The Wandering Koi

After completing a foggy, drizzly drive into Banff, AB, we arrived at our campsite. Although the ground was wet, the rain slackened just as we prepared to set up the tent!

The next morning we had reservations for the shuttle to Lakes Louise and Morraine. Shuttling is the way to get to the lakes, and after seeing the crowds at Yoho (which we’ll talk about in a future post) I understand why. (More information at the end of the post about the logistics of Parks Canada shuttles if you need it). The Parks Canada shuttles will absolutely sell out. When we were there, it seemed that there were still spaces available on private shuttles, but why chance it? Reserve the shuttle as soon as you know you’re visiting.

The weather at Lake Moraine was overcast but in contrast to the description of an early explorer, I did not find it “dark and gloomy”.

Glaciers flow and move — slowly. As they do, they pick up rocks, grind them into sand, and abraid underlying rock into glacial flour. As a glacier melts and retreats, it deposits rocks and soil. This deposition is the moraine. In the photo above you can see the eponymous moraine that forms the natural dam at Moraine Lake.

We continued a game we started on the drive from Jasper entitled “What color blue is that?”. We soon ran out of common names (turquoise, aquamarine, cobalt, light blue, dark blue) and had to get more creative (milky blue, midnight blue, Icee blue). We all agreed that we wouldn’t include “used dishwater” even though it was an accurate description of the glacial-flour laden runoff seen in some of the rivers.

The cool weather made for enjoyable hiking, even for Little Koi.

The views from the trail to the top of the moraine were phenomenal…

Everyone else thought so also…

So we decided to move on to Lake Louise (which if you’ve been, you know that didn’t help to avoid crowds). Scenery warning- more pictures of beautiful places in the next post.

Although, it is time for a shameless promotion… in case you aren’t aware, there are associated Facebook and Instagram accounts, linked off the home page. While the journey is the same, the content is not. For the most part, the pictures and content don’t overlap as writing/art/publishing for the accounts is distributed among family members. So if you’d like a different perspective, different pictures, or a shorter format, check out the other accounts. I think I’m supposed to say something about liking and subscribing but I’m a closet neo-Luddite so maybe not.

You can skip the discussion below if you don’t need information about the shuttles.

A Note on the Shuttles…

If you’re going through Parks Canada… get reservation the moment you start considering a visit to Banff. Did I mention they sell out? You have to designate a destination when you make the shuttle reservation. Each shuttle only goes to its designated lake. At the main hub (located at the ski resort – views from the gondola in upcoming posts), you board the shuttle to the lake you’ve chosen. However, there is a connector shuttle that takes you to the other lake. A ticket through Parks Canada includes (at this time) unlimited rides on the connector bus between lakes. You do not need to reserve tickets for both lakes. Be aware, however, that once you go back to the hub, your ticket is closed and you cannot go back to the lakes. The ticket only includes one ride away from the hub and one ride back to the hub.

Apparently you can also purchase a reservable SuperPass for the Roam Public Transit (and then utilize the connector to move between lakes), but we did not use this so caveat emptor. There are also private shuttles available, but again we didn’t use these so I will reserve comment.