Hiking was the activity of the day....lots of it! We drove to the amazing Lake Louise which is spectacular due to its surrounding mountains but also because it is a beautiful blue turquoise color. There is a huge parking lot because it is a main attraction. You can get away from most of the crowd by hiking the trails nearby and we picked the Plain of the Six Glaciers trail (3.4 miles).This took us above Lake Louise, through the dense forest, and then farther up into the glacial ravine near the glaciers. The very best part was that at the top is a tea house. Yes! This small little tea house was built in 1927 for the Swiss mountaineering guides and their clients that they took up there. We enjoyed sandwiches made on homemade bread and a pot of tea. All of their supplies are flown in by helicopter, brought up on horseback or carried up by staff. The customers are asked to pack out their own trash. The staff all looked pretty young and I think the reason why is that they have to hike up to work, work 5 days while staying in staff cabins, then hike down and have 4 days off before hiking back up for their next shift. One of the women working there was from Basalt Colorado. She was busy so I didn't get to ask her how she ended up on top of a mountain in Canada!
After our tea we decided to trek across the mountain to Lake Agnes. It was a little rainy but my motivation was..you guessed it..there was a tea house there too! This trail was about 3 miles through a beautiful forest. We didn't have much company on this trail so I rang my bear bell a lot! I kept an eye out for bear scat- Poop that smells like pepper spray and has bells in it- but didn't see any. The pot of tea was just what we needed because it was a little chilly. Maggie was in high alert there because the chipmunks ran rampant! She definitely thought she should be off the leash to do some policing.
Back on the trail we went to go down to Lake Louise which was around 3 miles. The closer we got to Lake Louise and the fancy Fairmont Chateau Hotel
which is at the lakeshore, the more I felt like a mountain women reemerging from the wilderness. Fashionably attired people who smelled nice were passing us walking up the trail for a little stroll. Then we passed by a cocktail party and a bride and groom taking photographs..I sure hope I made it into their album!
When exiting the restrooms at the parking lot, I saw Don visiting with a family like they were long lost friends. They were from Wheatridge and Don found that out by talking to the boy wearing a Bronco shirt. It's funny how you have an instant bond with people from your neck of the woods when you are far away from home!
Needless to say we were totally wiped out by the time we got back to the trailer. We figured we conquered 10 miles and two pots of tea with nothing worse than what Advil can cure!
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