After a half hour in the Banff Visitor Center talking to volunteers about how to get to the most coveted selfie destination in the park, we made the choice to boycott Moraine Lake.
We’re no strangers to boycotts. If the destination is hyped and the barrier to entry is high, we’re searching for the alternative; shrugging off herd mentality and choosing JOMO – the Joy of Missing Out. Looking back to February when the lottery for camping in western Canada was opening, we were full-on FOMO. How could we drive through Banff and not stop? It’s not out of our way and it’s freaking Banff! We set alarms. We logged in to the lottery system on two different ISP’s. We queued up. That’s FOMO not JOMO.
Lake Louise and its alpine sister Moraine are a rite of passage in the Canadian Rockies. Known for their turquoise blue and emerald green waters surrounded by epic snow dusted mountains, it is the picture you want on your Christmas card. Parks Canada and all the tour bus companies know it so they limit your access, making you want to go all the more. We had played the game to land the site, now we had to play again to land the shuttle seat. Sheric don’t play that.
Fortunately we were in the know on Lake Louise. Our local contacts at the dishwashing station in Waterton Lakes told us to go after 7pm for less crowds and free parking. Moraine Lake? Good luck they said. Did you buy a bus ticket? Moraine Lake is so fragile that the system decided to shut the road to people like us. Your choice to get there is expensive private tour bus tickets, Parks Canada timed entry bus tickets released 48 hours in advance of the day you want to go, or bicycle. We were totally into renting e-bikes, til we priced them at $137.50 EACH for a half day ride. Eric set his alarm for the 7am Saturday release and when it went off we looked at each other and said NAH.
Lake Louise soft side campground is surrounded by an electrified fence to keep the bears out, or the people in, we’re not sure. About a 15 minute drive to the Lake, we ate our pastina soup dinner, packed the art box and arrived just after 7pm to a half empty parking lot. The insider information from the Peace Park wash station was spot on. The pay parking meters were off. The crowds dissipating. Louise was more petite than we thought she’d be, tucked perfectly at the base of twin snow capped peaks.
Based on all of the advertisements, we thought Louise would be plus sized. We were wrong. Louise was made to be discovered accidentally by some explorers on a Rocky Mountain back packing trek. Instead, that half empty parking lot still filled the banks of Louise in a shoulder to shoulder selfie shoot out. It is a classic supply and demand problem. The supply of accessible pristine turquoise blue alpine lakes is fixed. The demand has spread well past Canada, past America, and into China, India and Europe. That’s a lot of humanity queued up.
Sheri had her sketch book and found a bench with a view, opting to study the mountains for crags and colors, the trees for shadows and shades, the water for ripples and reflections. It is a different experience when the scenery is posing for you than you posing in front of it. The sun set behind the peak and the falling temperatures eventually drove us back to our Lil Buddy propane heater at camp.
When we closed the door to Moraine Lake we opened the door to Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, just a half hour west of Banff. With the day available to us not being spent on the shuttle bus lottery, we had options. Next to Banff, but a world away, Yoho National Park has an internet catchy name without the internet crowds. We took the dawn’s early light drive to Emerald Lake, capturing the sun rising over the water, reflecting the mountains and trees and clouds in the surface below. Sketchbook in hand, we walked through the $1200 a night Emerald Lake Lodge and added it to our RMD bucket list for an artist in residency gig. As we left, the parking lot was filled and made our escape to another Yoho wonder, Natural Bridge.
The waters are rushing in these Canadian Rockies. Milky white with a tinge of mint green, the glaciers crush rock into a fine powder called flour which joins the melt, feeding the rivers, creating tumultuous rapids of milky froth. We waited at a train crossing to drive through Yoho’s only metropolitan zip code, the tiny town of Field. We Redfin speculated on a work/live home on main street for $345,000CAD. It was squished between an artisan pottery studio and coffee shop/liquor store/online casino. Tempting! Yoho had the right vibe. The shuttle busses had not found it yet.
With room on the dance card, we had time for the Takakkaw Falls, one of the highest in Canada. The drive up the mountain was filled with tight switchbacks that Boss could barely pass. We frequently met the scariest creature in all of Canada on the narrow, backless curves, the 30’ CanadaDream Class III RV Rental. Ignoring all signs prohibiting RV’s, these mythical mechanical monsters have no fear of tight parking lots, narrow roads, or hair pin turns. A short hike later we were being sprayed with mist wondering what the people on the shuttle to Moraine Lake were doing.
The weather is constantly changing here and Eric is effortlessly layering in his Malstrom AFB clearance prAna wear, but the solar panels aren’t getting enough love from the sun. We’ve taken to finding a deserted pullout with 5G connectivity, firing up the generator and keeping our 658 day crossword streak alive. As the generator pumps ‘trons back into the Lithium stack, we crossword over a makeshift tailgate lunch. From our gravel lot we observe the Canadian Pacific Railway lumber towards Kicking Horse Pass as it follows the contours of the mighty Bow River below. There is not a shuttle bus in sight.
