Not much to say about this hike other than that the Copelands are right: it’s only worth doing on a rainy day when no other option presents itself. For me, though, there was handful of little things about the hike which I enjoyed. The first was seeing the larches as we gained elevation, the second was a nice partial view of Lake Louise which really highlighted its colour, and the third was that Lake Agnes was quiet and quite serene in the rain.
The trail was uninspiring, and we were once again disappointed to be picking our way through piles of wet horse poo. We chatted our way up in the rain, which turned to wet snow as we hit the 2000 m level. By the time we reached the tea house, the first wave of customers had headed back down and for a while we were the only people there. We had an expensive bowl of soup and a sandwich along with a much-needed hot drink. It was nice that the tea house was quiet, but it also wasn’t as warm as I was hoping!
After our lunch, we stepped outside into the snow, which had eased off a little, and took in the view of the lake. It was also nice to see a different angle on the Big Beehive, which looks so daunting from Mirror Lake (which again looked like a mucky puddle). That would be a nice hike to do to get a great view over the Lake Louise area. Then all we had to do was plod back down the hill, passing several groups of miserable wet tourists along the way :-)
Back at the car, we drove on to a very quiet Moraine Lake. The rain had stopped by now, which was a relief to be honest, and though we couldn’t see the summits of the Ten Peaks, the dull day really brought out the colours of the lake and surroundings.
Then it was on to Banff to set up our tents again before the rain started (just in time!), and a well-deserved beer and burger at the Banff Ave Brewing Co :-)
Distance: 7 km
Elevation gain: 390 m
Photos on Flickr
Being. Outdoors. 