Snow Days activities continue this weekend in Banff, Lake Louise
Posted Feb 2, 2013 4:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If you’re looking for inexpensive outdoor activities Saturday, then head to Banff – Lake Louise.
From 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., the national park has a program called Learn To Identify Wildlife Tracks.
Parks Canada spokesperson Lori Bayne says it’s a free program, but be sure to wear warm clothing for the two hour hike.
“They can see tracks for … coyote, deer, elk,” Bayne tells 660News. (The hikers) “go out with Simon Ham who’s a wildlife researcher. It’s kind of fun because when you’re out and about, you don’t realize that some of the footprints in the snow are animals. And so it’s great to learn how to identify them.”
To take part in the program, all you have to do is be at the Fenland Trail parking lot by 1 p.m., Saturday.
In downtown Banff, outside the Banff Park Museum on Banff Avenue, you can get an idea of what life was like in a Canadian Pacific Railway crew camp in 1883 when the rail line was being constructed in the Bow Valley.
“We set up a crew tent,” says Bayne, “and you get an opportunity to roast some bannock and sit around a fire with story tellers. The tent is really about celebrating the opening of the cave and basin this spring.”
The Cave and Basin Discovery Camp is open from noon until 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
In Lake Louise, as part of Snow Days, the Mountaineer Lodge and Wilson Mountain Sports are tag teamming, Saturday, and offering a free snowshoeing experience.
“We just have some basic level snowshoes that you strap your regular everyday walking shoes in, and we’ve got a bit of a track going on,” Mountaineer Lodge spokesperson Kat Kalynchuk tells 660News. “So it’s for beginners and children who just want to want stomp around and get a feel for what it’s like.”
A bonfire, tea and hot chocolate are also part of the free experience which runs from noon until 5 p.m. at the Mountaineer Lodge.
Parks Canada is also running a contest for people interested in snowshoeing and cross country skiing. You can learn more about the contest, and the different programs it offers, by going to this web address: HERE.
