Road Trip - Valley of the Five Lakes

This morning we awoke surrounded by the magnificent Rocky Mountains. Nice and refreshed from a comfortable and quiet (no trains!) sleep, we tested out our legs with a walk down to the restaurant. Surprisingly all our joints and muscles were still working, so we sat down to enjoy the free buffet breakfast that came with our booking. Katie had organised to meet up with her cousin Casey and her husband Donn and go for a short hike to some lakes, so after filling up on waffles and coffee, we hit the road.

Back on the Icefields Parkway again, the scenery had not lost any of the magnificence of yesterday. We drove for about two hours before we reached the parking lot for the Valley of the Five Lakes.

We were 15 minutes early, so we set up our cooker in the parking lot and made another cup of coffee. Soon enough, Casey and Donn arrived with their two kids Bailey and Dax. They brought their friend Tia with them, with her kids Winter and Eden, and border collie Zed. After 10 minutes of kid wrangling, we set off towards the lakes.

The round trip was going to be about 5km, which is a decent length for 3-5-year-olds. To distract the kids from the uphill bits, Casey had made a scavenger hunt for all of them to do. They each had little booklets with pictures and words to tick off, like a squirrel, two similar looking rocks, a purple flower, etc. When they finished a page, they were rewarded with a lolly, which was more than enough motivation.

Eventually, we came across the lakes, which were an incredible aquamarine colour. They're tinted by the minerals that are brought down from the surrounding glaciers in the rivers that feed the lakes. There are five lakes (hence the name), all in a row. We walked around the first three and then stopped for lunch at Fourth Lake.

Donn and I went for a swim in the lake, which was super cold but really refreshing after the hike to get here. Katie decided it was too cold for her, so just dunked her legs in. Casey and Tia made excuses until the sun came out, and then they jumped in also.

While we were sitting around eating, talking, and throwing a ball into the lake for Zed, Donn walked around to the other side where a stream entered the lake to try his luck fly fishing for brook trout. We met back up with him on our way out, and he showed us a picture of a small fish he'd caught and released. The brook trout had a really cool pattern of colourful spots on its back, with would make it blend in perfectly with the bottom of the lake when viewed from above.

We walked back to the cars, said goodbye to Tia and company, and drove five minutes up the road to our home for the next four nights; Wapiti Campground. Casey and Donn came too and brought some sausages (smokies, as they're called here) and buns for dinner. Casey stoked up the fire, and we cooked them on the steel grill over top of it. We filled the rest of the evening with talking, drinking beers, eating sausages and chips, and watching Bailey and Dax explore the rooftop tent and the campsite. It was really nice hanging out around a campfire with friends.