Banff and Lake Louise

It was a 385-mile, 7.5-hour drive from Bigfork to Banff, Alberta. Upon driving into Alberta from British Columbia, I stopped at the Alberta Visitor Center, where I was attended to most helpfully -- I was given an alternative route that cut 45 miles from my drive. Then, upon arriving in Banff, I stopped at another Visitor Center, where I received suggestions on good hikes to take as well as guidance on bear bells (the guidance: bells not so good, since bears don't hear especially well, so the opportunity to surprise them still exists -- I instead used my BlackBerry music player in "speaker" mode, and I was not eaten by bears.)
Upon checking in to my hotel, I took a stroll downtown.

I got a fairly early start on Saturday, heading up to Lake Louise. I understand why this is such a popular destination -- it's jaw-droppingly beautiful.
I hit the trail up to Lake Agnes, via Mirror Lake by 9 AM, before there was too much foot traffic.


Upon reaching Lake Agnes, I decided to venture further up to the Little Beehive (altitude 2,225 m), where I was rewarded with more stunning views.





I followed this 5-mile round-trip with a hike on the south side of Lake Louise to the Fairview Lookout. Have I mentioned yet how steep the hiking trails were?


I headed back into Banff soon after mid-day, by way of the scenic Bow Valley Parkway. Before heading to dinner in town (at St. James Gate Irish Pub), I hiked up Tunnel Mountain for some views of the town.


On Sunday, after my tour of the Icefields Parkway (separate post to follow), I stopped by Moraine Lake. Hiking there was somewhat restricted, due to the local bear population.


I didn't see any bears until the next day, as I was headed out of town: there was a black bear by the side of the road near the Lake Louise exit off the Trans-Canada Highway. I was already past it in my car by the time I saw it, so I couldn't safely pull over to photograph. Here is some other wildlife that I did see.