Canoe on Lake Louise

Canoe on Lake Louise
September 2, 2013

When I was 15, my parents moved us to Calgary because of a job transfer.  I didn't think so at the time, but it was a great thing for me.

Calgary is so close to the mountains (only an hour to Banff).  This is pretty cool, except that I'm more of a beach girl - and I live in the prairies.  Oh well, some day!

In any case, Lake Louise is only an hour and 45 minutes away and I had never been there.  I've seen so many photos and heard so many great things about it, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to experience it for myself.

Luckily, two of my wonderful lady friends (Courtney & Tammy) were available, so we made a day of it.

When we arrived, we were blown away by the beauty of the lake.  As Courtney said, "It's sooo majestic!".  The water is the exact greenish blue color seen in all the photos.  It's absolutely gorgeous!

We were in the boat with the flag

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise offers a tour called the Voyageur Canoe Experience, so I booked it a few weeks in advance.  We could have just rented a canoe and zipped around on the lake by ourselves, but the Experience was in a larger canoe with a few other people and a guide, which seemed like the better option.

We were told how to properly paddle, then we all got in, each row at a time. I was in the third row and the girls were directly behind me.  There were two odd girls in front of me who didn't seem to understand how to paddle in rhythm and another couple behind Courtney & Tammy.

We took the boat along the side of the lake till we reached the far end, which took much less time than I had anticipated and is approximately 3km from the dock at the hotel.  When we got to the far end, I put both of my feet in the water.  It was freezing, but so refreshing!  The water felt so clean.


Our guide got us singing, which was awkward.

We looped back around to the dock and let the odd girls out - they had a bus to catch - and then did another lap.

On our second lap around we got quite close to the front of the Chateau, which is gorgeous!  There were tons of tourists standing near the water who took photos of us.

Then back near the far end for a tranquil sit.  Sound waves reflect off the surface of water, so we could hear people chatting from all around us, but it still felt quiet and peaceful.  We sat in the boat for a couple of minutes, just taking it all in.

After that, we headed back to the dock.  It had been almost two hours!  I couldn't believe it!

When we were finished, we took our own tour of the Chateau (very much enjoying how fancy the washrooms are) and then made our way back to Banff, where we had supper.

It was a great day and it was made so much better by the company!

This is an experience that I would highly recommend!

And that's when Courtney got eaten by a bear