Any trip to the Rockies has to include Lake Louise so you can experience the hoards of tourists jostling to get that great selfie with the lake and mountains in the background. There are some great gymnastic displays with people balancing on fences and rocks to get that iconic photo. We took our photo to prove we were there and then ran for the car as ten buses disgorged their Chinese travellers.

 

Then it was back to Lake Loise Village for morning tea and sausage rolls. At least the Canadians understand how to make these delicacies, unlike the Kiwis who think a sausage wrapped in a piece of puff pastry will satisfy Aussie gourmands.



Just east of Lake Loiuse is the Lake Louise ski field, which runs a gondola/chairlift during the summer season. We rode in a gondola up to the viewpoint at 2,088 metres and took the chairlift on the way down. 


 
The views are awe inspiring and give you a different perspective of Lake Louise and the Plain of Six Glaciers in the background.
 

 

 
One of the best places for train spotting in the Rocky Mountains is Morant's Curve along the Bow Valley Parkway just east of Lake Louise. Morant's Curve is named for Nicholas Morant, a staff photographer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. For many years, he crisscrossed the country on passenger trains photographing hotels, steamships, trucks, airplanes, oil wells, and mines, for the CPR. As you can see, you have the magnificent Rockies in the background and the railway track following the cascading Bow River. An interesting contrast of throbbing diesel machinery amongst serene beauty.

 

As one of our friends quipped, this is the poor man's Rocky Mountaineer passenger train. No glassed dome observation deck, no windows, no gourmet meals or complimentary beverages. Okay, it's a freight train!

The Curves is easy to spot on the highway as you come across a number of cars at the side of the road and people with their cameras and tripods pointing down the valley. They're not taking pictures of the majestic mountains or wandering wildlife. They're waiting for the train. Some of these freight trains can be up to 170 cars long and, typically, have three locomotives interspersed throughout the full length of the train. Usually, two at the front and one in the middle or end. Hopefully, each loco knows which way it is supposed to be going. We were lucky, two trains within 20 minutes of arriving.

Further down the Bow Valley Parkway is another good spot for watching trains and, again, we arrived just in time to spot another CPR freight train. A few years ago we spotted a small herd of elk crossing the river near here but we weren't so lucky this time.

 

And when you turn around, there is Castle Mountain. These Canadians just have too much scenery!