It felt like we were in a landscape painted by one of the great artists. This is a sight very few would ever see as we came here by mistake. We wanted to hike to one of the famous tea houses by Lake Louise but the parking lot was full, so I quickly got on my phone and found the closest 'trail', Pipestone Loop.
It's remarkable how empty these beautiful fields and ponds are, we saw no one else all day. There was one car in the parking lot that gave access to an area over 10 km2 and it was likely staff. Nonetheless, I'm glad we didn't was our time, Lake Louise is almost a two hour drive from Calgary.
The lakes or ponds drastically change size depending on the season. The fields were wet, it was not the best loop trail. This would explain the lack of crowds.
Mt. Temple, Mt. Richardson, Waputik Peak, Mount Saint Piran, Mt. Bosworth, I don't know maybe Mt Hector. We were surrounded by mountains, Lake Louise is the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Banff National park.
If you look closely you can see the chair lifts going up Whitehorn Mountain, I know that one. The parking lot for the ski hill is on the other side of a stream and it's further than it looks. It is still a popular place in the summer and is overflow to go to Lake Louise or Moraine lake, you can take a shuttle bus from there if you like crowds.
A beautiful untouched mountain stream, fed by glaciers. It meets the Bow River in the village of Lake Louise. The trail from the parking lot to here was great, but then it all went downhill.
If it weren't a park, this would be perfect farmland, it was almost a swamp. The little streams must have changed course dozens of times.
This is the turn off from the road. You can see the trail sign - while half of it is good for hiking, the other half of the loop is more suitable for cross-country skiing. If you wish to hike here, bring waterproof boots.
A little bridge closer to the river where the meadows drained into the stream.
The second half of the trail was poorly marked. You had to search for signs, there was no path and a quite a bit of water. GPS helped.
Beautiful brooks crisscrossed the trails.
Grouse, partridges and ptarmigans, pheasants, I'm no expert, but they were all over the place.
There were a few different types here and they would be easy to catch.
These are beautiful birds living in stunning scenery. Thanks for viewing.
All photos taken with an s22 or iphone 13 pro