This morning we were delayed due to a flat tire. While it delayed us by two hours, we were grateful to discover the flat tire in the hotel parking lot and not off in some isolated neck of the woods. We were also fortunate that our hotel was about a block away from a Shell gas station with a service area, and they were able to repair the tire and get us going. We used this opportunity to walk around downtown Banff and check out the stores, the river, and local area. Woodrow was happy to walk around for most of our time out, and since we weren't in a big rush it was fine to walk slowly.
When we finally got back to the car we were ready to be on our way. Anytime we mentioned going to Banff everyone told us that we needed to go to Lake Louise, so that was the destination of the day. We drove the 45 minutes North to Lake Louise, with a chatty, chatty Theo. On our trip if Theo wasn't plugged in to electronics or distracted by toys, he was talking. Non.Stop.Talking. We'd offer suggestions such as looking out the window...but there was still so much talking. We were getting pretty hungry by the time we got near Lake Louise, but did the "we'll stop at the next place" and before we knew it, no food.
The Lake Louise area was PACKED. We tried to find parking in the lots and along the road, but I think we would have ended up parking about 2 miles away from the lake. This was about 2pm. Another lake nearby was Moraine Lake. We decided to drive there and check it out. When we had passed before the road was blocked by a ranger, and when we headed back that way it was still blocked, but fortunately for not too long and it was to make sure there was parking. It was a little cooler when we got there, but the color of the turquoise water was amazing!
We started to hike around and decided to hike the Consolation Lakes Trail. Whew! The beginning of this trail was very rocky, and parts were narrow, but eventually it widened out. The trailhead had big warning signs that you must have four people in the party to go on the trail since it was heavily trafficked by bears...great...Mason definitely considered us a strong group of four, but there were two ladies and their dog (from Canada) that ended up hiking the first part of the trail with us before they ended up trailing off. I could definitely see how it would be an area where Grizzly's and Black Bears would want to hang out, but we didn't see any. Whew!
At the end of the trail, we hung out for a little while, but it was again pretty rocky and chilly. Mason walked around a little with the boys taking photos and I enjoyed sitting and putting my feet up for a few moments soaking up nature. Theo was pretty sweet on the hike back. There were lots of big mushrooms, and he kept telling me not to step on them because they were fairy houses. (Thank you sweet, next door neighbor Audra).
When we made it back to the trailhead, we decided to go drive back to Lake Louise and it was perfect timing. We were able to park at one of the closest parking spots and it wasn't too crowded. The boys were in a great mood for taking some pictures by the lake and we enjoyed the scenery before it started to drizzle. We didn't end up hiking by the lake, but it certainly was pretty.
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