I drove out of the Bugaboos towards Banff, and in the meantime, stopped at Emerald Lake, a place I'd seen countless times on Instagam and Pinterest. Nothing could have prepared me for how amazing it is in person though...even on a cloudy, smokey day. I rolled in at about 6 pm and took to the wide path around the lake. I think it must have been dinner time, because there was nobody around and I couldn't have been more excited. Periodically, there'd be a log bench looking out and a path down to the water's edge. I'd stop and put my feet in and gaze out into the silence and spot an otter or a jumping fish and just think about how lucky I was. There was also some large creature (I'm assuming an elk or maybe even a moose) bugling out from the woods and it would echo against the mountains and it was magical. The water was almost totally opaque beneath about a foot and I've never really seen anything like it. Havasupai was similar, I guess, but it was constantly moving, so it just seemed different. The thought to swim didn't even occur to me...seemed a little creepy though. I picture a horror movie where a couple takes a romantic stroll to a picnic spot in the wildflowers and spontaneously decides to go skinny dipping, only to be pulled under the milky surface by a creature from the deep.
Eventually, it began to rain, so I called it a night somewhere along the winding mountain road between Moraine and Lake Louise. It poured all night and I awoke at first light and continued on to Lake Louise. It's color was like a sea of Chinese Jade.
There were a few photographers there with their tri-pods set up, waiting for the perfect moment so I didn't stick around long and instead, continued to the town of Banff. Such a cute little town, but too cloudy to enjoy in all of it's glory. I couldn't find a single place open for breakfast, and Starbucks was out of Chai (WHAT?!), so I drove on to Calgary where I found a diner with wi-fi and chowed down on crepes and about 3 gallons of coffee.