Lake Louise - Plain of Six Glaciers Trail

Today we tackled another epic hike, which I rank right up there with my other most memorable -  the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail at Lake Louise.

I think nearly anyone who has ever Googled "Canadian Rockies" or other variants has almost inevitably seen the iconic photo of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, nestled in the mountains and fir trees in front of a lake with a colour so unusual (even to a partially colourblind person like yours truly) that it looks like it can't possibly be real. 

 

Today, after packing up our campsite at David Thompson Resort, we drove to Lake Louise and started our hike from the Chateau, with the vista that you see above. The initial part of the hike was quite easy, and also quite popular with the tourists (many of whom were likely staying in the Chateau). It gradually circled around the lake, starting with a paved path and then turning to gravel.  Once we reached the far edge, the path cut out of view of the hotel and started its climb upwards. As usual on this trip, Rosie assumed her place as the leader of the pack. 

And from there, up we went! First goal: the Tea House. After a hard and steep climb we eventually got above the trees. And kept climbing. It's funny because Leslie showed me the elevation chart on Strava and it basically looks like one of those pirate hats that you fold out of paper - flat, then basically a triangle peak in the middle, and then flat again at the end. On the way up we heard a total of three avalanches -  Leslie actually saw one but sadly I did not! But they sounded like rumbling thunder and it was pretty awesome. 

Around the 6km mark we reached the Tea House. There was a nice little stream where we soaked a cloth and cooled off Zoe who was overheating a little after the exertion. The view was pretty spectacular. 

We had a little break, and then headed onwards and upwards to the culmination of the hike -  a lookout point another ~1.2km upwards. 

The final part of the hike was truly breathtaking. The last segment was a narrow, dusty, rocky path with a steep drop-off of loose scree on both sides, which was reminiscent of our hike on Kalsoy Island in the Faroe Islands and its crazy steep drop-offs. And then we scrambled up loose scree before finally taking a dusty seat at the end of the trail to take in the view and relish in our sense of accomplishment. We also felt fortunate for the very cooperative weather we've had so far this trip (knock on wood). 

Sorry for so many photos but I am still pretty stoked about this hike, writing about it from a picnic table in Golden, BC as we prep for the next couple of days of our excursion with Fresh Adventures (which has been pretty epic so far).

Here is a final shot of Zoe, who braved the freezing cold waters of Lake Louise near the end of our hike to cool off (the rest of us were only brave enough to soak our weary feet for a few minutes!).