Being high up a mountain is exhilarating and peaceful at the same time. I feel most at ease in the mountains and feel fortunate to live so close to both the Canadian Rockies and Purcell Mountains. Since having kids my husband and I have chosen to continue to spend as much of our leisure time in the mountains as possible whether it's just going for a walk, camping or hitting the ski slopes.
Getting to the mountains tends to be easy enough (most days haha). Getting up a mountain with small kids is more of a challenge. After having our second child we wanted to have some outdoor time in the mountains but I was in no way ready to go on a hike (3 weeks postpartum). We decided to travel up with as least amount of effort possible - a gondola ride!
There is a fee to take a gondola at mountain resorts but I feel it was worth it to do something new with the kids and it was fun for me when I wasn't prepared to do anything more physical. The Lake Louise gondola is open from May to October. It is, of course, open in the winter for skiing too! Our toddler loved the ride, looking out the windows and moving from seat to seat. Going down was just as exciting as going up!
We caught the Lake Louise gondola just before it closed before the winter season on a Sunday and it wasn't very busy. The Lake Louise gondola in the summer is not the actual gondola but the chair lift that they attach some enclosed gondolas too. We choose to take a gondola because of the age of our kids but you can also ride up an open chair as well. It was very exciting for a toddler.
The ride at Lake Louise takes you part way up the mountain giving you a 180 degree view. You can see Lake Louise (the actual lake), Lake Louise Ski resort and you have the opportunity to go on easy or strenuous hikes from where you are dropped off. There is a restaurant a short walk from the top as well, we didn't go there and I am not sure what it is like. We did take in the beautiful views and explored some very short trails.
Below is close to where you get off the Gondola ride, you can see the mountain continues that you can hike up. The chair lift in the picture is not open in the summer.
This trip was our first time on gondola not for skiing. I plan to take the family up the Kicking Horse Resort gondola in Golden BC this summer, it takes you to a 360 degree view, has many hikes and a great restaurant at the top. I've heard wonderful things about the Sunshine Village Resort gondola and hikes as well. I might even drag along the grandparents. If anyone recommends other gondola or chairlift rides for the summer I'd like to hear about it.
I love to hike but I also like some easier days to explore with a view!
A sneak peak of the view from the top of the Lake Louise gondola ride in the summer...
