Banff Part 2 - Lake Louise

What's a vacation in Banff without a trip to Lake Louise?  It is such a beautiful lake, in an amazing setting, with the mountains all around, and a view of the glacier right from the Chateau.  We spent the whole day there, hiking along the shore, walking through the Chateau Lake Louise, and of course, kayaking.

There is a little boathouse on the lake that rents canoes (but not kayaks) for a ridiculous price by the half hour (seems to be a theme throughout the national parks I've been to, lol).  They make it very difficult for anyone to bring their own canoe or kayak to the lake, but as they told us, we can still do that.  We just couldn't launch it from their docks.  They expected us to carry the boats from the closest parking lot, all the way along the path, and out to the shore beside the boathouse, a distance of roughly 200m.  That's a whole lot further than most people would bother, and they know it.  There were plenty of vehicles in the parking lot with kayaks on the roof, but we didn't see any of those kayaks on the lake.

We did manage to find a shorter path to the water, closer to the Chateau.  There were no signs saying we couldn't park there, or stop there, or unload our boats there.  So we were quick, and got into the water and had the car re-parked in a designated parking spot before the parking patrol spotted us, hee hee....  Although we did see them spot another vehicle really close to us, but by then I had re-parked my car, and the only evidence of us being there were the 2 kayaks sitting on the lawn.  Not much they could do at that point.

So we started out on the lake.  We did have to push our way through the crowd of people to get to the water, but it was worth it.

The water was fairly calm, and the sun was attempting to shine as we set out.

Such pretty scenery!  :)

When the sun came out it was amazing! 

We eventually reached the other end of the lake, where the glacier melts into a stream and drains into the lake.

The far end of the lake appears to have a bit of a beach to it, but the sand is actually a very sticky, white clay.  We had a close-up view of the glacier from here.

We eventually had to head back to shore.  Here is a view of the Chateau from the other end of the lake.  When we reached our starting point, we decided not to push our luck loading up our boats where we had unloaded them.  So we had to carry them all the way back to the parking lot.  A difficult trek, but well worth it!

Banff Part 1 - Lake Minnewanka

We are a little ways away from the interior of BC, but that's okay.  I took a vacation, and went to Banff National Park to do some camping, hiking, and of course, kayaking.  There are a number of beautiful lakes with amazing mountain views in Banff, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try a few.

Now, the big problem we faced was finding a place somewhere near Banff where we could rent a second kayak.  There is nowhere within the town of Banff that will allow you to rent a kayak, and take it to any lake you wish.  After some extensive research, and almost giving up on the idea of kayaking while in Banff, I discovered one shop in Kananaskis Village that rented kayaks, and would allow them to travel "wherever we liked."  So on our first day there, we drove all the way into Kananaskis to pick up a rental.

After a longer drive than planned (it turns out Kananaskis Village is not right on the Trans Canada Highway - it is another 25 km further...) we started out on Lake Minnewanka.

Lake Minnewanka is a large lake that is blocked by a hydroelectric dam at one end.  The water is a beautiful greeny/blue color, which is crystal clear in shallower spots, and the entire lake is surrounded by mountains.  The area had been engulfed in smoke the day before from forest fires burning in BC, but it was clear and sunny when we got there.

Here is a nice view of the boathouse, where you can rent motor boats at an astronomical price by the half hour.  Or you can take a guided tour of the lake on a much larger boat.

We paddled along, with the wind at our backs pushing us along. 


















The wind wasn't bad when we started out, but it gradually got worse.

 

 

So much beautiful scenery....

 

Eventually, the wind got a bit too strong, the waves got a bit too big, and we had to stop on shore to wait it out. The boats were getting swamped and pushed around by the waves, which was a bit scary. At one point, it reminded me of kayaking on the ocean in Mexico, only at that time, I had a much larger boat that handled the waves better. My little 11 foot kayak was not much of a match for these waves.

