Dawn at Lake Louise
Late September. Half hour after sunrise. Slightly cool. Cries of crows and gray jays animate the evergreen stand. Only about seven other cars in the parking lot. One of Canada’s singular beauties almost entirely to ourselves. No deck full of chattering tourists. No lake full of eager canoeists. Unrushed.
Mount Victoria is capped with a slight suggestion of pink. Unique turquoise waters are motionless. Stands of conifer troop up the ascent with no realistic gauge of their size or number. The vivid colour is entirely unaltered, unfiltered.
The Canadian Rocky Mountains gave us an emphatic impression of the vastness, diversity and beauty of our country. At other points Hilary and I would say hello to mountain goat, black bear and Wapiti (elk). No bison…they are in southwest Saskatchewan.
The elk story was particularly exciting in a meadow just east of Jasper. A big male and his harem and kids were being bothered by a bunch of photographers out of their cars. He gave that odd bugle call of his, and the family as a unit rumbled to the road and the grassy slope down to the river opposite. And did so right in front of our car in line, one at a time, finishing with testy Papa. He even stopped to feign a charge at the van directly ahead. Unforgettable.
Combine these experiences with the awesome loneliness of Maligne Lake, the incalculable size of the Columbia Ice Field and the rushing descent of Athabasca Falls. What a time!
And our daughter Lauren was phoning from back home telling us of the wonderful young man, Steve whom she had just met and dated. (They would marry in 2018.) We were thrilled.
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