Lake Louise / Lake Agnes Tea House
(Banff National Park Hiking Expedition)
Hello readers!
Back again with my next blog post edition of Banff National Park.
It has definitely been a weird week where I haven't been able to spend much time on the
blog but rather busy working on most of my photography and chores around the house.
I am actually taking things slowly and letting everything flow as it goes along,
I learn that sometimes we have to be patience and have a better
understanding of our work and how to actually get it done with time.
Well, not to deviate you from the main point which is how I made it to Lake Louise.
After long hours of exploring Moraine Lake I really wanted to head to my next
destination on the list which was Lake Louise / Lake Agnes Tea House.
The great thing about Banff National Park is that all places seem to be close to each other,
it only took about a 20-minute drive from Moraine Lake to get to Lake Louise.
Upon arrival, I noticed there was immense amount of tourists, which I'll be honest
it drove me a little bit crazy, great amount of people and families all around.
At first, it was kind of confusing where I was supposed to be heading towards the hike,
my initial idea was to hike Plain of Six Glaciers or Lake Agnes Tea House which both
were long hikes, and were within the same section of Lake Louise, meaning,
one way or another they were all connected to each other.
From the very beginning of the trail, Plain of Six Glaciers was about 4.2 miles
(round trip 9.3 miles) which it seemed like it would take a few hours.
Regularly, it takes between 4-6 hours to complete this entire hike,
knowing my instinct and ability I knew it would take a few hours to reach
Plain of Six Glaciers which sounded like a great place to spot the mountains
and Lake Louise from the very top and far away, however, I opted out to hike Lake
Agnes Tea House instead and looking back to it now it was the best choice.
While hiking the trail to Plain of Six Glaciers the trail actually has a detour
leading to Lake Agnes Tea House, about the time started snowing pretty bad,
this was a very exciting time because it would have been the first time
I have ever hiked on the snow and that something unique for me.
I was excited, happy, and smiling my way through the trail,
it gave me a lot confidence and lifted me up continue along this way.
The more you hiked this trail the more elevation you would gain,
we are probably talking about between 7000-8000 feet at most,
so it does become a bit challenging and difficult stepping up this part of the trail,
again nothing new for me, but it was quite stretch to get to Lake Agnes.
From up here you can spot several parts of Lake Louise and the mountains,
funny enough, Lake Louise looked like this gigantic hot spring that you could
just jump to it and the fact that the water is so clear makes it a perfect view,
you can actually see what I'm talking about if you look at the pictures I took from the top.
The mountains are something else, mostly all of them are covered with snow
and are insanely beautiful to see, you could stay hours staring at them.
After several hours and 2.4 miles later, I made it to Lake Agnes Tea House.
My first impression of the Tea House was how beautiful this tiny lodge looked and an
enormous crowd of hikers! No, seriously! Every hiker that I saw at Lake Louise was here.
I remember how packed the Tea House was that you wouldn't be able to sit inside,
meaning, most hikers would either stay outside or were standing up, but knowing how
freaking cold was outside, there was really nothing you could do about it.
One thing I do regret not doing is not bringing my wallet with me, as you can see
they have a menu full of things to try, they are famously known for their teas,
hot chocolates, sandwiches and a great variety of treats.
I felt so bad after all because I hiked all this way up and was not even able
to try something from the Tea House, which eventually overwhelmed me a little bit,
but after some time you just not think about those things anymore and
hopefully expect to learn from them and to make it doesn't happen again.
After spending great deal of time at the Tea House it was time to head down,
I took several pictures of Lake Agnes, enjoyed the beauty and view of it,
which it was astonishing and shocking at the same time to see such a private Lake
at this elevation, makes you wonder how amazing and great these places are.
On my way down I spotted another small and private lake that was on the trail to
Lake Louise, mostly it seemed like a small replica of Lake Agnes.
Getting to Lake Louise was kind of a relief, but it was still as packed as when I first
started hiking in the morning, so I guess in the afternoon Lake Louise really gets packed.
For some reason I feel a little bit uncomfortable when there is an incredibly amount of
tourists or people just stumbling your way, or taking group pictures, or to put it this way
not knowing what they're doing, I don't mean to sound like I hate people or anything,
but it was a bit obnoxious not being able to hike sections of Lake Louise with a huge crowd.
I guess because I came with a purpose of hiking some of these trails, and actually
wanting to enjoy the lake itself made me have that kind of mentality or think that way.
Definitely, not my favorite lake compared to Moraine Lake, which I completely loved,
but if taking the crowd out of the equation I would say it was a nice and beautiful scenery,
however, I do strongly recommend hiking Plain Of Six Glaciers or Lake Agnes Tea House,
you'll definitely get a better hiking and journey experience.
Well guys there you have it, this me signing off with another
blog post of my hiking expedition to Banff National Park.
Please keep tuning in for the next following
blogs that I will be posting in the next couple of weeks.
As always I'll be seeing you on the next blog!
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Their data-informed approach reminds us of our own practices, so we felt comfortable from the start. wikipedia reference
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