Lake Moraine had been on my list of places to see in Alberta for quite a while, but I just hadn't made it there yet. When my roommate came back from that very place with his friends and some fantastic photos, I knew the time had come.
What possessed me, however, to venture out to the land of Rocky Mountain tourist traps on the Saturday of the Canada Day long weekend, I'll never know.
But I did.
The road to the lake was blocked off.
Parking lots were full and signs directed visitors to return to the highway and board the free shuttle from one of the roadside pull-offs. I was disappointed after having driven all the way there, but I was trapped. I followed the traffic continuing up the lane to turn around. The road eventually loops at the highly popular Lake Louise, and I made the hundred and eighty degree turn along with everyone else, and headed back down the mountain toward the highway.
What happened next was nothing short of fantastic.
As I approached the turn off to my intended destination, the people left in charge of ensuring the road barriers were respected were in the act of removing them! It seemed enough people had left the parking lot that they were now allowing a few in to take their place, and I was so lucky to be the very first one. What a stroke of luck!
Off I went, winding up the mountainside, and arrived on the shores of Lake Moraine, where I was greeted by a lot of trapped tourists like me, and this...
I walked the walkways, took pictures for random strangers, and marveled at the ever-changing shade of turquoise that was the glacier waters as the sun dodged in and out of clouds and peeked from behind mountains. At the side of the lake you could rent canoes, and there were quite a few people on the water enjoying the day.
But eventually, traipsing among the tourists with their selfie-sticks and IG accounts, I started to feel trapped myself... and I still had a long way to go.
The long way home through Longview via Kananaskis Country afforded me a photo shoot with these beauties, who I never cease to marvel over no matter how many times our paths cross in my adventures.
Cute as a baby's bottom. :)
And just beyond the bighorn sheep, somewhere in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, on the side of the highway, sits this Stop The Car moment.
To the immediate left of the well, there were ladies collecting mountain water from a brook and I grabbed every empty bottle I had with me and filled them to the top with the cold, clear goodness too.
As I drove deeper and higher into the mountains (there was snow clinging precariously to life at the highest points - at the end of June!) I started to get tired... and cold. The drive is mesmerizing and mind-blowingly gorgeous, but it is long and I was done for the day.
Well, almost.
The feeling of solitude as I stood there by the side of the highway, absolutely astounded by the idea that I was standing among the world-famous Rocky Mountains alone and uninhibited, was exactly what I needed. The cool air and panoramic views refreshed my mind and all of life's bumps that I had gotten so trapped in were released. I finished my drive home feeling light and prepared to take on the real world again.
