Making a Splash at Lake Louise

Today, one of my articles, Making a Splash at Lake Louise,  is up on Travel Savvy Mom. Please take a moment to check it out here. I hope you enjoy it. Then take a couple more moments and check out the rest of the website. There are lots of great hotel reviews (some by yours truly) and articles to be read!

Road Trip Day 15- Waterton Lakes National Park

The day had come. It was time to pack up and head back across the border. Canada had thrown alot of rain at us but she also overwhelmed us with her beauty. Luckily, she still had one more trick up her sleeve on the US/Canada border: Waterton Lakes National Park.

We reached Waterton Lakes just as the clouds broke and the rain stopped. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Obviously, there would be lakes. I did not, however, expect bison. I could barely contain my excitement as we drove in to the bison paddock and started our search for North America's large mammal. We drove along the gravel road and craned our necks as we searched the hills for signs of the herd. Just when I was about to give up, I spotted them. We were completely overtaken with excitement. I ignored my better judgement, jumped out the car,  and started snapping pictures. Luckily I had enough sense to keep my children's safety in mind and they were plenty excited to watch the bison graze from inside the car. Yes, we would continue on to other parks and see hoards of bison but there is nothing like your first time...  

Waterton is where the prairie meets the Rockies.  It is striking to see rolling hills colored with greens, reds, browns and yellows suddenly shoot up into the air and take on deeper greens, gray, blues and whites. It was so peaceful to watch the grass blow through the breeze and a fly fisherman knee deep trying to catch dinner.

Of course the most obvious stunners at Waterton Lakes are the lakes themselves.

Never have the lakes looked more stunning than with my babies posing for pictures in the foreground (okay, I may be a tad biased).

Another landmark of Waterton is the Prince of Wales Hotel. I can only imagine what it must be like to wake up to the breathtaking views that its windows hold.  The hotel is just as gorgeous as the landscape that surrounds it.

One of the great side trips in Waterton Lakes is Red Rock Canyon. It almost seems like Disney snuck into Waterton and carefully placed a brightly colored canyon in the most unlikely of places.

While we were exploring the canyon, the clouds began to gather once again. It was Canada's way of telling us that our time exploring her treasures was up and that we better find our way back across the border. But in true Canada fashion, she couldn't let us leave without giving us one more gift; a bear foraging near the road. I didn't get the best shot but I promise you, he was there and we were thankful  to be given one last gift.

To see more gorgeous photos check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday here.

Roadtrip Day 10: Banff and Yoho

Waking up in the Canadian Rockies was a dream come to life. The rain was gone, the air was crisp and the mountains were showing off their good looks like a super model on a catwalk.It certainly helped that we were staying in a fabulous condo at the Hidden Ridge Resort.  We had a long day ahead of us and I was excited to see as much of Banff as we possibly could with four children under four. Traveling with small children can be extremely unpredictable so we had to prioritize. My number one priority was Lake Louise. I had seen so many pictures and read so many accounts of its beauty that I absolutely needed to see it for myself. As we walked up to the shoreline and the lake came into view, the color of the water took my breath away. It just didn't seem like it could be real. It was too turquoise, too milky, too unlike anything I had ever seen.  The glaciers that feed the lake create a color that seems almost magical. The kids were eager to touch, throw rocks in, and even put their sock and shoe covered feet into the freezing glacial water.

From Lake Louise we headed further up the mountains toward Moraine Lake. The rain started to fall and the thought of dragging the kids in and out of the car again seemed a bit much so Jess and I took turns running from the parking lot over to the lake. Not exactly the way I envisioned us viewing the lake but sometimes you make do with the situation you have. I thought Moraine Lake was even more beautiful than Lake Louise. It was smaller but the color of that lake was out of this world. Pictures really don't do it justice. Especially pictures taken in the pouring rain. The next time I am in Banff I would love to spend more time at this lake and maybe even stay the night at the Moraine Lake Lodge. It was just so quaint and isolated and peaceful. It seemed like a very special place.

The rain continued to fall which did put a damper on some of our plans. We decided to head over to Yoho National Park and check out Canada's second tallest waterfall, Takakkaw Falls. At 1250 feet in length, the falls seemed to explode over the mountainside. The surrounding area is equally as stunning. The drive off the main highway to the falls  included the biggest hairpin turn I have ever encountered. It was literally impossible to stay in your lane and make the turn. It was that sharp and steep. Cars had to take turns doing three point turns around the corner! Yoho holds a special place in my heart because it is the only place on our trip that we saw a moose. I suppose it is fitting that the one moose we did see was in Canada.

