New Day New Snow

I knew I would be in for a day full of pretty sights today because of the new well needed snow that was flurrying about late yesterday and well into the night. Also due to that, roads this morning were not favourable for me to drive any distance at all so I picked a place to visit that was very, very close to my home away from home. The Bow River Loop was roughly an 8 km round trip. It's so quiet in the Village, I knew there was potential for 100% ownership. My hike started on a bridge right here!

I have been to Lake Louise area so many times but I never checked out this route that meanders along the River. I cursed myself for wearing micro-spikes instead of snowshoes, yet could not be bothered to go back and change.

The route goes through the Lake Louise Campground. The picnic shelters were open for winter enthusiasts. For you my friends who camp here, enjoy this winter look and dream of days to come.

I got to be the first to cross this bridge this day with hopes of open water but none here.

The scenery was very pretty and blue in the sky sure does help. I hear that may be coming to an end though, so I made sure to thoroughly enjoy it today.

I found the theatre and performed a solo routine! Dang those snowshoes being back at the suite. The snow was knee to thigh deep in this area. There were a couple of opportunities along the way to cut the hike short and cross to the other side and head back.....

....but I opted to go all the way. Glad I did because the pretty got prettier.....

....there was some of that winter water, plus the temperature began to creep up.

The "remember to breathe" Alberta Tourism commercial also reminds us to "keep it slow." Slow, I was! I kept stopping to admire this & that, I did my best to prolong an ending. As this hike did come to an end, this is the view I got to take away as my final sight. Quite a view to end on!

But, I wasn't done yet! I drove up the hill to the big lake again, Lake Louise. Where is every body? For a supposedly popular winter destination, this place is not happening and I'm O.K. with that.

Parks are offering up two new touristy, easy snowshoe trails. I checked out one! The sign said to follow the ribbons. I saw one ribbon within a minute, there were packed down snowshoe trails everywhere. Which is the correct way? I saw this little lantern, this must be the way.....

.....this route is wide and clear, as are all other trails heading in all directions, they all look official, but no ribbon anywhere....

.....then I come to this opening and know this is not where I want to be. A trail carries on but this is not for me so go back the way I came. This is suppose to be a loop route but even on the way back, I have no clue which is the correct way to go to turn this into a loop.

After this I had no interest in trying out the second new trail. By now those forecasted flurries are falling. Keep it coming! With a long weekend coming up, surely the population will pick up and they will have loads of brand new snow to enjoy.

Bow River Loop Track