Banff National Park November 14, 2025

When I woke this morning, my last day at Lake Louise, I looked out to a new light layer of snow covering everything. Eventually into last night all that rain turned to snow at lower elevations.  I packed up, loaded up my vehicle and checked out.  Before hitting the highway to home, I wanted to check out Lake Louise once more.  I arrived to "a late autumn tease", the peak was peeking through the clouds. 

I waited and watched to see the clouds disperse.  

What was not here the past few days was snow settled on the branches.  

Icicles now hung from the roof of the boat house!

Chipmunks now had to swish through the snow to find food!

It was time to capture one last location selfie!

Yesterday there was a very tiny thin layer of ice in small sections near the shore but this morning that was gone.  It is going to be a long while before any skating will be happening here.  Swimming is still going on.  That little orange star I added is to show you where the girl is swimming. She is to the right of the star. It was not just a cold plunge she performed, she was out there in her one piece swim suit, wool hat and footwear. I watched her for about twenty minutes at that point she began to swim back to shore.  

I captured this panorama photo as one last look back 

before heading to my vehicle and hitting the highway back home.

For approximately one hour of the two hour drive home, it was very stressful. The road was like a skating rink.   Everyone was driving about 40 to 60 kms per hour, at times even less than that.  The downhills were sketchy.  The traffic heading west was at a standstill for well over a kilometre. Many vehicles were in the ditch, a transfer truck was on its' side and another one sideways on the road.  I prayed I would make it home safe and sound in my new vehicle.  

I made it home! Whew!  I needed to decompress!  Painting birds is what my Doctor would call for!  I picked out one of my photos I took, along the shore of Lake Louise, of the Clark's Nutcracker.   

UGH!  

I knew when I was well into the painting, it was not what I wanted it to look like yet I finished it.  

Maybe I just needed a little more settling down.

I checked out my other photos of the Nutcracker and think I may be able to do a better job of replicating this shot.  I am not ready to give up on the Clark's Nutcracker, I will put paint on paper again a little later.