While in Banff National Park, a visit to Lake Louise cannot be missed. This majestic lake was named after Queen Victoria’s fourth daughter, and the mesmerizing turquoise water is the crowning jewel of the park. The scenic background of Lake Louise is comprised of the snow-capped mountains of Mount Temple, Mount Whyte and Mount Niblock of the Canadian Rockies.   

There are wonderful hiking trails around the lake, or you can pay to rent a canoe and coast across the turquoise water. The canoe rentals weren’t cheap, but definitely worth it! A half hour rental cost 55 CAD and a full hour was just 10 CAD more. 

Clearly the full hour is the better deal, but we didn’t think Ella would sit still for that long so we opted for the 30 minute ride. I got to relax in the canoe, while Rob did all the hard work rowing. 

  But, I did have the very important job of making sure Ella didn’t throw herself overboard!  

Ella did start getting antsy towards the end of our term, so opting for the shorter rental was definitely the right call. And I’m fairly certain that Rob was ready to stop rowing by that point anyway. As we arrived back at the dock, there was a photographer standing by to capture a group shot. Normally I don’t get suckered into buying these over-priced photos, but this time the magic of the lake made me do it. So we shelled out an additional 20 CAD so that we could keep the only available picture containing all 3 of us on this canoe.