Evan Hunter's Round The World Diary

Monday, May 30, 2005

Banff - R&R

Sore tired and a little sick, rested in parks after d#$&heads came back to room at 3am and kept me awake for a couple of hours.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Banff to Lake Louise

Weather not very good - raining on and off all day

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Plain of Six Glaciers - Lake Louise

The other man in my room snored last night - just what I didn't need - I was kept awake for at least an hour or two in the middle of the night.
After breakfast, I packed my gear for a day hike, and went down to the information centre, to ask about day hikes, and conditions. The said that anything above the valley floors would be snowbound. I decided to go up to the Plain of Six Glaciers. (I should have not taken their advice - I later found out that another man there had no problem getting to sentinel pass)
The shuttle bus from the village to the lake was not running. I could have taken a taxi for only $4, but decided to walk the 3.5km along trails to the lake. I found that the trails actually followed the road and powerlines to the lake.
When I reached the lake, I found that it was a beautiful almost surreal opaque blue green colour, and was surrounded by massive rocky jagged peaks, covered with snow and serracs. I also saw that there was a large number of tourists milling around the shore near where the huge, ugly-modern, monstrosity of a hotel "Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise" was located. (How anyone could even consider building something like that in that location is quite amazing)
I took a few photos, then set off toward the Plain of six glaciers to get away from the hordes of tourists. The trail initially went along the shore of the lake, where there were still quite a lot of tourists. After 2km, I reached the far end of the lake. At this point the clouds which were low over the mountains, engulfing the peaks, started dropping a light rain.
I continued on as the track now climbed up the glacial valley. Soon I came out above the tree line,and from here the views were excellent despite the cloud. The track crossed several patches of snow, which had well compacted trails across them. After much climbing, I reached the tea house, I continued on, and soon the alpine plants disappeared, and I was walking on a big moraine above the Plain of Six Glaciers. I followed the moraine up as far as possible, and from the top end, there were amazing views of glaciers all around oozing down the valleys between the jagged rocky peaks. On top of many of the peaks were big seracs hanging over the edges of cliffs. Unfortunately I couldn't see the tops of the peaks as the cloud was still engulfing them. It was quite cold there, and after taking some pictures and having a quick lunch, I started back down.

I decided to try to go up to the big beehive mountain, so took the high track toward it on the way back. There were larger, less compacted snow drifts here, but it was still fairly easy going. The trail plunged back into the trees, and went up in a series of switchbacks. there were occasional patches of ice on the trail, but when I eventually reached the ridgeline of the big beehive, I found there was quite a lot of snow there. It wasn't too bad though, as it was fairly easy to rockhop around the worst of the snow patches. I walked along the ridgeline to the Big Behive lookout, where there were excellent views of the lake far below. The people in canoes on it looked like ants.
Descending down the other side of the big beehive, I found there was a lot of snow. It was especially deep on the track since the track had been benched (cut into the hill) in a series of switchbacks. I had to be quite careful not to slip down the hill. At the bottom of the slope was Lake Agnes, which I could see was still mostly frozen. Nearing the lake, the trail went around the upstream end of the lake, and crossed a huge area of snow. I was quite surprised to find that some asian-american tourists were going the other way with just regular running shoes. My feet were getting a bit wet even with gaiters on. I reached the tea house at Lake Agnes, and continued on down the mountain on a boring trail leading through thick forest. I did however see Mirror Lake, and soaring above it, the big beehive. By this time, I was getting pretty tired. Eventually I reached the Chateau and car park again.
I continued walking back down to Lake Louise Village, and the Hostel, where I relaxed, exhausted, cooked dinner,then went to bed.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Lake Louise to Banff

Bought Gloves...

Friday, June 03, 2005

Banff to Colombia Icefield

Stayed at the Colombia Icefield Campsite

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