Because of our extra day in Assiniboine, we had one day left to see two of the most iconic lakes in North America, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. You've probably seen pictures of them and not even realized it--they are in screensavers and stock photos all over. I wasn't able to duplicate the great shots from so many pro photographers, but we did get a great hike in up to the Plain of the Six Glaciers overlooking Louise.
The downside of the ubiquity of these two lakes is the throngs of people that flock to them. There's a huge Fairmont hotel on the shores of Louise, so after an hour on the promenade in front of the hotel, we retired for the night to get an early start the next day.
Holding hands!
We started out for Moraine Lake well before dawn, and had first light to ourselves on the lake shore.
First light over Moraine Lake
Colors just starting to show
We make it to the trailhead by the Fairmont just as the sun was coming up over the mountains. We beat the rush and had the first part of the trail to ourselves. We stopped for chai lattes at a tea hut 2/3 of the way up, with views of the peaks and glaciers beyond.
Mt. Lefroy and Mt. Victoria guarding Abbot Pass
The Mitre in the background
Sarah taking in the glacier leading up to Abbot Pass
"The Death Trap" at the head of Victoria Glacier
And yes, that's a climbing hut at the pass
Looking back down the trail to what used to be covered by glacier
We started encountering the crowds on the way back down, and hit the road to get back to Calgary. We stopped of in Canmore again to stuff our faces at a poutine restaurant! It was great to see these beautiful lakes and glaciers, but if you have limited time, skip this area and concentrate around Canmore and Jasper. Still, it was a great conclusion to an epic Sarah and Dan camping trip!