The Teahouse of Lake Louise
If you really want to seize the moment, rent a canoe, or pedal your way to Bow Falls, Tunnel Mountain, or 101 equally delightful places. Heading north west from Banff, one can cruise the Trans Canada via Sunshine Village to Lake Louise in a breeze. For a change of pace, however, take the old road (Hwy 1A) along the north bank of the Bow River via Johnston Canyon, with its ink pots and nature walks. Chateau Lake Louise is a jewel in an exquisite crown. Talk of beauty and serenity! -- when one's creative spark needs rekindling, the Chateau is my choice. You can paddle a canoe in a scene right out of Hiawatha, or take the alpine trail to a Tea House for granola cakes and wild berry tea. The azure lake far below gets even smaller, as you climb the corkscrew path. Breathe deeply folks -- it gets to be a challenge near the top. Guess who was left standing still by a German couple in their mid 80s?

Jasper Sunwapta Safari
Louise is a hard gal to say good-bye to -- but not to worry -- there's more beauty ahead. The Ice fields Parkway ranks among the world's great highroads, with glaciers standing like 100 icy sentinels. Jasper National Park begins at The Columbia Ice fields, a marvel of nature with the largest mass of ice in the Rockies. A fleet of Snow coaches traverse the Athabaska glacier, looking from a distance like ants on a giant vanilla marshmallow sundae. This seventh wonder is part of a formation that blanketed Canada for a million years. The highway follows the Sunwapta River, joining its cousin the Athabaska at Sunwapta Falls. The hottest water on the entire drive (54°C) is at Miette Hot Springs, near Jasper Lake and Punchbowl Falls. Don't worry, it's cooled to a comfortable 39° in the swimming pool.

To assist our readers and potential tour guests a further search, we provide a "Preview" of what's available on the Lake Louise Web site, should you wish to dig deeper.

Preview of Official Lake Louise Web Site
For Lake Louise and Related Areas of Alberta and S.E. British Columbia

Things to do: Attractions Guided Tours Activities Interpretive Destination Areas Recreation
National Park Information Trail Systems Downhill Skiing Fishing Summer Activities
Winter Activities Services: Helpful Info for US Visitors Information Centres Food and Beverages
Shopping: Art, Antiques and Jewellery, Malls
Accommodation: Hotels and Motels, Campgrounds, Hostels and Bed and Breakfasts
Parks Canada: A World Heritage Site, Camping and Campgrounds, Visitor Information Centres, Easy Hiking Trails In Banff Park, Interpretive Programs In Banff Park Interpretive Programs In Lake Louise, Parks
Canada Winter Info: Scenic Drives, Interpretive Exhibits and Museums, Wildlife, Skating, Winter Walks and Tours, Cross Country Skiing and Snow shoeing, Ski Touring and Ice Climbing, Trail Etiquette, Driving Safety, Avalanche Safety
Parks Canada Passes: Cave and Basin, Banff Park Museum, Upper Hot Spring Pool
Parks Canada Activities: Scenic Drives, Walking and Hiking, Nature Watching, Front Country Camping, Swimming and Soaking, Boating, Fishing, Fishing Permits, Mountain Biking, Horseback Riding, Back Country Camping
Parks Back country: Wilderness Pass, Back country Reservations Mountaineering Safety Registration Recorded Information
Parks Natural Hazards: Driving in the Mountains, Falling, Getting Lost, Weather, Bears, Elk, Deer, Sheep, Wolves, Moose, Cougar, Ticks
Parks Regulations: Give Wildlife Space, Food and Garbage, Put Pets on a Leash, Leave it for Others, Respect Restrictions, Obey Closures, Disarm Firearms, Wildlife Watch Alberta: Banff National Park, Canmore, Calgary, Drumheller, Edmonton, High River, Kananaskis, Jasper, National Park, Lake Louise, Lethbridge

http://www.lakelouise.com/

National Parks Update
Canada's three new national parks are described as northern gems that literally put you on top of the world. The federal cabinet and the Inuit have ratified a deal struck after four years of talks to establish three national parks - Sirmilik, Auyuittuq and Quttinirtaaq - in the new territory of Nunavut. The Inuktitut names chosen for the parks illustrate the frozen terrain's major features;"place of glaciers," "land that never melts" and "top of the world." This is a way for the Inuit to connect with the rest of Canada. The parks will highlight things that you can't find anywhere else in the world," said Paul Amagoalik, one of the Inuit negotiators of the deal. Auyuittuq National Park is better known for the scenery it provided for the 1997 James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. A stunt double for actor Roger Moore, who played Bond was shown skiing over a mountain peak with a parachute. The remote locale of Quttinirtaaq National Park attracted former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and some buddies one summer for a canoe trip on the rugged Ruggles River.

Meanwhile, Sirmilik National Park is best known for its bird sanctuary on Bylot Island, a nesting area for snow geese, and spring feeding area for the wondrous narwhals, a mottled white whale that sports a unicrotype horn. This adds about 80,000 square km to the country's system of national parkland. One of the major snags in negotiations was sharing control over the parks between the Inuit and the federal government. In the end, Ottawa maintained final authority on all decisions but with joint park committees managing the sites. The Inuit maintain their hunting rights in the parks.