Canada's "Diamond in the Wilderness"

When we made plans to spend some time in Canada this summer, Banff and Lake Louise were at the top of our list of places to tour.

We left early for the 30-mile drive from our camp-ground in Cochrane, Alberta. We traveled past the exit for Banff, wanting to get to Lake Louise, the other attraction in Banff National Park, as early as possible.

The majesty of the Canadian Rockies on the forty-minute drive from Banff provided a stunning indication of what was to come.

A short walk from the parking lot to the Lake took us through this wooded area.















Being greeted with this view of the lake, it was clear how Lake Louise has come to be known as Canada's "Diamond in the Wilderness."

We each must have take a dozen photos near this spot before moving around the lake.

The Victoria Glacier provided the perfect background for the blue-green waters of the lake.

The pair of canoeists are dwarfed by the surrounding mountains, but the serene scene is very appealing.








An equally attractive view--though maybe not as colorful--is provided by the wooded mountains surrounding the lake.

To add to Nature's beauty, a canoe rental kiosk added several red canoes to the views of the lake. The pair of empty canoes shown here not only added a dash of color but raised a question about the circumstances surrounding their position.

People in a canoe can create a more interesting picture as they create different compositons while paddling around the lake.













But these red canoes create their own beautiful scenes without the aid of any people.















We each must have taken several photos of these soon-to-be-rented canoes.



A photog-rapher was giving instructions for different arrange-ments of the members of this group. For this photo, they were told to face away from the camera and raise their hands with two fingers showing on one hand and four on the other. (I don't know why.)

After this photo, the group headed to the canoe rental office.

After nearly two hours of admiring and photographing the beauty of Lake Louise--and after graciously filling the requests of other travelers to take their twosome and group photographs--we headed toward The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. At a small footbridge, we paused for one last photograph of the lake from this position.






The colors of the bicycles against the fence just seemed to call out to be photo-graphed. (At least that's what I think I heard.)

The Fairmont Chateau also seemed to blend perfectly with the lake and mountains.



We had one more stop to make before heading to Banff.

All this beautiful scenery in one place--and still more to come.