Met up with CO and Carbon for a day hike in the Lake Louise. Really not that far from our house (a couple hours) but rarely think of planning short trips to this area. Seems hard to bypass other areas that are closer by but in reality Yoho and the Lake are not that much further.
We started with the ever popular Larch Valley/Sentinel Pass trail. Didn't seem that busy in the morning but certainly lots of traffic on the way down. Climb up went very fast but good conversation catching up with CO and Carbon likely had something to do with that. Continued down the other side (which was a little sketchy from the refrozen recent snow) into Paradise Valley. The larches had mostly dropped their needles but still scenic fall colours. In some spots the trail was carpeted with golden needles.
The next part of our route took us up Wastach Pass. No trail up this valley although a common loop that is done. Easy route finding and travel up this valley lead us to the pass above Wenkechema Lake. The beauty of the backcountry - even in a very busy spot like Lake Moraine - is that leaving the beaten path very quickly brings you solitude as we saw no one for a couple hours. Finished with a short jog on the Wenkechema Pass trail back to the parking lot to finish the loop.
Almost forgot to mention the party hats we all wore in honour of my birthday tomorrow. Seemed to be a big hit on the trail and I was impressed that everyone left them on for the entire hike (as you can see in the pictures).
Heading up to Sentinel Pass. Fresh snow from a few days ago on Mt Temple.
The sentinels that Sentinel Pass is named for.
Descending to Paradise Valley
Needle covered trails…
Wastach Pass
Down the other side.