Gold lounge breakfast, Lake Louise canoeing, Marcus the Dog, Tea House hike - July 5, 2014

Trip Index

• Canadian Rockies: Flying into flooded Calgary, Lake Louise in the rain, saloon dinner
• Sunday brunch at Banff Springs, upgrade to Fairmont Gold floor, hiking, fondue dinner
• Gold lounge breakfast, afternoon tea at Rundle Lounge, town of Banff on Canada Day
• Jasper National Park and Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge
• Hiking Cavell Meadows, Athabasca Falls, Wilcox Pass, staying at Crossing Resort
• Athabasca Glacier Ice Walk, Fairmont Lake Louise Gold, dinner at Fairview Dining Room
• Gold lounge breakfast, Lake Louise canoeing, Marcus the Dog, Tea House hike
• C-Level Cirque, Lake Moraine, Calgary Stampede, landing next to Asiana flight 214

***

Friday morning started with a delicious breakfast in the Gold lounge.  I had found the best danish I have ever eaten...still warm from the oven, delicate pastry, light layer of glaze underneath fresh berries, with a snowy dusting of powdered sugar.  The kitchen staff would only put out four of these at a time!

bite of heaven

rest of breakfast

After breakfast, we went to the lounge concierge to make an appointment to meet with the Director of Pet Relations, aka Marcus the yellow Labrador.  I thought it was very cool that the Fairmont allowed their guests' pets on property, provided pet amenities in the room (for an extra charge, of course) and hired a "pet ambassador".  I have to admit that I wouldn't have bothered with walking Marcus if he wasn't a yellow Lab, since they are so dear to my heart. :)   (Pet ambassadors can also be found at other Fairmont hotels)

The lounge concierge was unable to reach the lobby concierge on the phone, so she said she would call our room if the 3pm walk could be confirmed.  In the meantime, we headed over to the canoe dock.  It cost  $47.25 CAD for an hour's rental.  Life jackets were mandatory.  The canoes only held two people; larger groups would need to split up or go on one of the guided canoe tours held on a 26-foot vessel.

The two seats were at the very ends of the canoe.  Moving around the boat was not allowed as you could tip it over, so no romantic kissing to be had. :(  Nevertheless, it was so peaceful to paddle around Lake Louise, even when the sky started to sprinkle.

leaving the dock

big canoe tour

29-second video of our ride on the lake (click here if you cannot see it below):

I did a bit of paddling too

returning to the hotel

hotel on the lake

When we got back to our room, there was no message from the concierge, so we stopped by the lounge again to inquire about our walk with Marcus.  There was a different person manning the desk and she was able to reach the lobby desk on the phone.  Marcus was available at 1:30pm (coming up shortly)...we weren't particularly set on 3pm, so we took the slot.  We also got a couple of doggie biscuits from a jar on the desk.

The lobby concierge was located next to the entrance doors of the hotel.  When we arrived, Marcus was nowhere to be found.  According to one of the staff, Marcus walks himself around the hotel.  He was eventually found inside one of the clothing shops.  Per standard procedure, I left my driver's license as collateral to ensure that we weren't going to steal the dog.  We could not take him into the forest; in fact, he had been trained not to walk past a certain point on the property.  The staff also gave us a few extra treats to encourage Marcus.  He was a slow walker and not aggressive, so it would be fine for a family with young children to take Marcus out.

somebody really like treats

walking along the lake shore

Marcus knew to turn around when we got closer to the forest

who's all tired?

when we took him back, he collapsed next to his bed!

After returning Marcus to the hotel, we went on a hike up to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House.  There were actually two tea houses in the mountains...the other was Lake Agnes Tea House.  We selected the Plain of Six Glaciers as that was the furthest.  I thought it was neat to reach a place of refreshment after 1.5 hours of hiking.  Not that we didn't enjoy getting there...the trail was very picturesque.

Little Beehive and Mirror Lake

the Fairmont in the distance

two teahouses in the wilderness

it's summer, but it looks like winter

northern bedstraw

yellow draba

yellow columbine

subalpine arnica

fairybells

creeping beardtongue

the final stretch, steel cable handholds at the narrow parts

look how far we've gone

We reached the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse and enjoyed some dessert with tea.  The menu explained the history of the teahouse and how supplies are delivered.  Payment was only by cash or check.

teahouse at 6800 feet elevation

reasonably priced menu considering the work involved

enjoying a break

yummy chocolate cake

After we finished our tea, we decided to press on towards the Abbot Pass viewpoint, but didn't finish as it was getting late.  We took a different trail on the way back, meeting with the Lake Louise shoreline.

trail towards Abbot Pass viewpoint

narrow trail on the right continues on

Abbot Pass

this is the view standing near the "V" in the pic on the right

this would be the view from the hotel in the pic on the left

different trail on the return

on the Lake Louise Shoreline trail

After enjoying a nice hot shower, we had a light dinner from the evening hors d'oeuvres in the Gold lounge.  The selection was very nice.

small bites

carpaccio

Tomorrow, we check out of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and head back to Calgary, with some hiking in between...stay tuned!

***

If you've missed reading any entries for this trip, refer to the Trip Index at the top of this page.  You can also sign up for blog updates direct to your inbox here.

If you came here from a Facebook or Twitter link, thanks for liking or retweeting!

Previous update:  Athabasca Glacier Ice Walk, Fairmont Lake Louise Gold, dinner at Fairview Dining Room