[travel] Banff to Lake Louise

After arriving to the hotel too late and leaving too early, we headed from Banff to Lake Louise.

First we stopped at Emerald Lake:

And then a natural rock bridge:

We checked into the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise in the afternoon, pretty much the only place to stay at the lake. The hotel was huge with so many shops and at least five restaurants.

Lake Louise was pristine. We walked along the edge:

We came back and did some souvenir shopping inside the hotel. There was a Qiviuk shop:

I didn't buy anything here (because OMG $$$$) but they did have balls of yarn for knitting/crochet. I'm not sure if the balls had been pet too many times by too many people but they felt horrendous. Like the worst fuzzy acrylic ever. In hindsight, I would question the content of the yarn they felt so bad.

I love qiviut. I visited a musk ox farm in Palmer, AK some years ago and have purchased qiviut yarn from the University of Alaska Large Animal Research Station, which I think is a great resource for the yarn/fiber (the other being Ooomingmak) since the money helps fund education and programs.