Cumulative distance: 3456 km
Maximum speed: 139 kph
Moving average: 91 kph
Overall average: 74 kph
Moving time: 4:44
Total time: 5:51
Temperature range: 14.4 - 27.8
It is our last night. We are treating ourselves to a nice dinner and very quaint cabin at Storm Mountain, just outside of Lake Louise.
Pictures tomorrow since they eschew Internet here.
For the men out there looking to impress their wives, Storm Mountain should be a consideration. As well, you get a little of that "manly" spirit because you get to build a fire. What is significant for us is that many times, we drove by Storm Mountain when they were closed due to a dispute with the Park. We were so intrigued and a few times, we stopped and walked around, looking the place over. It was like a mini ghost town. Even though they re-opened in 2003, we had never had an opportunity to stay there, mainly because it is uncommon for us to be traveling through the region and needing a place to stay this close to home. It was the perfect last stop on our trip home as it would make for an ideal one day ride to home from there. I did not tell Nan that I had booked it, she would get a surprise when we pull in.
Storm Mountain cabins are on the Alberta side of the border on Hwy 93 south on the way to Radium, just a few kilometres from Lake Louise. Of course, Lake Louise herself has many fine establishments with which to impress your spouse: Chateau Lake Louise, The Post Hotel and the Lake Louise Youth Hostel, just to name a few. Storm Mountain is is a much more rustic version of a National Park hotel but upscale enough that you won't feel like you are staying at Motel Six.There are 14 cabins and I do not know the configuration of all of them but we walked around and most of them appeared to be about the same size. The original cabins were built in 1923 and a few added later; it is interesting to note that the original promotional material billed the cabins as "camping".
They are beautifully, if not rustically appointed with a single room housing over stuffed furniture, a queen bed and out doors oriented decorations like snow shoes, pictures of the original site and lamps made of antlers. There is a big, wood burning fire place and it was still warm from the previous guests though it had been thoroughly cleaned and the kindle and paper were already set inside so that the only task was to put a match to it to get it going. There was an ample supply of wood inside and on the outer deck. One corner of the room was partitioned off and contained a bathtub and toilet. There is no t.v., no clock, no radio, few plug ins, no internet service and no phones. You are obliged to entertain yourselves with reading, drinking and eating and/or conversation. If you venture off site, you can go hiking.
As for the eating and drinking part of it, they have that covered pretty well and the food is first class. Both wine and food menus are somewhat limited for practical purposes but there is something for pretty much everybody, though we noticed that there is no champagne on hand.
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