Day 5 - Moraine Lake/ Lake Louise

Our day started today at 02:30 AM. Our goal for today: Moraine Lake. Months ago we booked two tickets for the Alpine Shuttle Bus for this day. This year for the first time, it would leave at sunrise to the lake. So, eyes closed and let’s go. We left the campground, hoping not to wake any of our neighbors and made our way.

At 5 AM the shuttle departed. Arriving, armed with a flashlight, we headed towards the Rockpile Trail - the viewpoint with the best view of the lake. We found a spot on the well-visited lookout platform and waited for the sunrise. Unfortunately, the coming clouds prevented the reddish-golden hue of the mountains, yet the light was breathtakingly beautiful and getting up early was worth it.

Afterward, we hiked along the lake on the Moraine Lake Shoreline Trail (about 3.7 km) and enjoyed the peace. Slowly the paths at Moraine Lake began to fill up.

So we took the shuttle bus back to Lake Louise. Also a great lake with wonderful trails. We decided to hike to the Lake Agnes Tea House via the Lake Agnes Trail (7.4 km and 384 meters of elevation). The name lives up to its promise, at the 'Tea House' there was indeed mainly tea ;-) We treated ourselves to a lemonade (it was simply way too warm for tea) and 2 'Mountain Bars' (Cookie meets Granola Bar) and sat down on a bench. We rested for a bit until we suddenly noticed that we weren’t alone on the bench. A little squirrel had joined us and cheekily wanted to take a peek into my cup :-D. We are just complete animal lovers ;-).

Around noon we made our way to the Icefield Parkway to our next campground - Silverhorn Creek. Just in time, a thunderstorm was brewing around us. But we wanted to lie down anyway since we were still lacking sleep. Later, the campground was bathed in blue sky and gifted us with an incredible sunset. What a wonderful spot!