After Yoho we had to head back through Banff and down the mountain towards Calgary. The rain came pouring down in buckets and sadly I had to bid farewell to the Canadian Rockies that I had fallen in love with. As we stopped for gas the mountains gave us one last gift. It was truly the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. The picture doesn't show how vibrant, colorful, and complete it was. I felt like I could literally just reach out and grab it. Instead, I chose to leave it right there where it belonged, in a little piece of paradise.

Roadtrip Day 9- Revelstoke and Glacier

We visited four Canadian National Parks and five US National Parks during our 24 days on the road. The first one we came across was Mt Revelstoke National Park, about an hour east of Salmon Arm. I had never heard of Mt Revelstoke until I started researching our trip. It is a small park, situated alongside the Trans-Canadian highway and if you didn't know to look for it, you would barely notice it was there. A tiny sign signaled us to turn off for the Meadows in the Sky Parkway so I quickly swerved over and prayed Jess had enough time to get over as well. Luckily she did and soon we were heading up a windy, rainy road towards the summit. I watched the car thermometer quickly drop from the 60s down to 40.  We passed through forest of cedar, hemlock, spruce and fir and after 16 switchbacks, we reached roads end at Balsam Lake. We bundled up and  headed over to the shuttle station to wait for our ride to the top. The rain was falling and we were wondering what was taking the shuttle so long to arrive. We checked out the trail to the top and decided maybe we should just take it instead of waiting. Mazzy was cold and didn't want to walk so Jess hauled out the stroller. After a couple hundred feet, found the trail to be not so stroller friendly. There was still snow on the ground in spots and parts of the trail were muddy and steep. Back down the hill we went to wait. And wait. And wait. Finally another tourist informed us that the shuttle was not running today. The National Park website said the shuttle would run daily. No park ranger informed either one of us that the shuttle was not running when we paid our fees.We had just wasted our time freezing in the rain for nothing! By that point the children were growing irritable, the rain was coming down harder and taking the trail was just looking like a bad idea. Not a good start to our National Park tour. There was a subalpine meadow filled with wildflowers with my name on it and we just weren't going to be able to see it. We said goodbye to beautiful Balsam Lake, packed our kids back in the cars and headed back on down those 16 switchbacks. I hope one day we can go back and get to know Revelstoke a bit better.

The next National Park we encountered that day was Glacier National Park. This was another small National Park along the Trans-Canadian Highway filled with glacier covered peaks and temperate rainforests (not that we could see the glacier covered peaks since the cloud cover was so low).  Most of the trails in Glacier were uphill and advanced for the toddler set so we settled on taking a boardwalk tour of the hemlock grove. We received plenty of rain during our time in the rainforest and honestly, it only added to the experience. Everything was so lush and green. Little streams meandered underneath us carrying the rainwater down the mountain. It was warm enough to enjoy the rain and the kids loved catching droplets in their mouths.

 

Ben, being true to character, insisted on bringing a ball along with him on the boardwalk. Even after a stern lecture about not dropping the ball off the boardwalk, temptation took hold and off it rolled. My first instinct was to tell him "too bad" and let him learn the consequences of not listening to Mommy but then guilt crept into my mind. The ball was made of plastic and there was no way that I could leave it there to never biodegrade and tarnish the otherwise pristine forest. Normally I would never condone anyone walking off trail because of the damage it can do to the ecosystem but in this case I felt it was the right thing to do. There was no way for me to climb off the boardwalk where he dropped the ball so we walked to the end of the boardwalk and I proceeded to wade my way through the forest. I say wade because getting to that ball involved me crossing two streams and getting poked countless times by some seriously sharp and seriously soaked waist high underbrush. The recovery was made, I was soaked and the boy was happy.

(Look closely and you can see a white object near the wooden pole. That is the soccer ball I had to retrieve. Lesson learned- leave the ball in the car)  

We continued to drive through Yoho and Banff National Parks and even though I was tempted to stop, I knew we would have to explore them the next day. We settled into our awesome condo at the Hidden Ridge Resort. It was so nice to have a full kitchen, a living room, and room to spread out. We tucked the kids in, planned our itinerary for the next day, and watched the rain come down on our balcony. It was a long and memorable day.