Day 9 - Saturday (7/30)

On Saturday we headed up to the Lake Louise area. Our campground was located outside of Banff and about a third the way to Lake Louise. It’s about a 50 mile drive between Banff and Lake Louise so we had about a 30 minute drive there. Lake Louise is one of the most photographed spots in Canada it was easy to tell why. There were hordes of people there. We were able get there early enough to get a parking spot but the lot definitely filled up on this holiday weekend. Our hike for the day was a long one. We would hike to the of the lake and up the valley to the Plan of Six Glaciers. Near the end of the hike is famous swiss tea house. About 90% of the people don’t hike past the end of the lake. We completed the hike to the tea house, got some snacks and ate our lunch. We also did the hike to the Abbot Pass Viewpoint. The view of the six glaciers was spectacular and we even got to see and hear the thunderous like ‘crack’ of an avalanche of ice breaking off a glacier. This was a very long hike. We descended from the mountain about mid-afternoon. We next visited Moraine Lake, just a short drive from Lake Louise. This another picture perfect spot with great views of the lake, glaciers and peaks. We ate dinner at the lake and did a bit of hiking around the lake area. We then headed home for the night.