OFF LINE ENTRY

Lake Louise Hard-sided Campground

Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta

Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 2:30 pm

A little sun, a little overcast, and then the occasional heavy shower.

Temperature:  60F

Today was a tourist day.  We spent the morning and early afternoon driving around looking at the gorgeous scenery of the Canadian Rockies and in turn gawking and taking pictures at Lake Louise, nearby Moraine Lake, and just over Kicking Horse Pass in British Columbia, the Spiral Tunnels of the Canadian Pacific railway.  The two Spiral Tunnels, finished in 1909, curve around inside a mountain so that trains exit 46 feet lower than they enter (when going East to West).  This reduces the grade from a hair-raising and unsafe 4.5 percent to a more normal 2.2 percent.

Quite an engineering feat.

The Canada Post Office in Lake Louise village has wi-fi for a small fee, so I’ll try to upload some pictures and these comments later this afternoon.  It is now raining quite steadily, so it’s a good time for a short afternoon nap.