Lake Louise (Sat 12th - weather improving)

On the way to the Icefields we stopped off at Lake Louise. Well actually we didn't make it to Lake Louise itself, or the townsite but we went up on the gondola on the opposite mountain. It was fun as you had the choice of the enclosed cable car or the ski-lift so we went up in the open ski-lift. The first picture is taken on the way back down. You can see the gondola and also Lake Louise at the foot of the mountains - it really was a fantastic view!
The second picture is Sarah, me & Laura at the top. Lake Louise is directly behind where I'm standing so you can't see it. We were fortunate as the weather was clear while we were up at the top and only started raining when we were almost at the bottom - so we didn't get too wet.
At the top of the mountain there was an interpretive centre which had displays on the wildlife in the area. This was supposedly my best chance of seeing a grizzly bear, but for some reason they weren't hanging around underneath the gondola for the tourists to spot (very inconsiderate I think)! I did see a couple of cute ground squirrels and just as we were leaving 2 deer came running out of some bushes across the top of the mountain - well I think that's what they were, 2 deer-like creatures with big antlers anyway (you can figure out for youselves from the final picture). They were chasing each other around, but I don't think they were fighting and they looked quite impressive so that almost made up for not seeing a bear. [Laura and Sarah saw one in Waterton so I think it's about time I spotted one too].