We're going on a bear hunt...

It came to our attention yesterday that bears often don't go into hibernation until Christmas so our theory 'it snowed last night so they'll have gone into hibernation early' went out the window. Even more so when we found bear prints in the snow on the edge of the village. I had my trusty Dr Martens on, we'd read all the safety guides in the hostel so a few paw marks weren't going to stop us. I admit the 3 inch claw marks that accompanied the paw prints stopped us briefly to think about what we were about to do but we figured our singing would keep them at bay.

 5km and countless renditions of "there was a crazy moose..." later we arrived at Lake Louise. I can't even begin to explain how happy I was to be there, a mixture of "I can't believe we're alive" and the fact that I never thought I'd be back there. We arrived as the mist was beginning to disappear but we had to leave before sunset (for obvious reasons) so we never got to see the glacier or the full scale of where we were. We popped into the Fairmont for a hot chocolate and a well deserved rest before the nervous descent down the mountain.

Big shout out to Taylor Swift, also, who's songs calmed us in times of panic.

Louise x

I'm gonna really miss this cafe...

Last night we made a conscious decision to not die so 100 yards from the front door we turned back and had our beers on the decking instead of walking the distance to the pub. Just to be clear, it's really dark here and there's no where to run. 

On a Saturday night the HI hostel has a bonfire but because of the snow they lit the fire upstairs in the lounge. Kind of a pathetic night all round but I caught up on some reading and investigated our next stop, Revelstoke.

We've also found ourselves in the Bill Peyto cafe which I like mainly because of the name and secondly because it's on site.  It's not gonna win any awards but the foods good enough and cheap enough that we've been two nights in a row. The Lake Louise Inn across the road serve a cracking poutine as well. 

I also feel like I should mention the Visitors Centre, it's definitely worth a visit even if it's just for a "I need to get here...". As for Lake Louise itself I couldn't say whether summer or winter is better. The mountains weren't as visible and the water not as still but you can't justify hot chocolate on the edge of a lake in the summer.

This post is dedicated to my mum and dad who I fear are on the verge of a breakdown with all my tales of bears and alligators.