On Tuesday, we returned to Lake Louise, getting an early start, driving to the overflow parking lot and taking a shuttle bus to the lake. The sky was notably clearer today. It was a nice reprieve from the smoke, and nice to see blue skies. The mountain seen directly in the center is Mount Victoria, home to Victoria Glacier. On this day, we were hiking in that direction, to the Plain of Six Glaciers.
Lake Louise
The hike began by moving counterclockwise around the northwest side of the lake, at first on level ground.
Here we have reached the far end of Lake Louise, which is fed by run-off from the glaciers:
Lake Louise
We began gaining elevation. This was the wall to our right, i.e., northwest of the trail:
Wall Northwest of Trail
There were still some wildflowers to be seen. While the sky is overexposed in this photo, I like the contrast of the grass, flowers, trees, mountains, glaciers, and sky. The center of this photo features Mount Lefroy:
Wildflowers and Mount Lefroy
Here we have another view of Mt. Lefroy and to the right, Mt. Victoria, with Victoria Glacier. To the right of the photo is our trail, continuing on closer to the glaciers:
Mt. Lefroy and Mt. Victoria
Here is Batya on the trail, with Lake Louise barely visible on the right side of the photo:
Batya posing on the trail
This is a stitched panorama, showing Mt. Lefroy on the left, Mt. Victoria in the center, and Collier Peak on the right:
Mts. Lefroy and Victoria, Collier Peak
The seasonal snow was long gone by this time of year, but the glaciers were still there, providing a little water as the sun melted a tiny portion of them:
Snowmelt from Collier Peak
We were nearing the end of the trail. Here, a man hiking in front of us can be seen for scale:
Knife-Edge Trail
The same trail and the man can be seen at the far right in this stitched panorama, showing Mt. Lefroy at center, with Mt. Victoria (and Victoria Glacier) to the right:
Mts. Lefroy and Victoria
Lake Louise was again visible as we looked back from our starting point:
Looking back toward Lake Louise
The trail seemed to end at the bottom of a scree slope. There was no sign indicating it was the end of the trail, but a large number of people were sitting and standing there. The spot provided a nice view of Abbot Pass between Mount Lefroy and Mount Victoria:
Abbot Pass
Zooming in on the pass:
Abbot Pass
Zooming to 200mm, my telephoto lens captured the alpine hut at the top of Abbot Pass, constructed in 1922:
Hut on Abbot Pass
Another tourist was kind enough to photograph us below the pass:
Charlie and Batya below Abbot Pass
We began hiking back. Here is yet another view of Lake Louise in the distance:
Lake Louise
This Colombian ground squirrel was a small fellow, so I presume it was a youngster:
Young Colombian Ground Squirrel
There is also a teahouse on the trail of the Plain of Six Glaciers:
Batya at the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse
It looks as though there was a landslide at one point in this location:
Slide
We reached the lake, and soon completed our last hike in Banff:
Lake Louise and Fairmont Chateau
The Plain of Six Glaciers hike is about 8.7 miles (14 km), with an elevation gain of about 1925′ (587 m). The hike did not seem especially strenuous to us.
The next day, we would check out of our hotel in Canmore, have one last hike in the area, and then drive back to Calgary for our flight home.