On the road, we ploughed on towards Banff. We stopped at Walmart to grab a couple of blankets in lieu of sleeping bags for our coming night of camping, which could be interesting... We made a brief stop en route at the huge Revelstoke Dam which was a feat of engineering in scale.

The drive itself was spectacular. Through Mt Revelstoke, Glacier and Yoho National Parks, the road carved its way alongside cliffs and lakes. The weather varied between light drizzle and proper rain, so the low cloud meant we couldn't see most of the peaks but this really didn't spoil the view. We followed a train of seemingly endless carriages through the valleys, and many of the lakes were more like inland oceans. We were also treated to the view of a moose and it's calf crossing one of the rivers - the first time we've seen a moose in Canada!

The only disappointment was just the volume of people and traffic; a stark contrast to eastern Canada. No where was this epitomised more than the horrible gateway town of Golden, which is little more than a town of truck stop cafes/fast food joints for travellers en route to Banff.

Once in Banff National Park, we quickly came to Lake Louise. Whilst there were still a good number of people here, and despite the monstrous Fairmont hotel built on the shore, it was very beautiful, even in the rain.Read more