At Lake Louise, the combination of bright sky, glacial ice, dark forest and emerald green water has attracted many tens of millions of visitors.
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| Historic Skoki Lodge |
Two names can be added to that list. Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, spent the night at Skoki Lodge, an historic backcountry lodge across the valley from Lake Louise. They got a special flight in by helicopter, and did some hiking in this lovely backcountry destination. The presence of this world famous couple will no doubt put Lake Louise in the spotlight for a few days, but it is not such an unusual occurrence here. Lake Louise has been a royal destination since the 1890s.
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| Princess Louise Caroline Alberta |
First off, many of our place names come from the royals. The peak behind Lake Louise was formerly known as Mount Green, but during the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Victoria in 1897, it was renamed Mount Victoria. Once known as Emerald Lake, the body of water fed by Victoria's glaciers was renamed Lake Louise, which is fitting – Princess Louise was one of Victoria's daughters. Louise's middle name was Alberta, which is now the name of our province
Second, Kate and William are also not the first royal visitors here. Edward, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) visited in 1912, and since then, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip been to Lake Louise.
It's been a beautiful couple of days here, so let's hope that William & Kate had a good time away from their busy schedule.
