From Lake Louise ~ to Lake Agnes Teahouse~ to the Big Beehive and down

September 2, 2012

Last night Sarah and I decided that on Sunday we would go for a hike, however we didn’t know where. So after dinner we got home and began doing research on which place we wanted to go and at first we were thinking of going to Waterton National Park but decided that it was too far away for a day trip, so instead we decided to head to Lake Louise and hike up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse while James and Gramma stayed behind in Calgary with Brooke and Hailey.

Our journey began around  0830am shortly after stopping at Timmy Ho’s and heading outside of Calgary via Crowchild. We had to keep it to the speed limit which was about 90km/h due to having to drive through the park and the fact that it is a long weekend and the police were out, so we took our time getting there.

Once arriving at Lake Louise Village we headed straight for the Chateau Lake Louise to park the car and head out. Once the car was parked we looked up to whereabouts we’d be heading and the clouds did not look to be in our favour and the fact that we could see our breath did not help the fact that we were not dressed if it decided to snow on us. We gathered our stuff and headed up the trail, right away we ran into the large number of tourists that were surrounding the Chateau looking over Lake Louise so Sarah and I decided to avoid that crowd and make our way up the trail towards the Teahouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first bit of the hike was more than expected it was straight up! Sarah and I took our time walking up the hill because it was so steep but once we got into a good hiking motion we were breaking a sweat. We made it to the first and only switch back on the trail and it was there we had our first water break; the view from this point was beautiful we could look down at Lake Louise and see the people in canoes in the lake which looked like small ants.

 After stopping for a few moments we continued on our way and made our way to the junction at Mirror Lake. From there we were given direction by a gentleman of a way that we could avoid the enormous crowd that was forming heading up to the Teahouse, he suggested we take the trail leading towards Plain Glaciers but take a right at the sign heading up the opposite side of the Teahouse. This way was quicker and more enjoyable because we didn’t have to deal with all the people and we were able to enjoy lunch sitting on the rocks looking over the mountains.

 

 

 

Our stop for lunch

 

 

Video view of our lunch spot...

 

 

After all the hiking we did I still think having to walk up these stairs were the worst part!

 

Climbing the stairs

 

 

 We finally made it to Lake Agnes Teahouse and there was a lot of people there but it was overcome with how beautiful it was. We took a few pictures had a quick snack and decided to walk around Lake Anges rather than waiting in the lineup to have a cup of tea. Once we had taken a few photos Sarah kept asking me if I wanted to hike up Big Beehive…it’s a giant mountain that looks like giant beehive.  I was hesitant at first because it looked like a long way up with numerous switchbacks and with the wind picking up I thought it would have been cold. So I gave in and decided why not let’s try it out, worse came to worse we would turn around and head back down.

 

 

 Holding on because of the strong winds..

 

 

 

 

So we started up the mountain taking it once switchback at a time, all in all there were 8 switchbacks but the terrain wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would’ve been. We paced ourselves and finally made it to the top where the view was spectacular. 

Heading up the Big Beehive..

 

 We spent a few minutes up there enjoying the view and having a water break before heading back down the way we came.

 

View of Fairview Mountain.. &   The hut at the Big Beehive summit                                

View from Big Beehive

 

Our trip back down was quick and almost painless it was harder on the knees coming down.  We stopped again at the teahouse to take a few more pictures before heading down the overcrowded trail heading back down to Lake Louise. 

 

 Once we arrived back at the Chateau we were able to see the end of a flashmob that was dancing to Backstreet Boys ‘I want it that Away.’ It was my first flashmob and was pretty cool to see, had we gotten down there sooner we could’ve have seen the whole thing but that is the joys of a flashmob they are spur of the moment.

From there we headed back to Calgary, a successful fun day of hiking. Definitely not a bad way to spend a Sunday on a long weekend.

Looking down Lake Louise!