Deer Lodge (Lodge Room) Lake Louise

... before they dropped me off at the Lake Louise Hostel.

This is in Lake Louise village which is 4-5km from Lake Louise itself and tiny. There is a very small shopping centre, mostly cafes and shops catering to the tourist trade, an Information Centre (very helpful people) and a few hotels (many of which are closing now as winter is coming on). It was very cold, about 3 degrees but I rugged up well and actually ...

... it. Infact on the way up to the teahouse we heard a crack as a piece off one of the glaciers fell, I didn't get to see it falling, I just heard the thud and then saw some of the ice and snow still falling. We stopped at the teahouse for lunch, and I got some lemonade thinking 'finally I get to try actual lemonade (as opposed to sprite)', however when the drinks come out its powdered lemonade which to me tasted like cold lemsip ...

... a Canadian Tire special, a Coleman ten with a fly that covered barely half way down the sides of the tent and didn't cover the entrance at all. The tent was clearly soaked and Celine wondered about the state of the occupants and their bedding. As it turned out, they did arise as we were about to leave camp. They were badly prepared, wearing denim jeans and lacking ...

... The sun was out so it wasnt too cold considering the snow around me. Once we got to the end of the trial it was a strange moment as it was just so amazing. There was Ben and myself and a couple surrounded by mountains with glaciers clinging to their steep sides. It was incredibly quiet apart from the odd rumble in the distance of avelanches on the other side of the mountains. The glacier above was fantastic and you could clearly see the layers of fresh snow which had ...

... and got on really well with him. We were both getting the bus down to Lake Louise and staying at the hostel for a few nights, before continuing onto Banff, and what a bus journey it was - the scenery was incredible! Too bad the bus didn't make any stops at the numerous lookouts, but I didn't mind as I was now convinced that I had to hire another car in Banff, so I could take my time cruising around... I had a great first night at the gorgeous hostel ...

... firmly planted in the snow which didn't really fill me with confidence for the next section. If he had a fall, what chance did my wobbly limbs have. Sure enough I made the same mistake and in an effort to avoid the drop on the right I tried to turn in the deep powder on the left, caught an edge and joined him buried in the snow. We headed down the rest of the hill in a gully which was full of bumps but by the bottom of it I was feeling more confident ...

... remind me to stay right, the awesome tourist attractions on the way to banff i.e. the town reknowned for its street wood carvings... Traveller's Tip If you have snow on your windscreen, pouring hot water onto it when its -20 degrrees does not clear the windscreen, it just becomes a windscreen covered in a thick layer of ice. Not clever.

... to call me a cab. 10 minutes later he arrives and takes me to the stables (we went so slowly just so he caught every red light!) and about 10 minutes later Jenni arrives too. We paid our $36 and signed our liability waivers and had about 15 minutes to kill. I had a wander around the stables and found an awesome cat to play with. It was orange and had such soft, thick fur... really fun playing with him or her for about 10 minutes. Then ...