Rockies the Second

Upon arriving at Yoho National Park, we actually wanted to see the Takakkaw Falls, the second highest waterfalls in Canada at 254 meters. But unfortunately, the road to the falls was closed due to avalanches. However, the closure notice was not given at the beginning of the road, but rather a whole way further shortly after another attraction, a confluence of two rivers. Due to this fact, one car after another drove along this road and into the closure. Remarkably, a considerable number of tourists apparently did not want to be deterred by the warning sign, but only stopped at the barrier behind it - which, by the way, could be seen well from the warning sign. Since we were already there, we also took a look at the confluence of the two rivers before continuing to Banff National Park.

During this time, Moraine Lake was our first destination. Like almost all lakes in the Rockies, Moraine Lake greeted us in an intense turquoise color. Framed by still snowy mountains, the lake offered a fantastic view. To see a bit more of nature, we took the Eiffel Lake Trail, which initially led us through lush green forests and later through several old avalanche cones. Cold not only came from below, but also from above, because it actually started to snow, even before we reached Eiffel Lake, which was partly covered with ice. The snow even persisted until shortly before Moraine Lake on the way back. Along the way, we met three nice Germans with whom we exchanged our experiences. We spent the night at a campsite in the town of Lake Louise, where we were supposed to stay the following night as well.

The next morning, we made our way to the tourist information center in Lake Louise to take the free shuttle bus to Lake Louise - by the way, the bus was an older North American school bus. Upon arrival at the lake, we were literally immersed in the multitude of tourists (even more than at Moraine Lake), especially Asians. With its beautiful location, i.e. with a view of several glaciers, and with the huge Fairmont Château Lake Louise hotel complex, the lake is a popular excursion destination. To escape the crowds a bit, you had to walk beyond the length of the lakeshore path. So we took the 6.5 km long Plain of Six Glaciers Trail, which was also very crowded. This trail also led through green at the beginning and later over old avalanche cones, always offering a view of the great mountains with the glaciers or the turquoise lake with the Fairmont hotel. If you continued about 1.5 km from the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse, you got very close to the glacier-covered mountains and could enjoy the beautiful view even better. We took the Lake Agnes Trail on the way back, although we did cut it short at Mirror Lake. After that, we took the shuttle back to the tourist information center and then to our campsite.