Vancouver

.We packed up and left our lovely log cabin in Lake Louise. We drove through the mountains for a little while but then it was time to say goodbye to the majestic Rockies as we journeyed through the prairies and reservations. It was flat, boring countryside as we made our way to the airport in Calgary..

It is a short flight from Calgary to Vancouver so there was time to explore our surroundings once we had checked into the hotel. We were staying on Robson Street and I was pleased that we had a very large room with a balcony and huge window as we were on the 10th floor. We could just see the sea peeping out between two very tall between buildings.

 Off to explore I noticed that many buildings looked newly constructed with numerous glass ones reflecting others.

 The designs on this building caught my eye. It is the Marine Building.

 Built in 1930 it was the tallest building in the British Empire

.

It is an excellent example of art deco.

It was a short walk from the hotel to the harbour. The yachts were huge and looked very expensive. We had a walk along the sea wall admiring the boats.

We finished off the evening in a fish restaurant at Coal Harbour called  Caderos The food was delicious as was the wine and the gin. It was a wonder we found our way back to the hotel!

From Lake Louise to Lake Agnes

Weekend over, so hoping it will not be too busy around Lake Louise as we are going to do a circular walk calling in at the Lake Agnes Tea House. Who could resist this little fella sitting by the banks of Lake Louise. Looks like this chipmunk is so used to tourists and their cameras that he is happy to pose with a flower in his mouth!

We walked around to the other side of the Lake.

Looking back across the Lake towards the Château (Fairmont Hotel) 

The large cliffs towered above us as we reached the streams and rivers that feed the Lake.

As we began to ascend you could see the glacial water  rushing past.

We walked up to the Highline Trail, stopping frequently to admire the views and also the beautiful wild flowers.

We now had a clear view of Lake Louise below.

Finally we reached Lake Agnes. There was still some ice floating on the top,so I assume it freezes over during the night.

Once here you can have a rest and a cup of tea. There are over 50 flavours served here. As we hadn't come across anyone else walking up we assumed there would be few people at the top. How wrong we were. It was very busy and we had to wait some time to be served. I couldn't understand where everyone (including children) had come from as the climb was quite a strenuous one.




I got my answer as we made our way back down another path. There were the horses that many people had used. It was so much shorter and easier this way with a laid path. However you didn't get the spectacular views that we experienced on the way up.

We were able to get close to the waterfall coming from the Lake.

This is Mirror Lake that we encountered on our descent. Behind it you can see the Beehive mountain.

We were soon back. An exhilarating walk for my last day in the mountains. Tomorrow we are driving to Calgary to pick up a flight to Vancouver. There is something very special about the scenery here in the Rockies and I will carry these memories with me forever.