Lake Louise Gondola

Today Is another cloudy, overcast day.  The weather hasn't been very cooperative but that is what we get for coming in June, I guess.  We decided to take the gondola ride up Mount Whitehorn (6,850 feet).  We went to the visitors center to get a $5 coupon someone had told Ted about and then bought our tickets which included breakfast.

We drove up to the ski lodge which was only a mile away from the village and had a great buffet breakfast in the beautiful lodge made of huge peeled logs.  Sitting in the lodge brought back great skiing memories and made us wish we were still skiing.  Being cold on the lift later made us change our minds, though.  I browsed the shop in the basement before going out to get on the lift.  

They made us watch a short film on bear etiquette before we could ride the lift and then we rode up the mountain unsuccessfully searching for grizzlies.  At the top we checked out the trail maps of both the front and back bowls of the mountain.  The lift that takes you to the top, which is not open in the summer, is a six person chairlift.  It didn't look big enough for six bottoms to me but that is what the sign said.  We walked past the wishing well to a viewing area where we could look down into Lake Louise and see the Chateau and Mount Victoria from afar.  We couldn't really pick out the campground because it is so wooded but could find the general vicinity.  A sign board identifying the names of mountains gave us the name of the mountain near the campground as Temple Mountain. 

Wishing Well

Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in Background, Village in Center

Zoom of Lake Louise

Spectacular Mountains

Six Passenger Ski Lift

We walked down to the visitors center which had great displays on all the native wildlife.  After reading the interpretive signs and looking at the mounted animals we watched videos taken from hidden infra red cameras of animal traffic in the park.  It was amazing to see just how much and how many species travelled through one particular spot in a years time.  

In Banff National Park a female grizzly reaches breeding age at seven years.  Her cubs (1-4) stay with her for three to four years.  She may only produce two litters in her lifetime.  In areas such as the west coast where food sources are abundant, females breed at a younger age, have more cubs per litter and have more litters.

We hiked back to the ski lift for our trip down the mountain.  The wind was in our faces and it was really cold.  When we were about halfway down, we saw two grizzlies off to our right on the other side of a row of trees.  It was difficult to get their pictures as we kept getting trees in front of them but could see one bear in one photo.  There are about sixty grizzlies in Banff National Park and a dozen of them spend time in and around this ski hill and the surrounding area.  Like the campground, the area around the lodge, lifts and parking lots is surrounded by an electric fence.

On Our Way Down

It Was Freezing!!

There are Two Bears There

Almost There

We sat at the bottom with our binoculars for quite awhile watching the bears up the hill before returning to the car.  The temperature at the car was 61 degrees F so we knew it had been much confer up higher.  We drove the short side trip to look at the Lake Louise Station.    Once a railway station built in 1910, it is now a high end restaurant.  Back at the motorhome, it was as cold inside as out so we upped the furnace and warmed up a bit.

The Bears Were in the Center Clearing

The Dots Halfway Up the Clearing are Bears