Day 3 - Saturday 9/16/2017 - Hike Plain of Six Glaciers from Lake Louise
We met downstairs at 8:00 AM since it we had a late night. The B&B had a hot breakfast and today it was pancakes with mixed berries & coconut. They were very tasty! We decided to go ahead and do Larch Valley since the weather was pretty and the larches were already turning. This was a mistake cause all of Alberta was thinking the same thing (it was a beautiful Saturday after all). We left Banff a little after 9:00 AM and got to Lake Louise about 9:50.
The drive was spectacular with all of the mountains around the highway. The road to Moraine Lake was closed due to the parking being full so we parked at Lake Louise. Still determined to go Larch Valley from Moraine Lake we were told to take the shuttle to the overflow parking and then the shuttle up to Moraine Lake. We considered staying and doing Lake Louise, but decided to go on the shuttle anyway. Once we got to overflow parking just outside of Lake Louise, the line for the Moraine Lake shuttle was 1.5 hr and in order to make it back to our car at Lake Louise, we would have to be back at overflow parking by 4:00 as that is when shuttles back to Lake Louise stopped. We decided to take the shuttle back to Lake Louise and do Plain of Six Glaciers.
We enjoyed the spectacular view of Lake Louise and took the obligatory pictures of it. The water was such a cool color from the glaciers! We started the hike up to Plain of Six Glaciers at about 11:15 so, we only lost about an hour with the parking / shuttle issues. The hike around Lake Louise and up to the Plain of Six Glacier tea house was spectacular. It was cool but sunny so an enjoyable hike. We got to the tea house at about 1:20pm so about a two hour hike up.
The drive was spectacular with all of the mountains around the highway. The road to Moraine Lake was closed due to the parking being full so we parked at Lake Louise. Still determined to go Larch Valley from Moraine Lake we were told to take the shuttle to the overflow parking and then the shuttle up to Moraine Lake. We considered staying and doing Lake Louise, but decided to go on the shuttle anyway. Once we got to overflow parking just outside of Lake Louise, the line for the Moraine Lake shuttle was 1.5 hr and in order to make it back to our car at Lake Louise, we would have to be back at overflow parking by 4:00 as that is when shuttles back to Lake Louise stopped. We decided to take the shuttle back to Lake Louise and do Plain of Six Glaciers.
We enjoyed the spectacular view of Lake Louise and took the obligatory pictures of it. The water was such a cool color from the glaciers! We started the hike up to Plain of Six Glaciers at about 11:15 so, we only lost about an hour with the parking / shuttle issues. The hike around Lake Louise and up to the Plain of Six Glacier tea house was spectacular. It was cool but sunny so an enjoyable hike. We got to the tea house at about 1:20pm so about a two hour hike up.
We were able to get a table on the balcony of the tea house and enjoyed chips and salsa / hummus while we rested. Emily and Scott both got some tea and I got a berry lemonade. It is crazy to think that all of the supplies had to be carried up to the tea house on the trail we just hiked!
Scott and I decided to continue up to the Abbott Pass Viewpoint for views of Victoria Glacier and Abbott Pass Hut while Emily chilled at the tea house. This added 1.5 miles RT, the tea house alone is 6.8 miles round trip. It took Scott and I about an 1.5 hour to hike up to the overlook and back and the trail was excellent! Emily struck up a conversation with a couple from Houston while waiting for us at the tea house, such a small world.
Scott and I decided to continue up to the Abbott Pass Viewpoint for views of Victoria Glacier and Abbott Pass Hut while Emily chilled at the tea house. This added 1.5 miles RT, the tea house alone is 6.8 miles round trip. It took Scott and I about an 1.5 hour to hike up to the overlook and back and the trail was excellent! Emily struck up a conversation with a couple from Houston while waiting for us at the tea house, such a small world.
We started back down from the tea house at about 3:30 PM or so. We got to enjoy Lake Louise in the evening light from the opposite side of the lake and it was well worth it! We arrived to the car at about 5:00 PM or so. We decided not to connect up with the popular Lake Agnus Tea House trail since it was later in the day when we got back down from the Plain of Six Glaciers. We wished we could have though.
Emily drove us back to Banff where we killed that bag of All Season Ruffles. We made a grocery stop for Scott and went back to the B&B to clean up. We walked to the main drag of Banff and ate at St. James Gate Irish Pub for dinner! Emily and I had a good chat with an older gentleman from Washington DC at the B&B and we were in bed by 10:30, sore and tired from the day!
Plain of Six Glaciers Trail with Abbott Pass Viewpoint - 8.5 Miles round trip; 1,215 ft elevation gain
Safe Travels,
B&E
Plain of Six Glaciers Trail with Abbott Pass Viewpoint - 8.5 Miles round trip; 1,215 ft elevation gain
Safe Travels,
B&E