One place for sure that I knew skating was possible was at Lake Louise. I arrived just after sunrise at the Lake Louise parking lot where a dozen or so others were there before me. I bundled up in my warmest gear, grabbed my skates and aimed for the Lake. This was the view as I arrived!
I saw two guys in hockey jerseys getting their skates on. There were a few people walking along the trail. No one was at the ice castle so made capturing photos of it my first order of enjoyment.
me in the doorway of the ice castle
The last time I skated here was March 3rd of last year when I met Elijah Balde. In less than a year, he has come so far with his cause and has made quite the name for himself. I follow him on social media and knew he would not be here today.
Who I did meet though were those two guys in hockey jerseys who were putting their skates on while I was at the ice castle. They were two young guys from Quebec who flew here to put a check mark next to their bucket list item of skating on Lake Louise. They made their way onto the ice and skated a few laps and then as soon as I joined them, I was recruited to be their photographer. After capturing many photos of all kinds of scenarios, they returned the favour. I borrowed their stick and puck and performed a slap shot pose!
skating photo
She shoots she scores she summits! After he took this photo, they then wanted one like this!
The staff began flooding the ice and while it was already bliss to be skating here,
it was now a higher level of sheer bliss!
I skated for seventy minutes and by then felt so fulfilled. I changed into my boots and walked around the area to enjoy the sights. The ice carving festival was cancelled for this year. There were a couple though that would have been carved by locals. This was one of them.
He's maintaining the route the sleigh rides follow.
I always enjoy getting to this section where the water remains open in the winter. What a perfect reflection! That rock with the ice and snow on it is about the size of a basketball. I like playing with perspective.
view from the little bridge that leads back to the parking lot
Before going back to my chalet, I drove to a spot where you have an unobstructed view of Castle Mountain. It is a popular sunrise/sunset location for photographers. It was early afternoon and the lighting was not ideal although I like the look of the mountain, the trees, the river, the open water and the chucks of ice.
I arrived back at my chalet and before picking up the new bundle of wood, paper and kindling and entering in, I scooted around the corner to get a photo of this ice sculpture.
Today was like a dream with so many mountain views,
loads of therapy and with a feeling like I was so far away
from any care or worry in the world!
Ahhh! Sigh!
Mountain therapy - pure, magical bliss!
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