My Excursions in Canada: Plain of Six Glaciers Trek

Lake Louise offers pristine and serene environs to its visitors not only around itself but also in the vicinity in the form of numerous serendipitous treks, trails and hikes. I had earlier, in 2010, done one of the trails upto Lake Agnes. Yet this time it was to come again and in bigger proportion. It had been quite a few days we had ventured out for a trip. Jul the 5th was Friday and starting of the Stampede festival in Calgary. The event commences with the Stampede Parade. While we were elated at watching this marvel of a parade, our hearts were kind of dampened with the last of the troupes marching out of town. At this we all unanimously voted in favour of having a trip. This time it was to be a trek, a trek to the lakes above Lake Louise.

Lake Louise - The mountain at the far end is 6 KM from the other end of the lake

Lake Louise is around 180 KM from Calgary and after a 2 and half hour drive, our car that happened to be a Ford Fiesta was parked in the upper parking lot of the Lake. We began the trek from the base at about 1200 hours. There are quite a few trails that begin at the bottom -

a. Lake Agnes/Beehives

b. Plane of Six Glaciers
c. Highline Trail
d. Saddleback Trail

Of these, the third one does not really begin at the bottom, but is a further branch after you complete the Big Beehive. We did the first three among the above listed. The weather was towards the chillier side - slight drizzles with a temperature of 10°C. We had our umbrellas ready - my intention of using one was protecting my SLR and not myself. On greater heights there were bouts of hail as well.

Trying to gather some history

A felled conifer on the way up

The way up to Mirror Lake is generally covered with a thick cover of forest, however there is a spot in between, where there is clearing enough to be able to catch a good glimpse of Lake Louise below. It is amusing to see how the water viewed from different angles can impart different colours to the lake. It is a property that is imparted to the water by the sediments carried by the glacial waters into the lake which reflect light differently at differing angles.

A glimpse of Lake Louise while on the way up

Got some hail on the way

It is a good solid 2.6 KM up to Mirror Lake from the start of the trail. You could add another 600 metres if you counted the distance from the upper parking lots.

Mirror Lake

The top featuring the Big Beehive

The journey starts getting interesting here. The splendour of this little lake energizes you with a zeal to go even further. The climb ahead to Lake Agnes is another 0.8 KM but a substantial gain in elevation from here.

Large conifers doting the slopes

Water release from Lake Agnes

The last few steps to the Tea House

The Tea House - the highest in Canada

A few more minutes and we were elevated to Lake Agnes and the highest Tea House in Canada. It was quite chilly at this elevation - a gain of 350 metres from the surface of Lake Louise. We had to pay a visit to the tea house here. This is the highest tea house in Canada and built long ago. The folks servicing this place stay here in summers and the yearly supplies are brought up once in a year.

Empty benches - the rain says it all

Lake Agnes from the Tea House

Tea time

Bidding adieu to the Tea House

We secured a place on the outside deck while we ordered a flask of Maple Tea which we all very much enjoyed. The environment was just perfect and the cup of tea added to the tingle. We shifted inside after a bit as it was chillier outside. We spent a good 45 minutes before beginning the next leg of our journey.

Lake Agnes changing colour with the advent of some sunlight

The Tea House seen as we advance towards the Big Beehive

Shades of green

Towards the Big Beehive

It must have been past 3 and the hunger element had begun to kick in. So we had to open up our snack packets enroute and take in as many calories as we could at the moment. We took care not to drop any particles to attract the attention of bears. One has to go around the other end of the lake a complete 270 degrees to start the ascent to the Big Beehive. During my past visit here in 2010, we had ended the journey at the point where the ascent begins. This time I was excited to make it further ahead.

Another 150 metres above the Agnes

Further glimpses from the twining ascent to Beehive

Once you reach the top it is pretty much flat but broken with stone faces and big conifer roots. Finally you reach the precipice. This is it - it is called the Big Beehive. You would have gained an elevation of at least 600 metres from the surface of Lake Louise by the time you are here. The Beehive is marked by a dead drop to the land below, which is at the level of Lake Louise. There is nothing stopping the fall from here until the base. It can get scary if you venture too near to the precipice.

The lookout atop the summit - Big Beehive

Twin rainbows; Lake Louise about 600 m below

Chateau Lake Louise from the heights of the Beehive

We were glad at what we did next. There is a path that goes steeply downhill from the front face of the Beehive. This leads to one of the most beautiful sights - viewing all three lakes from approximately the same place. You are at such height that the line of sight is almost perpendicular down to the plane of all lakes. Well in reality the lakes are separated by at least 170 meters each vertically.

Mirror Lake (left) and Lake Louise

Lake Agnes

Phew!!

We spent considerable time on the summit. At one time we were all crouched up on the edge of the precipice and two feet ahead of us lay the colossal fall. At first it was all covered with clouds and fog and looked less frightening, but the truth was revealed once the clouds swept away. Nevertheless it was very beautiful and we made the most of our time there.

The rugged way down

And we chose the Highline Trail

The plan thereafter was to descend down the other side of the Beehive using a steeper trail - the Highline trail, and get back to Lake Louise. It was a much denser forest cover and uncouth trail on this side. Fairly down the descent, or so we thought, we came across a split in the trail. One end led to Lake Louise via Mirror Lake and the other took us further down the Highline Trail to Lake Louise. I was able to convince the folks to take the longer one (3.9 KM vs 5.3 KM). Also we wanted to see the Plain of Six Glaciers, which we assumed would be on the Highline Trail, which we later discovered was quite offset from this trail.

They were once full of snow and ice in summers

One of the many glaciers

The melt - this gets into Lake Louise

Further down the trail there was another route that led to Lake Louise and yet again I convinced the group to make it to the Plain of Six Glaciers. We came across a few more such forks and each time we kept taking the longer one. There were quite a few animals in this part of the trek. We saw numerous Prairie Dogs and one of us also managed to scare us by coming suddenly in front of us. The sight of trekkers on this side of the trail is very rare.

Lake Louise and the Chateau - about 5 km down

We had trekked enough and long and that was still not stopping us. We wanted to be at the Plain of Six Glaciers. But the climb was getting too treacherous for us and the clock was ticking by fast. So we made it to the second Tea House and decided to take a break and get back for good. It was 8 PM and the final destination was still about 1.6 KM from there but that would mean adding a few more hours in these mountain conditions.

The second Tea House

Facilities for the Tea House Crew

We were in the remote. Far away from civilization. and all the while we sat in the tea house, the only thought that was coming to my mind was 'What would these crew do if a Sasquatch were to appear'. We were keen to continue our journey to the summit but it was past 8 PM and we had another 6.5 KM to trek back. On the way back we had many more glimpses of serene nature.