Then this happened

The kids came up for the 4th of July holiday. What to do? Lounging around reading, eating, watching soccer on TV, walking the dogs, oohing at the fireworks ... just not enough.

"Let's go to Canada!" said Rachie.

"Where in Canada?" said her grumpy, inert father.

"We're sixty miles from the border, it's just another few miles from there to Banff and Lake Louise. I've always wanted to go to Lake Louise."

The suggestion was endorsed by the mother and agreed to by the brother, though I suspect he would have been happier planted on the sofa watching a soccer match, any soccer match, VHS tapes of his U12 playing days even.

'Another few miles to Banff ...' is not an accurate statement. From our place to the Banff area is a five hour drive, so not a day trip.

But the plan had begun to move, gather momentum, and at some point become unstoppable.

We arrived at the Inn of the Rockies at the foot of the Rundle range by 3 pm the next afternoon, ate dinner at the Grizzly Paw in Canmore, and then to bed.

The next morning was Waterford crystal clear. Gray granite spikes punctured the sky, inspiring purple prose like this. We'd planned many things for this day: gondola rides, hikes, lunches, shopping strolls, cocktails on a veranda, any veranda, all the while inhaling the piney Albertan air. So we set out for Lake Louise to take in our first itinerary item.

Between the Fairmont Chateau hotel which overlooks Lake Louise and the lake shore, a schematic board presents a selection of trails around the lake, up the mountains, and into the woods that visitors are invited to explore. Since a hike was on our list of things to do, we picked a route to the Six Glacier Plane Tea House, a mere 11 km jaunt round trip. A nice flat graded path led us to the far end of the lake. This is a piece of cake, we thought. But then the cake ran out and the broccoli began.

We scrambled upward on a faint trail studded with sharp stones and protruding tree roots, through dense pine stands, past a rushing stream of glacier melt, and over meadows of wild flowers. A local, munching on lunch, came out to watch us sweat.

Three of us reached the Tea House goal. Mary miscalculated her hiking limits and waited for us in  the shade about 3/4 of the way up. She suffered major foot trauma a few years back and it is extraordinary that she's walking unaided at all, so slack was cut.

We used different muscles for the downhill trip. Quads engorged with lactic acid burned like chicken bus brakes. Knees weakened. By the time we got back to our car, mid afternoon had come and gone. We scratched the lunch, veranda drinking, and gondola rides from our list and went right for dinner in Banff.

The next morning, we loaded the car and headed home. One full day in Banff. Not nearly enough time. On the way out, we noticed a bike trail paralleling Canada Highway 1, all the way from Canmore to Banff. Paved, level, long, and passing through some of the most striking vistas I've ever seen. Next time we come with bicycles.