We found a nice beach to stop on.  I paddled towards the shore, and figured I had better get out of my kayak, since it was about to be filled with water.  I stepped out into the water, which appeared to be ankle deep.  Turns out it was about waist deep - oops!  Good thing it was a hot, sunny day!  The water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be.  I ended up with a nasty bruise on my right arm where it smacked the edge of the cockpit on my way out.

But we made it to shore.  And it was such a pretty spot to take a break, and take some photos.

We waited a little while, and the wind died down a bit, but then got worse again as we tried to get back onto the lake.  A few minutes later, we tried again, and made it, without swimming, and with minimal swamping.  Although it is more difficult to paddle into the wind, I found that I prefer it that way, as it is easier to see the waves coming at you.

On our way back to the boat launch.  As Murphy's Law would have it, the wind died down considerably as we approached the boathouse, and then picked up again just as we thought we might be able to paddle around a bit longer.  It was a beautiful lake, and I hope I get a chance to see more of it someday.

Summit Lake August 12, 2010

Summit Lake is located north of Prince George, and is bordered with many cabins, and its recreation site near the northern end of the lake is a very popular spot.  I would have liked to get into the rec site to launch my boat from there, and explore that end of the lake more easily, but it was closed.  So not knowing the lake and its access very well, I drove back around to my usual spot off Adams Road.  I would have a much farther distance to paddle from here, but I had all afternoon.

The view around the corner from the dock.  The water was somewhat calm with just a bit of a breeze.  And not to mention sunny!

Teapot Mountain was visible once I got around the corner.  As usual, I took way too many pictures of it.

Looking back towards the islands that dot the middle of the lake.

There were many pretty places on the trip up the lake.  There are many cabins on this side of the lake, but I try to avoid them.

Scraggly tree against a pretty blue sky.

Teapot mountain keeps getting larger...

The recreation site was completely deserted, which seemed a bit unusual.  I'm not sure why it was closed.

Getting closer to the north end of the lake, where the Crooked River starts.

One more shot of Teapot Mountain from a slightly different angle, in case there weren't enough pictures of it so far... :)

And there it is.  The start of the Crooked River/end of Summit Lake.  It was definitely time to turn around.  My arms were getting tired.

Turned around and headed back.  The breeze was at my back at this point, which was a big help.

And of course, there is never a shortage of tangled stumps.

This was in between a couple of the islands close to where I started out.  Almost there!  It was a great afternoon on the lake, and I actually paddled a lot further than I usually do.  I might pay for that later, but it was worth it.

Cobb Lake July 31, 2010

Cobb Lake is located West of Prince George, North of Cluculz Lake, down Finmore Road.  It is not a large lake, but it is a pretty lake.  We started out at the recreation site on the west end, and paddled along the southern shore.

Just to the right of the boat launch is a really weedy area with thick lilly pads, and different grasses.  I did spot a frog on one of the lilly pads, but it hopped away before I could get my camera out.

We paddled through the reeds for a while, before reaching the southern shore.

This tree looked like it was about to fall into the water.  We saw many trees that were falling into the lake, most of them dead pine.

The water was very calm, and the weather was hot and sunny.  We started out with a cloudless sky, but as the day went on, clouds started to form.

There were so many little bays, and every time we turned a corner, there was more to see.  Needless to say, our trip along the south shore took longer than expected.

Dead pine trees were falling into the water everywhere, and the bottom of the lake was criss-crossed with them.

More dead pine trees....

 I thought this tree looked cool. It is bent over towards the lake in a way that makes it look like a giant bird taking a drink. There are a few branches sprouted from the end of it that are growing up towards the sun. They look like a plume of feathers, although it is tough to see that in the photo.

 

More pretty leaning trees - these ones very much alive.  We paddled a bit past this point, and then crossed the lake to get back to the rec site.

The northern shore seemed to have a few more green trees on it.  Not as many stumps or dead trees falling into the water.  Our arms were tired from crossing the lake, so we didn't stop as much on our trip back.

Some large Douglas-fir trees...

And the view near the top of the boat launch.  We made it!

All in all, another great day on the water.  But Summer is now half over, so we must make the best of the time we have left.