Lake Louise

We moved on from the motel, the storm the storm the night before had caused lots of damage and I was so glad we had been in the motel and not the tent.  

storm clouds over the motel

We headed down the highway to find a campsite near Lake Louise.  Camping is limited here and was busy but we were early so go sorted and then went off to look at the Takakaw Waterfalls – very spectacular… 

DR Fred at the Takakaw falls

back to the camp – there is so little flat land around here that everything is crammed in so we are right next to the road and worse still the railway (miles and miles of freight trains) !!! Anyway we didn’t really notice the traffic or train noise in the evening as we went to a talk on the Burgess shale  Fossils, (interesting and google them for more detail) and then came back to base and went to bed!  The trains were ridiculously noisy in the night and they go on for ever… and then there’s another one!!!!  but in the end they just became back ground noise so we slept reasonably well except it was really cold, the weather forecast on the camp board said it would drop to 2 degree and I think it did!! I got up in the night and put on more clothes and then I was fine.  – we got up feeling a bit stiff had breakfast and headed up to Lake Louise- it was incredibly busy  - we parked eventually and I’m sure we passed some bear poo on the path but still no sign of bears!!!

lake Louise

Lake Louise was heaving – 100’s of people but we figured they would thin out if we headed up the path towards the Lake Agnes Tea rooms.  It was a lovely walk.  As we gained height you got glimpses of Lake Louise glinting like a turquoise jewel through the trees and if that sounds a bit poetic that’s exactly what it was like , the lake is the most amazing colour because of the glacial silt in the water.  

The walk took us up a path high above the lake it was a kind of switch back affair with quite a few amazing view points and bringing us to Mirror Lake about two thirds of the way to the tea house.  

mirrorLake

It was very spectacular with the limestone peaks towering above with snow and glaciers hanging off them.  The path was lined with wild flowers and every now and again the land would widen into a meadow with rocky outcrops and meadow grass and flowers.  We were close to the tree line as we reached the Lake Agnes Tea room.  The tea rooms were built for traveler stopovers when they were doing perilous ascents, our ascent wasn’t exactly perilous but it was a steady climb uphill for about 3 plus kilometre and we were ready for a cup of tea!!!  The service was appalling – I’d like to be more positive but there was no system, first of all it looked like you had to queue to be seated like the rest of Canada but on closer inspection after queuing 20 mins we realised that the queue was for take out drinks and food and we could just go into the tea house on first come first served basis, there was room – ( because everyone was politely queueing) but then we couldn’t get any table service- we kept waving but were invisible and people were coming in and getting served and leaving!!! I was getting grumpy and after about twenty minutes we finally attracted someones attention and ordered tea….. then we sat another 20 minutes until Fred got up and asked where our tea was- they looked really surprised -  and minutes later lukewarm tea arrived… we were not in any hurry but really they didn’t deserve a tip!!!

Agnes Lake tea House

Lake Agnes was another stunning coloured lake – sitting 2135 metres above sea level it is fairly impressive, still with looming peaks surrounding it.  

Fred decided to carry on (now I know he has almost recovered) and climb to the top of the big BeeHive, taking him another 100 or so meters up the mountains, I decided to sit in the sun (until my feet started burning) and draw some of the wild flowers.  I sat and people watched and drew while Fred zigzagged up the path to check out the stunning views from the top.  Of course Fred being Fred he couldn’t quite stay on the beaten path alongside all the other grockles but had to do a slight detour so he could get just that little bit higher!!!

view from the top...

We met up back near the tea house noting this time there was no queue at all, and started the descent, it feels good to have reached the top of a hill, mountain or just where you want to be and some times you forget it’s the same distance back down, and it takes a couple of kilometres and your knees to remind you!!!  But we wandered down alongside the other 100 or more people wandering – passing people who were just starting up the track ( not feeling at all smug) and eventually got back down tot Lake Louise where it was even busier then when we had left it – where did all these people park??? We found the extremely hot car and went off to buy some extremely expensive supplies so we could treat ourselves to a nice meal back at the campsite – well earned after a good day out in the not very wilderness.

camp kitchen