From the large, picturesque campground at Banff, we moved West over the Continental Divide to a rustic campground in Yoho National Park. Angie had discovered nearby Emerald Lake on-line and wanted to take our boat out on it. We got one of the last parking places. Angie played with Charlie in the water while Hank lugged the boat, oars, life vests and air pump to the lake shore. Hank was nearly done inflating the boat when a park staff member told us that private watercraft were not allowed on the lake because of the risk of spreading “Whirling Disease”, which has affected some trout and whitefish in Alberta.
Hank hauled everything back to the truck and locked it up. We took a walk around the lake and decided to stop for lunch at a patio restaurant. After waiting in line for 15 minutes, the host informed us that dogs weren’t welcome. That surprised us, given that there was a mini Australian Shepherd sitting at the table right beside the host’s stand. He told us that the young, distracted dog was a service dog. Yeah, right. We rolled our eyes and left the park.
As a consolation gift, we got to see a black bear feasting on berries along the water right next to the canoe concession. Angie got a great photo and video.
The next day Angie had arranged an excursion to Moraine Lake that included parking at Lake Louise. We went an hour early to photograph Lake Louise before our half-hour bus ride to Moraine. We were looking forward to renting a canoe on Moraine, at a cost of $170 an hour as it had been a bucket list item since the first time we were here. However, when we arrived, the wind was blowing too hard and a thunderstorm was forecast, so rentals were closed and we didn’t get to canoe.
We had a light lunch with some beer and coffee before hiking to the top of a 500 foot rock pile to get more photos of the lake. We returned to Lake Louise where we walked around the lake again to get afternoon photos. Then we stopped in at the bar at the Fairmont Lake Louise – yet another former Canada Pacific grand hotel.
The bartender was the best one we have had on this trip. We watched him pour Hank’s Negroni over a single, large ice cube, which he then “branded” with a large script “F”. He trimmed the lemon peel with the care of a sushi chef before coiling it as a garnish in the drink. We traded stories and tastes of our favorite Irish whiskies as we ate a delicious Cesar Salad and an appetizer of cold clams seasoned with white wine, lemon and garlic.
Upon returning to our campsite in Yoho, we picked up Charlie and drove up the canyon to a waterfall pouring out of a rock wall into a milky gray glacial river. Charlie got a short swim in a little eddy close to shore. The raging current was too scary to allow her to range very far from shore.
