A few years ago, a couple of employees at Yellowstone National Park played a joke on the tourists. They placed a large hand crank apparatus on top of a wooden box. Next they set the whole contraption in the vicinity of the world famous Old Faithful geyser, which always naturally erupts once per hour. Just before Old Faithful was ready to erupt, they began vigorously turning the crank. Voila! The geyser’s hot waters spewed forth into the sky.
To their credit, the employees had finally answered that legendary Old Faithful tourist question: “How do you turn it on?” Alas, their employers were not amused. Some rather gullible tourists who witnessed the spectacle left convinced that the venerable geyser was a sham. The two guys got canned.
Upon viewing Alberta Canada’s stunning Lake Louise, I began searching for the crank and wooden box.
Lake Louise is a slice of natural perfection. It may not be the world’s prettiest lake, but it’s got to be on the short list. It’s the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It’s so awesomely natural, it must be artificial.
Clues abound. There’s the centrally located rocky mountain backdrop, peppered with just the right amount of glacial ice and snow. Then there’s the brilliant water that’s an unnatural shade of turquoise (a dead Disney giveaway, if you ask me). There’s the pristine surrounding forest with its statuesque, graceful trees nestled on each side of the lake.
On the day of our visit, they even had some sort of high-tech cloud machine running, dotting the sky with ideal cloud formations.
They claim that the water is frigid glacial runoff, so swimming is forbidden. But I suspect that this so-called “lake’s” floor is covered with some sort of man made plaster. Or perhaps Lake Louise sports one of those vinyl “above ground pool” liners? Unfortunately, someone’s got to jump in for us all to find out.
Lake Louise is a popular destination, with teeming crowds equivalent to your average theme park. It was no small feat to visit in the summertime with an RV in tow. If only they’d let Disney handle the parking, too! We ended up parking our rig quite a distance from the actual lake, and hiking to the prize. But in the end, it was all worth it.
It’s hard for photos and even high-definition video to do justice to Lake Louise. But watch our video anyway. Yep, it’s gotta be fake. 🙂
Sean & Kristy,
While I see no comments on your Lk Louise piece, I thought it would be a good place to make a comment about increased travel. { BTW we are semi-retired, 55 ish, and have traveled by RVs of many types for 30 years – I’m an outdoor stock photographer – poor one this year}
While trying not to make this negative, Lk Louise is a beautiful location. However it concerns me to note that our last visit was in about 1987 or so. There were maybe 20 tourist cars in the parking lot, one or two canoes in the lake. and yes it was late July. Busier in the afternoon, but nothing like in your video. We have noticed this trend throughout the west and Canada, and I had heard that the Banff area had become a real Disneyland type affair. This won’t stop us from returning nor should it stop anyone else from going. Travel is just addicitive. We travel more every year. As most have probably figured out, and you have probably done a blog or vidio on Off-season travel is the way to go. We have almost stopped traveling the west from mid-june through labor day. Perhaps more independent boondocking is another alternative. Not the big groups like in AZ in the winter, but more secluded. There are places like that. We do more hiking as well, which we did almost exclusively when in our 20’s and 30’s. That leaves a few {hundred} of the tourists behind.
Interesting that our Natl Parks had record visits this year, due to the economy they say. We all just have to respect the parks, the Lk Louises, and each other, including pets on trails and sidewalks. I administered help and first-aid to a lady {65} who was slowly riding her moutain bike on a back road at a State Park attraction in NE ID this summer. Late in the day, with few people around, except for a guy with his big dog illegally running free w/o a leash, that then jumped from behind a bridge railing in front the lady on the mnt bike and she went over the handle bars. Scratched and brused and very unset about the dog. The guy and the dog were gone by the time I got her up checked out, and on her way. I see this way TOO often, everywhere from RV parks, to NP trails.. Some people think there dog is except from the leash law, or no pets on trail or sidewalks laws. Really. This sort of runs into your pet video/blog. Sorry. But very pertinent. Travel well. GH
Thanks GH, and I agree with you about off-season travel.
I think one of our “cardinal rules” goes something like this: “The best time to travel is when the rest of the world does not!”
Of course some poeple do not have the luxury of off-season travel because they have kids in school, etc. But those who can travel in the off-season often enjoy lower rates, fewer crowds, and a more satisfying overall experience.
For example, we frequent the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast, but we try to avoid the area during summertime — it’s just too hot and crowded! But in autumn it’s cooler and the beaches are a deserted paradise.
We have also been to places like Venice, Italy — in November! Europe’s most popular tourist city is pretty much vacated in November. We had a blast enjoying the town with locals, instead of fighting crowds of fellow tourists.
Good point about the dogs and leash laws! I guess the laws are important for everyone’s safety, the dog’s as well as other people.
Happy camping!
Sean
Hi Sean and Kristy,
Still loving your videos!
Here is a piece of useless information for you: Lake Louise is THAT colour (yes, I am Canadian) for the same reason the Caribbean is THAT colour. That glacial silt “they” tell you is the reason, is glacial silt from an old old old old seabed, now made into those picture postcard, disney mountains. The little dead sea shell creatures that make the calcium that make the Caribbean brilliant blue are the cousins of the ones that make Lake Louise blue.
Hi Alice,
That information is not useless! It’s good to know. I would have never guessed that the same seashell creatures are responsible for the pretty water in Key West as well as Lake Louise. Thanks for letting us know! 🙂
Sean
Well, okay it may not be useless, and I do enjoy knowing and sharing those types of things, but I DO hope it is not displacing something maybe more relevant or helpful from my memory banks!
All the best,
Alice
P.S. If you ever have the chance, and are coffee lovers, and are up in the mountains by a lake like that again, try making your coffee with that water (not the salty Caribbean). I don’t know why, but it turned out as the best I ever had. An old fashioned percolator seems to work the best. Mm mm mm mm hmmm. Converted me from tea. Just watch out for Beaver Fever.
Wow! Yep, I am a coffee aficionado. When we are home I grind my own beans, use a nice espresso machine, yadda yadda… I’ll keep that coffee tip in mind (it’s not too hard to imagine a Lake Louise branded coffee ;-)).
I don;t know for sure when we’ll be back up that way. At some point we plan to visit Alaska, so maybe we’ll stop by Lake Louise on the trip.