Spiral Tunnel on route to Lake Louise
29th May 2025
Today we were driving on to Lake Louise. Quite a long drive, with various stops planned. First one, to see some plant, called the Skunk Cabbage. We had seen these from the train, here was our chance to get up close. But, alas, the boardwalk there was dangerous and closed, so no Skunk Cabbage. (We’d also seen the plant in Coton Manor Garden in Northamptonshire.)
Our next stop was the Rogers Pass Memory Garden. Originally built for the victims of the 1910 avalanche.
We did stop to see the spiral tunnel. You can see the train below, and then it comes out of the tunnel higher up. You can see the carriages exiting, as those below are still passing by on to the entry. Unfortunately, trees are in the way so you can see the entry.
The track then goes under the road, and into another tunnel to reappear above the road. Again, all this is hidden by trees.
It would make a great tourist attraction, just need the hillside cleared of trees!
Further stop for lunch.
Lots of work on the motorway, but I am not impressed by the road markings, and very short turnoffs across the traffic lanes. I feel some of these roads are dangerous. Canadians have a lot to learn from Europeans on road safety.
We arrived at the village of Lake Louise, it had the look of a tourist site, complete with charging for car parking. Thankfully, there was a small supermarket to purchase some food, and more importantly, a liquor store to buy some liquid refreshments. After stocking up, we drove the short distance to the campsite, where we hooked up our electric supply. In the UK we call that a ‘hook up’. In Canada, it is called a Shore Line. These ‘Shore Lines’ are hugely unwieldy, caused by the low voltage of Northern American power supplies. This campsite, the pitches were drive through, so after several attempts of driving through in different directions, we ended up parked with the door on the side we wanted. We were in the hardsided campsite. There was also a softsided one, ringed by an electric fence to keep the bears out, but it wasn’t open yet. Shower/toilet blocks were some distance away.