Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LAKE LOUISE
AND THE ICEFIELDS
PARKWAY
the hotel houses a small shopping ar-
cade with boutiques selling all kinds of
gifts and souvenirs.
Visitors can take a stroll around Lake
Louise or climb the mountain along the
network of little trails that radiates out
from the lake's shore to get a magnifi -
cent view of the Victoria Glacier, the
lake and the glacial valley. Reaching
Lake Agnes
requires extra effort,
but the view of the Victoria (3,464m),
Whyte (2,983m), Fairview (2,111m),
Babel (3,111m) and Fay (3,235m)
mountains is well worth the exertion.
Lake Louise
Jewel of the Canadian Rockies, the
town of Lake Louise is known the
world over thanks to its small, tranquil,
emerald-green lake. Few natural sites
in Canada can boast as much success:
this little place welcomes an average of
about 4.5 million visitors every year!
Lake Louise's popularity is nothing
new, and visitors today owe its redis-
covery (not discovery, since this area
was already well known to Aboriginal
people) to Tom Wilson, a railway sur-
veyor for Canadian Pacifi c. In 1882,
while working near the Pipestone River,
Tom Wilson heard the rumbling of an
avalanche coming from the Victoria
Glacier. He proceeded to ask a Stoney
Aboriginal named Nimrod to lead him
to the “Lake of the Little Fishes,” which
is what the local native people called
the lake. Struck by the colour of the
water, Tom Wilson renamed the lake
“Emerald Lake.” It was subsequently
renamed again, this time after Queen
Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise
Caroline Alberta, who also gave her
name to the province of Alberta.
Moraine Lake
Though much smaller than Lake
Louise, Moraine Lake is no less spec-
tacular. Inaccessible in the winter as
the road that leads to it is closed from
mid-October to late May, the lake often
remains frozen until June. Visitors
should therefore be prepared for cool
temperatures, even in summer. The
Moraine Lake valley, known as the
“Valley of the Ten Peaks,” was created
by the Wenkchemna Glacier, which
can still be found at the bottom of the
valley. The 10 summits were originally
named after the Assiniboine words for
the numbers 1 to 10, but many have
since been renamed, and only the ap-
pellation Wenkchemna (peak number
10) remains.
Though the present-day Chateau
Lake Louise
(now known as the
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise) has
nothing to do with the original building
(1909), it remains an attraction in itself.
This vast hotel can accommodate more
than 1,100 visitors. Besides restaurants,
The Icefields Parkway
The Icefi elds Parkway follows Highway
93 from Lake Louise over some 230km
to the Continental Divide, which is cov-
ered by glaciers, before ending up in
Jasper. This wide, well-paved road is
one of the busiest in the Rockies dur-
3
Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks
in Banff National Park.
© Travel Alberta
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