July 22, Bow Valley Parkway, Banff to Lake Louise

We traveled the quiet Bow Valley Parkway from Banff to Lake Louise, stopping at the Johnston Canyon Trail to hike to the Lower Falls, one of the best shorter walks I have been on.  After that we traveled the Lake Louise Drive to see the Chateau Lake Louise and grounds.  The lake is brilliant turquoise, the mountains, sheer, the glaciers, vast.  The site is one of the most amazing I have ever seen, and the hotel, grand as it is, is dwarfed by the stunning scenery.  We walked the trail around the perimeter of the lake, stopping again and again for photographs, and the views were astonishing.  Later we also toured the lobby of the Chateau Lake Louise and even had lunch there before staying at a Lake Louise Village campground that evening.  What a profoundly beautiful place!