Glacier View Lodge

After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal for Anu and I and the buffet spread for the rest of us at the Lake Louise Inn, we started our 100 km drive on the Icefield Pkway. With scenic overlooks and photo stops on the way we made it to the Glacier View Lodge around noon. A day at this hotel on the 3rd floor of the Columbia Icefield center overlooking the Athabasca glacier and the lake was one of the most relaxing and joyful days we’ve had in a while. We enjoyed the hike to the red chairs and beyond on the Wilcox mountain as suggested by Terry, the hotel manager. The rest of the day was pretty much spent in the hotel lobby which was like a casual cozy gathering place with floor to ceiling windows facing the glacier. Sipping on coffees, fancy teas and hot chocolates, lounging around reading a book, playing Scrabble and board games, enjoying the blue refreshing cocktail and cheese and crackers at the evening reception and soaking in the bright sunny glacier kind of day were on repeat, truly invigorating our bodies and minds. We were prepared for another non-appetizing “gourmet” meal at the Altitude restaurant but were still surprised at the modest ingredients consisting of a lettuce head and a few chick peas in the salad and the blandness of the zucchini quinoa entree- the only 2 vegetarian options in the already limited menu. The elderflower Athabasca falls cocktail was delicious and the decadent chocolate dessert fulfilled dark chocolate cravings. The restaurant server Shyla was gracious enough to heat up our chick pea sandwich we had picked up from the Chalet restaurant earlier. We were glad to have anticipated the limitations of dinner at this place in the middle of nowhere and had picked up pizza slices, fries and Kahan’s favorite Canadian dish aka vegetarian poutine from the cafeteria style Chalet restaurant across that closes at 5pm. The friendly hotel staff heated up the food for the kids in the hotel lobby, and of course dinner with a view happened for them in our “living room for the day”! Chatting with Terry, we learnt that the same building had been around since 1938, the lodge since 1995, but they moved the check-in to the 3rd floor separate from the tours check in on the 1st floor and remodeled the entire place in 2019. As hard as it was to call it a night at 10.15pm with the sun still bright outside, the need for a morning run the next day helped a bit.