Lake Louise and Banff, Alberta, Canada #1

Rich, Miranda, Adam, Mara, Holly and Chris came together from their respective corners of the states for a week of climbing, camping, hiking, laughing, eating and exploring in the gorgeous Canadian Rockies for one week. You all know where Rich and I came from. Adam lives in Seattle, Mara lives close to us but is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this summer and took a week off. Holly and Chris live in York, Pa, and are friends of ours from medical school days.

Our week began in Lake Louise Nat'l Park. This is a gorgeous mountain lake surrounded by high peaks, glaciers and of course some good rocks for climbing. Each morning we'd hike along a mellow trail to get to the climbing.


Here's us on our first day.
I think this is Rich and me on the second day. We couldn't resist taking pics everyday when we had this view, who could?
The view from the cliffs we were climbing. That's the mountain chateau at Lake Louise, which is a large hotel for those who don't want the camping experience.
We saw this grizzly on the first day of climbing, he started out near to us, but by the time I could get my camera out, turned on a focused he was running (really fast!) away from us. We weren't in any danger, the hiking trail right near us was busy with hikers, so don't worry we weren't all alone in bear country (moms and dads).
So we didn't just climb- we ate a lot, too. Here's Mara putting the finishing touches on the dutch oven enchiladas. Below, happy Mara and Adam with enchiladas in their bellies (and maybe a little on their mouths).
Another day of gorgeous weather and beautiful views. On this day we decided to hike past the climbing and up the the Valley of the Six Glaciers. This hike is not too long, maybe 5 miles, but gives amazing alpine views and we could see those glaciers in the background up close. Along the way Mara ran into her best friend's dad, Jim, from childhood, vacationing all the way from Texas. It really is a small world. He hiked and had tea with us, then him and his wife, Ginny, visited at our camp that night. It really is a small world after all.
At the end of the trail taking in the views.
An Inukshuk. These are found frequently throughout the NW and were used by natives to indicate something- don't remember what.
Mountain Tea House in the Valley of 6 Glaciers. This was a welcome rest stop before our hike back down the trail.

A beer at the end of one of the climbing days on the deck of the chateau.


I couldn't help leaving you with one last shot of Lake Louise.
And this is Morraine Lake, about 15 kilometers away.