Banff hot Springs and Lake Louise

We woke last Saturday morning to temperatures of -35 and a very frozen Dodge Caravan.  Our poor car had never been exposed to such low temperatures and clearly didn't like it much. After adding gas line anti-freeze to the petrol tank, waiting, adding a bit more, waiting again and then just hoping for the best it finally started.  We decided we really needed to secure underground parking for the following night!  Our activity for the morning was to be Banff Hot Springs.  The mineral springs discovery dates back to 1884 by men working on the railway and then after the famous Banff Springs Hotel was built, a bath house was put up to attract visitors and tourists to the newly created National Park.  The temperature of the water at the source of the spring is 47.3 degrees C in the winter and is cooled to between 37 and 40 to make it comfortable for bathers.  It was certainly a gorgeous temperature when we went in it, just the walk out of the building that was a bit on the chilly side!  We stayed in for about half an hour or until we all started to feel a bit faint, also I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for the other bathers who had come to take the waters and admire the view in peace and quiet and there were our 6 children thinking they were in the local swimming pool!

In the afternoon we went to Lake Louise, about an hour from Banff.  It was absolutely stunning, a lake surrounded by the highest mountains, with the sun just appearing over the top.  So we walked down the lake for some photo opportunities until we all got spooked when our feet started to get wet! We walked back a lot faster than we had walked out!  We bribed the children to get a move on by taking them to see the ice rink and the beautiful ice castle built on the ice by the huge hotel that has been built on the side of the lake, Lucy was in her element!
Back to Big White the next day in not quite the same conditions that we had arrived in, a journey that lasted about 8 hours in treacherous conditions, sub zero temperatures, ice, fog and snow.  Hats off to our children though who all behaved amazingly, so why can't I even get them to Exeter without an argument!