Lake Louise, Alberta - September 21st to 22nd, 2022

Lake Louise is a beautiful place. Unfortunately, many other people also share that opinion and the place is packed with people. We managed to get away from the some of the crowds by going on a couple of long hikes while we were there.

Lake Louise is a popular area inside Banff National Park. The two most popular attractions are the two lakes, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. In addition, there is a small village, which consists of a gas station, a strip mall, and a couple of restaurants along with the Lake Louise Ski Resort. A few other lodges, bungalows, and cabins are also in the area. Paid parking at either lake is very limited and they do not allow RV’s. There are shuttle buses that are run by the national park that will take you to either lake from the free parking lot at the ski resort. The shuttle costs $8 per person. Reservations are recommended. You reserve a seat within a one hour time slot. Half the seats are available for reservations at the beginning of the summer season. The other half become available on a 48 hour rolling basis, meaning they become available online at 8 am two days in advance.

There were a couple of hikes we wanted to do, one starting at Lake Louise and the other staring from Moraine Lake. We didn’t look into the shuttle reservations until Monday evening. Luckily, there were still seats left for the 9 am to 10 am time slot for Lake Louise on Wednesday, so we snagged them. On Tuesday morning promptly at 8 am, we attempted to get shuttle reservations for Moraine Lake for Thursday. The earliest time slot we could get was noon. Fortunately Ann did not hesitate and she reserved them because the rest of the day quickly filled up after that. It may mean that we need to cut our hike short that day since we’ll get such a late start.

Instead of packing up our Red Tail Lodge and driving over to the Park & Ride lot at the ski resort on Wednesday, we took the free park shuttle that runs every half an hour between the campground, the village, and the ski resort. Since the campground is rather long and narrow, the shuttle stop in the campground was over half a mile from our camp site. We left our van just after 8 am and we were at the ski resort by 8:40 am. They let us on the next Lake Louise shuttle even though we were early for our time slot. After arriving at Lake Louise, snapping a few pictures of the lake and making a restroom stop, we were on the trail by 9:30 am.

After spending so much time in the wilderness and the less populated areas of the Yukon and British Columbia, we were not used to crowds of people. Waiting in line to get checked in the night before felt like an unfamiliar experience. Riding a large shuttle bus packed with people was something we had not done since Denali National Park. We felt uncomfortable among the crowds of people around Lake Louise. So we were anxious to get on the trail to get away from all the people.

Our destination was the tea house at Lake Agnes, then possibly continuing up to the Big Beehive. The Lake Agnes Trail starts from Lake Louise and heads up through the woods. It is a nice, wide trail, but there are plenty of people on it. However, we felt more relaxed on the trail than we did back on the shore of the lake, where everyone was jockeying for a position to take their perfect picture of the lake.

About three quarters of the way to Lake Agnes, we came to Mirror Lake. The morning sun lit up the Big Beehive mountain behind the lake which reflected perfectly on the still water. At Mirror Lake, the trail splits so you have two options to get up to Lake Agnes. We turned to the right. It brought us up right next to a small waterfall. A short set of stairs climbs next to the waterfall, bringing us up to the teahouse and lake.

The teahouse was a unique experience. The cabin was originally built in 1901 as a shelter for hikers, then became a teahouse in 1905. The structure was rebuilt in 1981, but the original windows, tables, and chairs were kept which are still used today. The majority of the supplies for the teahouse are brought up by helicopter at the beginning of the season. Guests are asked to volunteer to take a small bag of garbage back down with them. The staff stays at the cabin for days at a time. Everything is made inside the cabin, including the tea, the sandwiches, the soup, and the baked goods. The cheese and hummus sandwiches are made with the bread that they bake onsite. They pull the water they need from the lake, a couple of buckets at a time, which they then treat before using.

We arrived at the Lake Agnes Teahouse around 11:30 am. There was a line, a pretty long line. It looked like everyone was in line on the left side of the stairs for take away. We assumed that there were very few tables inside so we stood in the take away line for a while. Then one of the staff members came out to explain how everything worked and to go to the right side if you wanted a seat inside. It didn’t look like anyone was waiting for inside service, so Keith went and got in line. Almost by the time Ann made it to the front of the take away line, someone came out and seated us inside. There were three ladies waiting behind Keith, so we decided to all share one table.

There were only about half a dozen tables inside the log cabin. The only light in the dining area was the sunlight from the windows. We could see one light bulb on in the kitchen through the doorway. We’re guessing the only power they have is from the two small solar panels outside. There were also several large propane tanks outside, which we assume power the oven and stove. There was an opening above which looked like a sleeping loft for the staff from what little we could see.

