Canada Day 13 (1) - Hiking at Lake Louise - Mirror Lake

Hard to believe, we have been here for 2 weeks now and this was our first real hiking day. We have been walking a lot and doing some hiking, but always on relatively short distances. Today was supposed to change that, as we planned a route of about 18 km around Lake Louise. Well, it ended up being a bit less, as we had to take some shortcuts due to time constraints, but we were definitely on the go all day.

However, when we arrived at Lake Louise, we were not thrilled at all. The parking lot was completely full and when we reached the lake, it felt like we were in Little China. We were already confronted with masses of Asian tourists, but the crowds at the lake were on a different level. There were only Asians here, storming the lake with their selfie sticks.

Fortunately, when we started our hike, we left the Asian tourists behind, but the trail was still not quiet. Although the Asians stayed at the front by the lake and didn't move, as they probably had to get back on their tour buses soon, it felt like everyone else here was here to hike. We forgot our bear bell, but it wasn't really necessary anyway. Our trail started towards Mirror Lake, 2.6 km away. It may not sound like much, but those two and a half kilometers were all uphill. It got quite tiring at some point. And somehow, the hiking spirit didn't really kick in. We had some nice views every now and then as we climbed higher, but they were only half as beautiful with hundreds of other people around.

After a while, we reached Mirror Lake, which lived up to its name. The water was simply beautiful and reflected the trees and mountains behind it. As beautiful as the lake was, it was not empty either. Of course, all the hikers had the same destination. This was not how I imagined a day of hiking in nature, but I guess you have to hike off the beaten trails to find some peace and quiet.

And this continued on our way to Lake Agnes...