Our second day in the Rockies began early. It rained over the course of the first night so when we woke up we had to pack our tent up somewhat wet and get on our way. We stopped at Two Jack Lake to take a few photos as well as Lake Minnewanka.
 |
| Two Jack Lake |
 |
| Mama and Baby Big Horn Sheep |
 |
| Lake Minnewanka |
 |
| Lake Minnewanka |
 |
| Fairmont Banff |
Our intenerary was to hit Emerald Lake, do some canoeing around the lake, leave, set up our camp at Lake Louise Campground then go for a small hike or sight-see and then head back to Emerald Lake Lodge for a mouth-watering meal. Since we had a bit of a drive from Banff, we stopped at Starbucks in Banff for a latte, went up to Fairmont Banff to check it out, and were on our way. You can stay at the Fairmont in the summer if you want to pay $499/night. I'm not really a hotel person, so it's not an option for me when I'm in the outdoors, but for those who need the fresh linens, showers and hot meals I'm sure you can't go wrong here.
We stopped at the Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park (the full day was spent in this Park). For a description of the falls you can visit
http://www.field.ca/yohonationalpark/naturalbridge/ it's on the Kicking Horse River in Field, BC. Below are some of the shots of the mountains on the way to the Natural Bridge as well as the Natural Bridge - this was one of my favourite places. We ate our breakfast on the rocks - Yogurt Parfaits (delish). Beat the traffic and busy people by going early to see the falls, you'll get better shots for sure.
 |
| Top of the Natural Bridge |
 |
| Natural Bridge, Field, BC (sorry for the smudge on the lens) |
 |
| Looking through part of the bridge |
 |
| watching the plunging water through the rock |
 |
| Most beautiful shot for the morning |
So after we hit up this amazing splendor of the morning, we went right to Emerald Lake. I have a lot of shots from the time we spent there so I will try to keep them to a minimum. We first hiked around the lake which took approx. 1 1/2 to 2 hours, the sign says about 3, but we're quick because we were blessed with long legs (LOL) Jacq may be the only girl of my friends and fam who has longer legs than me :P They can come in handy, but also be somewhat of a challange haha (like being couped up in vehicles for longstanding periods) I don't know how super tall people do it.
Anyhow, here we go, please enjoy these shots as much as we did by being there. It did rain for part of the hike, it quickly cleared. The weather changes almost with the drop of a hat in the rockies, which is nice. Theses shots are from the walk around the lake (very flat, not much elevation) as well as the lodge view, canoeing etc. There were some pretty neat species of berries and mushrooms along the walk.
 |
| Jacq figuring out the distance and where we are headed :) |
This was by far the most impressive of all the lakes we had visited. I know there are more to come, but just the colour and the stillness. All the wildflowers and everything encompassing the lake really takes your breath away. You could grab some fold out chairs and just sit watching the lake and it's surroundings all day. Well I could anyway (lol) and I'm not really one for sitting.
The above are shots where we were just getting started. The benches have a really rustic feel, very suiting to the lake :) On to more shots.
 |
| Indian Paintbrush |
 |
| Woodpecker |
 |
| Thimble Berry - first time seeing these! |
 |
| One of the lodges you can stay in at Emerald Lake Lodge |
Ok so on second thought I will need to split this day into two posts. There are so many beautiful pictures and I want to add them to the blog. They are a bit time consuming to go through and pick out which ones to add/upload. I have too many VIP things to do today and I don't want to rush my day (my last day with Amanda...boo hoo)! Stay tuned for day 2 in the Rockies...
No comments:
Post a Comment