the good the bad and the ugly

Banff has some beautiful places, one of which is Lake Louise...........................as long as you are facing away from the humongous hotel that looms over the valley bottom like, like , well like a big ugly looming thing.

Fi loved this hotel and thought it was the highlight of our trip to date (no I didn't!)(yes you did you loved it)

Look the other way across the lake and it is a very different story and to be fair much of the rest of the park is unspoilt. One of the rangers told us to think of Lake Lousie as the sacrificial lake that draws 90% of the parks traffic. You could hire a canoe on the lake but it was mega bucks and we only wanted to paddle away from the hotel.

Fi with a new friend - she certainly preferred his conversation anyway

Opposite the hotel there is a steep trail ascending to a tea house, we started the walk with the best intentions but soon got distracted by the wealth of mammal life at the bottom of the mountain. Having got our first fix of Pikas the previous day we spent a couple of hours watching one at lake lousie going about his business, warning off chipmunks with an Eeeek, or chasing other Pikas. We never did get to the tea house, but we didn't really mind...........................

"and what do you do" Is it me or does this ground squirrel look a bit snooty

another episode of spot the pika

Pika poo

Pika den

Single rainbow, even this can't make the hotel look subtle

Are tourism and protection balanced here? We asked a couple on the way up the trail if you could still see the ugly hotel from the top of the mountain they said yes sounding a bit shirty, we then realised they were probably staying there, oh well.

Fluffed up nutcracker after some rain