After flying to Spokane, Washington and driving for nearly nine hours, Dan and I arrived at the first stop of our trip: Lake Louise. It was around 11:00 PM and there was still plenty of light to see this gorgeous view from the window of our hotel room.

In Spokane Dan and I rented a car to travel between our various honeymoon stops. When the desk agent told us we had a new Chevy HHR our indifferent shrugs clearly indicated we didn’t share his excitement since we didn’t know we would be touring the Canadian Rockies in a cherry-red, wannabe PT Cruiser. Our adventures began during our drive north. As we entered the Canadian national parks we were confronted by two big horn sheep marching down the road toward our car. This was our first sight of interesting wildlife. We already saw some deer.

We chose the trip to Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies after suggestions from my parents who traveled in this region for their own honeymoon 40 years earlier (nearly to the day). They have visited a few times since and my sister and I went once when I was five years old.

Running north-south along the rim of the Rockies is the Continental Divide. Water on the west side of the divide flows into the Pacific Ocean and water on the East eventually flows to the Atlantic Ocean. On the road into Lake Louise stands a monument marking the divide. My parents sat here on their honeymoon so we had to get our shot as well.

There are many opportunities to hike at Lake Louise. For our first excursion was to hike along the lake to the teahouse that I remembered visiting as a child. I remem-bered that it was a long hike, but it probably only seemed long because I was five, right? So we set out at noon not realizing we would be returning until after 5:00 PM.

The aquamarine lake is very peaceful, almost to the point of eerie. No ducks, no birds, no insects. Plenty of chipmunks, though. The wide path wanders from the hotel at the front of the lake around to the back where it is fed by streams coming from the Victoria Glacier on Mt. Victoria. Unbeknownst to us when we started, we were heading toward an up close view of those mountains in the distance. As we walked, the number of tourists lessened. At some point we also noticed that fewer and fewer walkers were in tennis shoes like us. Most had hiking boots and professional walking sticks. This did not deter us. As the path wound around we could usually only see several meters ahead and it all appeared quite doable . . .

. . . even when we encountered snow . . . on the first day of our summer honeymoon!

Eventually we made it to the Plain of Six Glaciers teahouse but decided to continue on to the Abbot Pass viewpoint. We had come this far, so we figured we might as well continue on. Can you see the hotel at the far end of the lake? We walked a total of 7.1 km (4.4 miles) with an elevation gain of 1380 feet (7050 ft. above sea level) when we turned around to head back. On the way down we stopped at the teahouse for a snack break.

	Fortunately, the walk down was much easier than the climb. Although, we certainly had sore muscles the next day from both directions.   While driving to the Lake Louise village we saw our first glimpse of elk as they walked along a river.

Lake Louise is so beautiful and photogenic. We took many pictures of this scenic spot.

One morning we decided to opt in to the hotel’s “sunrise wake up” service. They were supposed to automatically cancel the request if it was a cloudy morning, but they did not. The jolt of the phone call left us wide awake and we decided to grab a quick breakfast and head out early for the hike we had planned to do that day. So, we set out at 6:00 AM for nearby Mirror Lake and Lake Agnes. 

The path for this walk had a steady incline that never seemed to let up. This morning was rather cold and we were not quite prepared, especially when it started hailing tiny balls of ice. We continued on and the hail eventually let up. It was very peaceful and private hiking this trail so early in the morning. We did not meet another person until walking back down.

Along the way we stopped at Mirror Lake, but it was more like Mirror Puddle. Can you see Dan in the picture on the left? That’s most of the lake. Above is the Big Beehive, a popular spot for hikers more experienced and more prepared than us. From trail signs we discovered there was a Little Beehive and we made that our goal.

The scenery didn’t change as frequently as it did on our other hike, but there were viewpoints through breaks in the trees. Can you see the hotel in the picture with Lake Louise and Mirror Lake? Our total elevation change on this hike was 1680 ft.

At the top of Little Beehive there were informational signs that identified the mountains in the view. Before we knew what they said, Dan wrote a message in the hail that covered the flat planes.

Lake Agnes is a charming lake between Mirror Lake and the Little Beehive. It has a teahouse and we were there so early it was not open yet. On our way down we were the first and only customers for some coffee cake and tea. The front of Lake Agnes streams under a bridge connected to the teahouse and over a cliff into a long waterfall.

Later that evening we took advantage of another great photo opportunity of the lake and Mt. Victoria since it was clear enough to see the top.

Our last morning at Lake Louise we happened to wake up around 5:30 AM. Peeking out the window, we had the immense pleasure of seeing the gorgeous sunrise we had hoped to see the day before. We quickly went outside to enjoy the moment.

Continue to Lake Louise Vicinity