The three lovely ladies sharing a table with us were from Utah. We really enjoyed their company. Service was not fast, but we were there to relax. Ann ordered a hummus sandwich and pumpkin loaf with a Lake Agnes wild berry tea. Keith ate half of a cheese sandwich, a cup of vegetable soup, and a mountain bar along with a blueberry green tea. The food and tea were scrumptious. The bread for the sandwiches was so fresh and hearty with a lovely texture. Keith was expecting a hot cheese sandwich, but it was a cold cheese sandwich. However, he still really enjoyed it. The cheese, something like a parmesan, was shaved in thin sheets and layered on the sandwich. The pumpkin loaf came with chocolate chips. The mountain bar consisted of coconut, raisins, and sunflower seeds on a graham cracker base. After enjoying our delicious food and the wonderful conversations with our new Utah friends for an hour, we parted ways. We want to thank them for hauling our table’s garbage, along with the trash from a neighboring table, back down the mountain.

There are two pit toilets near the teahouse, so we took advantage of them before continuing our hike. Of course, there was a long line. We’ve waited in lines more in the past twenty four hours than we have in the previous several months. It is hard to get readjusted to crowds of people again.

We started up the trail to Big Beehive. It starts out along the shoreline of Lake Agnes, circling around to the other side. However, the other side of the lake was in shadow. It’s probably in shadow most of the day. That meant the trail had snow and ice on it. People we passed coming the other way said they gave up and turned around. We could see people on the steep switch backs moving very slowly. Of course we didn’t bring our Yaktrax (paid link) with us. It was such a beautiful, warm day. Keith was wearing his trail runners (paid link) and not his hiking boots (paid link). We went a little ways on the snow and ice, but turned around once the trail starting climbing. It wasn’t worth risking breaking any bones.

Ann did get a nice picture back towards the teahouse before we turned around.

On the way back to the teahouse, we spotted a lot of pika scurrying around on the rocks. They are so cute!

At the teahouse, we decide to head up to the Little Beehive instead. It was a nice trail up to a viewpoint overlooking Lake Louise and down another valley. We could see the lookout over on the Big Beehive from the Little Beehive. The Big Beehive lookout is a little higher and would have better views of Lake Louise, since the sun would be shining from behind the viewer, but the views from Little Beehive were also nice. There were a few larch trees along the way donning their bright, golden yellow fall colors. If you are not familiar with larch trees, they are pine trees that turn colors before dropping their needles in the fall. The needles then grow back in the spring.

Coming down from the Little Beehive, we took a branch in the trail that took us straight to Mirror Lake instead of tracing our steps back to Lake Agnes. The trails above Mirror Lake are shared with horses, so you have to watch your step. On the way to Mirror Lake, a group on horseback passed us going the other way. The horse trail then splits off from the hiking trail below Mirror Lake, so the rest of the trail back to Lake Louise had fresher air to breathe. When we were at Mirror Lake the second time, the Big Beehive was in shadow in the afternoon, so there was no reflection in the lake. So we would recommend visiting Mirror Lake in the morning.

By the time we returned to Lake Louise, we covered 7.5 miles with 2218 feet of elevation gain in just over six hours. This was hike number 48 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2022.

We would have loved an ice cream after our hike. There is the large and luxurious looking Fairmont Chateau on the shores of Lake Louise. It looked like there were shops inside the hotel, but the grounds were for registered guests only and not open to the general public. There is nothing else right at the lake. Surprisingly, we did not have a very long wait to catch the shuttle bus back to the Park & Ride and got on the very next bus. Surely the Lake Louise Ski Resort would have ice cream. As we got off the bus, we got excited when we saw an ice cream cone on one of the signs. However, when we went inside the lodge, the only thing open was a coffee bar, which had a limited selection of sandwiches and pastries, but no ice cream. Bummer! Instead, we bought a couple of Cokes. We sat down to relax while we enjoyed our refreshing beverages before catching the shuttle back to the campground.

It was dinner time when we arrived back at our camp site. Luckily, Ann thought ahead and chopped vegetables the night before so making dinner was quick and easy. She made chili in the Instant Pot (paid link). The onion and peppers were already chopped, so, after sautéing them for a few minutes, it was just a matter of putting all the ingredients into the pot and pressure cooking them for about ten minutes.

We slept in Thursday morning, then caught the shuttle bus from the campground back to the Park & Ride. We arrived a little after 10 am. Even though our Moraine Lake shuttle reservation was not until noon, we were hoping we might be able to catch an earlier shuttle. No such luck. The ticket booth would not let us check in until 11:30 am. So we went into the ski lodge for a morning treat of coffee, chai, and a couple of pastries.

There were longer lines to check in for the shuttle than there were the day before. We waited in line, checked in, and were leaving on a bus almost right at noon. So much for trying to get an earlier start.

