Lake Louise was a must visit for myself and my partner when we planned our portion of the trip to Banff. After all, it’s a staple Banff visit (along with Moraine Lake, we’re told!).
I am in no way a morning person, but when we were coming to Lake Louise, I made sure we were there early. Speaking to a park ranger once we got there, he explained that the Internet had created a hype around the lake and it was henceforth impossible to visit later during the day. One has to arrive early to be able to park one’s car. (I believe there are some options to arrive by bus which would be the other way to come to this lake.)
We were out of our hotel at 6 something in the morning and off we went!
Once we got to the lake, we didn’t quite know what we would do, but figured it would be easy to find an interesting hike (and we definitely did). We essentially came to see the lake, and see it we did. We also had the pleasure to wade in it (no further than knee deep). The frigid icy water froze our toes but our grins were nothing but warm!
I do like to point out that every person that comes to Lake Louise loves to post a picture of themselves by the lake and the first thought one gets is: “Wow, it must be such a peaceful quiet place to visit”. Allow me to burst your bubble with these pictures of “Expectation vs Reality”. The lakefront (especially at the very beginning) was PACKED. One had to try to find an empty spot, position the camera just right and CLICK, the illusion of a serene isolated slice of heaven.
Gladly, the good part is that the further around the lake and away from the starting point we hiked, the more we did get to surround ourselves with nature, secluded with the noise of animals (and the occasional snow avalanche). Chipmunks were aplenty. Every time we found one, I kept getting giddier, half expecting them to break out in song.
The hike around the lake was breathtaking. I stopped every few meters and snapped more pictures. My camera can’t do the scenery justice. Near the back of the lake, there was a sandy part that mixed and turned into the turquoise lake. It was walkable, albeit freezing (and definitely got busier near midday).
Our hiking goal was initially to get to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. We stuck to it, due to my back problem that decided to flare up mid-hike. I did the risky thing and continued to the tea house instead of turning back and do not recommend anyone do that if they’re in my situation. Pushing against my injury, I wanted to get to the end. The hike brought us to a part of the trail that had a cliff-like section. In hindsight, this was definitely not the best place to take a break. My back and leg seized and I could not move. Every movement shot a severe and deafening pain down my back and legs. I thought to myself: “this is it, I’m stuck for good”. Thankfully, after much effort and time, I was able to maneuver myself and get up to keep walking.
As we climbed to the teahouse, we noticed that Lake Louise was getting smaller and smaller as we walked further away. Every few steps, we looked back to see the turquoise splotch shrink hypnotically.
The second hiccup that occurred was when we were at the teahouse. Knowing there would be water at the top, we drank almost all of our water during the sweltering hike up. Once we got to the teahouse, we learned that unfortunately there was no water. Our only drinking option was a stream by the teahouse and my partner was instructed where to get the water into our canteen by a tea house staff member. It was the first time I was to drink unfiltered river/source water. I feared the worst in terms of stomach flu, but nothing happened.
We hiked back to our car without any issues and kept regularly stopping for photo ops. Back at the town of Banff, we ended our day with delicious ice cream (and giggles) from Cows.
Number of steps taken and km walked: 29 279 steps and therefore 21.09km
Enjoyed reading about our adventures in Banff? Don’t hesitate to read up on other fun activities we enjoyed on the Canadian West Coast.
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