Sunday 8th June 2014, cont'd

When we got to Hwy 1 we realised we had quite a lot of time so we turned north up to Lake Louise. The 1 is a newish dual carriageway on the west side of the Bow River and has obviously replaced the old road (now 1A) which runs down the east side between Banff and Lake Louise. In building the 1 they put animal-proof fences along the sides. To allow animals to cross they’ve created a string of animal bridges. These are basically wide earth mounds with the road going through twin tunnels underneath.

We found our way to the Lake Louise. It was quite crowded but we managed to park and walked the short distance to the Lake. It's still mostly covered in ice. The ice is melting and quite thin near the edge and it was fascinating watching sheets of it flow out of the lake down the river. Managed to photograph a Clark’s Nutcracker.

We had a short walk around in front of the Fairmont Chateau Hotel and then returned to the car and drove to Moraine Lake. Quite a long drive and the snow, of which there had been a little around Louise, got deeper with quite a lot of it on the roadside.

Spent a short time at Moraine, which was also quite crowded. Decided not to climb up the rock pile as it was just starting to spit with rain and was quite chilly by then (11C). Got some pictures of the lake which is also frozen. Went into the café and had a hot drink. Photographed a raven which was scavenging food in front of where we sat. Got back in the car and drove back through Lake Louise Village.

Decided to go to Banff via the 1A. (the Bow Valley Parkway) This is really nice - a quiet winding road with very little traffic. The road is quite high above the Bow River and the parallel railway and there were a few viewpoints. Unfortunately the signing is a bit misleading, and instead of staying on the 1A all the way back to Banff we returned to the 1 half way along it. However, as we crossed the river we saw people with cameras, so we parked. They were photographing an Osprey on a tree. Its nest was on top of the bridge truss. Everyone told us there were lots of bears on the 1A, and we must have managed to miss them all.

Got to Banff and checked in. Went for a walk downtown. This is the most touristy place we’ve been, and it’s very crowded compared to everywhere else we’ve been. Didn’t fancy any of the restaurants in the town, but one of the nearby hotels advertised a tapas menu. We went in and had a very reasonable meal - Caesar salad, stuffed mushroom and calamari, washed down with a nice local beer. Earlier we’d found the local Safeway. We think we might eat in our room tomorrow if we can sort out cutlery etc, and find some beers.

The only annoyance in our room is that the TV remote doesn’t work. The girl from the front desk came up to investigate, but we don’t think she had any idea of what she was doing. Updated the diary, sorted the photos and sent some emails before going to bed. Did the Sunday Telegraph Prize Crossword and finished the difficult last two clues on the Saturday one and sent both in.