A day in the lakes

Monday 16th September

Our alarms went off at 6am. We had packed up our things last night to check out of our BnB so we just needed to shower and get ready. Breakfast was included so we went down to the dining area for a quick breakfast and then at 7am checked out and headed for the pick-up point for the bus that we had booked to take us to Lake Moraine.

We had wrapped up very warm with lots of layers and gloves as it was only 4 degrees C when we left! The bus drove us about 20 minutes to Lake Moraine. We had booked to go as early as possible to see the lake as the sun was coming up over the mountains as it’s meant to be really beautiful. We wanted to see how the lakes changed at different times. When we arrived our bus driver told us about the different walks/hikes you could do. The first one we did was just a very short 5 minute walk up what was called the ‘rockpile’.

The ‘rockpile’ from the bottom which you can walk up for a viewpoint over the lake

The lake was the most beautiful lake (and place!) I think I had ever seen. The deep turquoise colour of the lake was incredible and really showed up in pictures before the sun was shining on it. We took so many photos (it was hard not to), that it was hard to choose which ones to post…

The golden sun-capped mountains were beautiful – this photo was at 8:01am

We then walked back down the rockpile to see the lake from the shoreline.

The colour of the lake wasn’t as vibrant from the shore level but it was so glass/mirror like (8:30am)

We were very cold and the cafe was due to open at 9am so I got in the queue that was building up, to get us hot drinks to warm us up, whilst Harry went back up the rockpile to see the change in the lake as the sun was coming up more.

8:52am – the sun-caps on the mountains were growing

We got our hot drinks and wandered round the gift shop which warmed us both up a bit.

We then went back up the rockpile AGAIN to see further change to the lake.

10:08 – the sun was almost over the mountains onto the lake!

At 10:47 we could see that the sun was finally over the mountain and onto the lake so we went BACK UP the rockpile and wow it looked so different! The lake had gone from a deep turquoise to a deep blue and the trees so green and almost golden in the sun…

The sun warmed us up a lot, it was so lovely. We then decided to do the shoreline walk which was just a few kms around the shoreline to the other end of the lake.

A view looking back at the rockpile (on the left) with the sun poking it’s head up above the mountains

More photos walking round the shoreline…

Once we got to the other end of the walk, we sat on a log and took in the scenery with a sweet treat snack that we had picked up from the breakfast buffet that morning!

We walked back along the shoreline to where we started and went back up the rockpile one more time to see how the lakes looked now in full sun.

12:33 – the lake now looking bright turquoise!

We then got the bus back down to Lake Louise town and picked up something quick for lunch. We then drove to the park and ride car park for the Lake Louise shuttle. We queued up and got the shuttle bus to Lake Louise (the lake) at about 3pm, which was only about 10-15 minutes. We planned to do the Little Beehive hike, which was 10km roundtrip taking the long route up to see a couple of other little lakes on the way. So we set off – here are a few piccies of the views on our way up…

We passed mirror lake on our way up, but the sun had gone behind the mountain so it didn’t look its usual mirror like.

We then got to Lake Agnes which had a cute wood cabin teahouse at it. We sat and had a lemonade at the lake which we bought from the teahouse.

We continued on and made it to the top of Little Beehive (named because of the shape of the mountain). Despite not being able to actually find the proper viewpoint, it was still a great view of Lake Louise from up there.

You can just about see the huge (and fancy) Fairmont hotel at the very left end of the lake in this photo… One day!

We then turned around and started our descent back down. Once we got to the bottom, lake Louise was looking lovely at golden hour.

We then got the shuttle bus back down to the car park and got in the car to drive to Banff where we had booked somewhere for dinner.

As usual the drive was beautiful, being surrounded by golden capped mountains as the sun went down.

45 minutes later we arrived in Banff!

We found somewhere to park, quickly changed out of our hiking clothes and into some normal clothes in the car and walked to the Three Bears Brewery and Restaurant that we had booked after being recommended it. It was busy and had a great buzz, with a guy doing live music (singing and playing guitar). As it was a brewery, we had to try one of their flights.

Harry gave the fruity ones he didn’t like to me and he drank the ‘proper beers’ as he called them

We were both hungry after our long day so ordered the burger and chips which seemed to be their speciality. It was delicious but massive!

We ate as much as we could and then paid and headed back to the car. When we went outside there were people aiming their phones up at the sky taking photos. It was such a clear night, the northern lights had made an appearance! They were very faint though, you could only really just see them through your camera and even then I couldn’t get a great photo.