The shuttle ride to Moraine Lake is much longer than the ride to Lake Louise, about a 25 minute drive. After taking a quick bathroom break, we headed up the short trail for the Rock Pile to get some pictures of Moraine Lake. The Rock Pile Trail is only half a mile with an elevation gain of 32 feet.

It was almost 1 pm when we started the trail up to the Larch Valley and Minnestimma Lake. The last shuttle leaves Moraine Lake at 7:30 pm, but the shuttle to get back to the campground leaves the Park & Ride at 7:30 pm, so we really needed to catch the 6:50 pm bus from Moraine Lake at the latest. Since there may be a lot of people trying to catch a bus back, we needed to shoot for the 6:30 pm shuttle. That meant we needed to be done with our hike within five and a half hours. The Minnestimma Lake hike was a 5.5 mile hike with 1991 feet of elevation gain. Ann’s stretch goal was to continue up to Sentinel Pass, making the hike 6.9 miles with an elevation gain of 2621 feet. That was probably a little ambitious of a goal.

The trail started off pretty similar to the Lake Agnes trail the day before. The trail switch backed up through the woods, with occasional views down to the turquoise-colored lake below, In this case, it was Moraine Lake instead of Lake Louise. When we reached a ridge, the scenery changed. The evergreen trees along the trail changed to larch trees. Then the views opened up across the valley. The valley lived up to its name. There were golden yellow larch trees everywhere. The sunshine made the needles glow against a backdrop of rocky mountain peaks.

We spoke with a group of hikers heading back down. They encouraged us to try to make Sentinel Pass. The trail from the lake looks intimidating, but it is not that bad. The view over the ridge to the other side is worth it. The pass is not that far from the lakes. We’ll see.

When the view opened up, we sat down to eat our late lunch of granola bars, an apple, raisins, and nuts. Ann didn’t take many pictures along the trail until we reached the larch trees. Then she had a hard time to stop taking pictures. Despite that, we made pretty good time. We reached the lakes in about two hours. Talking with more people on the trail, we learned it was only 30 minutes up to the top and 30 minutes back down. Ann wanted to go for it, but Keith did not. Ann offered to go by herself while Keith waited at the lakes. The trail up to the pass is within eyesight of the lakes the whole time. Then Keith decided to join her.

The climb up to the pass was steep. We had to keep our pace down to keep from breathing too hard. A couple of small sections were a little sketchy with loose, small rocks on a steep slope, but the footing on the rest of it was not bad. It was just a real workout to get to the top. We managed to make it to the top in about 30 minutes.

The view on the other side was nice. There were more mountains along with some rocky spires. The view back down to the lakes was also nice. We sat down and took a well-deserved break. We both ate another granola bar and drank plenty of water. At 4 pm, we started back. We had two and a half hours to get back to catch the shuttle. It was going to be close.

Keith was a little concerned about how much water he had left, so he decided to filter some water when we got back down to the lakes. You would think we could get back down from the pass faster than we went up, but it took us about the same amount of time. We could move faster during the less steep sections, but had to slow down even more in the sketchy sections. When we reached the lakes, Keith pulled out his water filter. After filling up the bag with lake water, he tried squeezing it through the filter (paid link) into his water bottle. Nothing would flow through the filter. We’re guessing that somehow the filter was exposed to freezing temperatures. They no longer work after becoming frozen. OK, he had iodine tablets with him. So he filled up one of his water bottles with lake water and added a tablet. Then he read the directions a little closer. You are supposed to let it sit for four hours. Well, that’s no good. We’ll be done hiking by then. Lesson learned. We need to test our water filters more often.

Now we were heading down the trail at a fast pace. Ann tried to keep her picture taking to a minimum, but it was hard. The late afternoon lighting was creating stunning views with the glowing larch trees. As our shadows were getting longer, we kept trying to pick up our pace. The switchbacks through the woods down to Moraine Lake seemed longer than on the way up. Somehow we managed to make it back to the shuttle stop well before 6:30 pm. We made it! Even though the line for the bus was pretty long, we managed to get on the 6:30 pm bus.

We completed the 8.2 miles of 2674 feet of elevation gain in six hours and ten minutes, which includes the Rockpile Trail. We counted it as hike 49 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2022.

The shuttle bus ride seemed so comfortable. It felt so good to be sitting down, in a cushy seat, with no weight on our legs or feet. After reaching the Park & Ride, it was a short wait to catch the 7 pm shuttle back to the campground. The half mile walk back to our campsite seemed long. The blessing was that we had leftovers to eat for dinner. No cooking involved, just using the microwave to reheat our food.

We went to bed early. We were exhausted. The day was enjoyable and rewarding, but we were ready for a relaxing day.

Is the beautiful scenery in the Lake Louise area worth waiting in long lines and fighting the crowds of people? In our opinion, absolutely. Just be prepared and be patient.

Check out our related video: Lake Louise, Alberta

(Ann)