World Trip – Stage 36, Two Glorious Hikes

---

Lake Helen

12km round trip, elevation 2465m, 16th June 

The car park was quite small, so we were lucky to grab one of the two last remaining spaces in the cleared forest. Taking some time to pack necessities, Peter fixed the anti-bear spray holster onto his belt, and off we went.

The steep path, crossed by muscular tree roots and boulders, wound its way through the dense pine forest. Attempts to scare off prospective bears by talking and singing petered off as topics and song lyrics, as well as puff, ran out.

• 

• 

Occasionally we were passed by, and passed, other trekkers, exchanging encouraging greetings. The cold and damp soon transformed to hot and sweaty as the steady climb went on. Occasional glimpses of pallid sun through the forest turned into a steady cold drizzle. We were grateful for our rain jacket hoods and cap peaks.

• 

• 

• 

About three kilometres of steady climb took us to a bend around the mountain ridge, where the forest trees became sparser and shorter, until they stopped altogether. We passed a section with burnt out trees – obviously from a previous wildfire.

And, what a view.

Slowly turning 360 degrees, totally surrounded by immense mountains. Jagged ridges, whisks of clouds below the peaks, patches of snow everywhere. This was a most magnificent sight. Just to stand, look and try to soak up the immensity.

• 

• 

Onward, we hiked, over open fell, over trickling streams, a gushing waterfall and over a log bridge crossing a strident stream. Starting to feel fatigued, we reached a low ridge and looked down on a lovely mountain lake – Lake Helen.

By now, the weather had become fearsome – stiff gusts of wind with biting rain. Lynne found a wind sheltered rock to sit on, where we were shortly joined by a German couple. We, and they, rooted around in backpacks for lunch. We managed half a protein bar each and the remains of a mashed cup-cake, swilled down with a bottle of orange juice. We chatted with our companions, where they compared the hiking and weather with Scotland! They said that what was missing was a nearby distillery…

No weather to hang around, we started our descent, with freezing hands in the nearly zero degree sleet. We paused at the log bridge where our newfound German friends took pictures of us on the bridge, and we returned the favour.

• 

• 

• 

As we came to the end of the 12km hike, we had to be careful not to allow our tired legs to trip or slip on the wet, uneven trail. Arriving back, we congratulated ourselves on a fabulous day, climbing over 550m. But much more than that, experiencing the awesome (no other word can be used) Canadian Rockies from the middle of the mountains.

The tea houses trail, Lake Louise

16km round trip, elevation 2310m, 17th June 

As we said earlier in this blog (see the Ground Zero post), the first challenge is to make it to the start line. The trail starts at the shoreline of Lake Louise, some 6km outside the village. Both shuttle bus services from the parking at the cable car were fully booked. So we had to get to the car park early to get a parking spot. Peter had read much vitriol from disappointed hikers.

We left River Crossing at 6.20am, driving through the rain to Lake Louise. No cars in front of us the whole 62km until we reached the scramble for a parking space. 7.20 am secured a spot, but would there be any left in 15-20 minutes? Unlikely.

• 

• 

We bought our parking ticket from a machine; Phew! Lynne was losing sleep that we would fall at the last hurdle without internet access. Then we settled down to the breakfast we had bought the night before. Other folks had coffee with them, but we didn’t dare risk a delay.

We wrapped up warmly; the fingerless gloves that Lynne bought for her “Roaring  Twenties” outfit came in handy. We set off just after 8.15 am along the shore line before ascending upwards 385m through the forest to the Lake Agnes Tea House.

En route we stopped at the aptly-named mirror lake, before we set off in the opposite direction from everyone else, to climb steeply up to Lake Agnes, stopping for a photo in a clearing in the sunshine. We met and chatted to several folks on their way down, arriving at the Tea House, on a last steep, wooden staircase.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Tea House was busy, but we sat on nice flat boulders with a great cuppa mountain tea each.

We then followed a narrow trail round Lake Agnes, with a mixture of sunshine and drizzle. We climbed the switchbacks up Big Beehive, another ascent of 135m, to marvel at the fantastic views of Lake Agnes and Lake Louise – in Peter’s case from a safe distance from the precipice.

• 

• 

• 

We heard avalanches far enough away.

The path zigged-zagged down through the forest, until we joined the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail. It was now warm in the sunshine, but the trail was still high above the tributaries of Lake Louise. We skirted the mountains in lush vegetation until we took the path to the Glacier Tea House, a climb of 365m, past waterfalls and along a rock face, up moraine, stopping for our picnic lunch on the way.

The tea house is a little below the glacier, but we enjoyed our second cup of tea, with three college alumnae on their annual break together. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We set off at 2.20pm for the trek downhill to Lake Louise, arriving at 4pm. The shoreline path was busy. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. We had hiked 16.5km, in 5 3/4 hours, and climbed up 880 metres. We were elated, if a little tired and both absolutely delighted that, finally, Lynne was back in form after her hip injury in January.

• 

• 

•