Canadian Rockies – Page 13 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

On the morning of 7-22-13, the 13th day of Lupe’s 2013 Dingo Vacation, Lupe and SPHP explored the trail up Paradise Valley in Banff National Park to Lake Annette and the Giant Steps. The Paradise Valley trailhead is 2.5 km south along the road to Moraine Lake from the road to Lake Louise from Lake Louise Village. At the trailhead, Lupe and SPHP met and were joined by a couple from Maryland who both work for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They were Nema (mechanical engineer) and Danielle (international relations). Nema and Danielle both had the same objectives in mind.

The first part of the trip the trail climbed through a forest with no views. However, fairly early on, there was a moose wandering through the forest, which was pretty cool. Eventually the trail started coming to stream crossings over Paradise Creek. Fortunately there were good wooden bridges. At the Paradise Creek crossings, the views opened up somewhat. Unfortunately, the day was overcast, with sprinkles of rain now and then. The views weren’t what they might have been under better conditions.

Lupe reached Lake Annette 6.7 km from the Paradise Creek trailhead. Lake Annette was a very pretty turquoise blue-green color. It is nestled at the base of Mt. Temple (11,614 ft.), the highest mountain in the Lake Louise vicinity.

Lupe and Danielle at Lake Annette in Paradise Valley.

Mt. Temple from Lake Annette. — Looking S across Lake Annette at Mt. Temple.

Mosquitoes at Lake Annette encouraged Lupe and everyone else to keep moving right along. The trail went back into the forest for a while, but eventually leveled out and came to an open area of loose rocks. It was really a shame the sky wasn’t clear, because from here there would have been some great views of Paradise Valley and Mt. Hungabee (11,450 ft.) at the head of the valley with remnants of the Horseshoe glacier at its base.

Nema and Danielle in the open rocky area on the Paradise Valley trail. Mt. Hungabee (11,450 ft.) with remnants of the Horseshoe glacier is at the head of the valley (just L of center).

Paradise Valley. The Giant Steps are visible toward the lower left. — Paradise Valley. The Giant Steps area on Paradise Creek is visible toward the lower left.

The trail went back into the forest and soon reached a junction 2.6 km beyond Lake Annette. One way the trail went 2.4 km up to Sentinel Pass. On the other side of Sentinel Pass it continued on to Moraine Lake and the Valley of Tens Peaks. (SPHP suddenly realized that it would have been a lot more fun if one of the vehicles had been left at Moraine Lake, so Lupe and her new friends could have continued on over Sentinel Pass after visiting the Giant Steps. Everyone agreed this would have been the thing to do.)

Lupe and the rest of the group took the other branch of the trail that led 1.5 km down into Paradise Valley to the Giant Steps. There was a campground near the Giant Steps, but it was closed due to frequent grizzly bear activity.

Lupe reaches the Giant Steps on Paradise Creek.

Danielle and Nema on Paradise Creek. Sentinel Pass is visible beyond the forest behind them. — Danielle and Nema on Paradise Creek. Sentinel Pass gap in the mountains is visible beyond the forest behind them.

SPHP was disappointed that there wasn’t any trail continuing upstream from the Giant Steps towards Mt. Hungabee and the remnants of the Horseshoe glacier.

Since SPHP hadn’t realized at the beginning that it would have been better to have one of the vehicles at parked at Moraine Lake so a trip over Sentinel Pass would have made sense, once Lupe was done at the Giant Steps her entire party had to retrace the whole 10+ km route back past Lake Annette all the way to the Paradise Creek trailhead. The return trip was uneventful, except that Nema saw a black bear. Lupe, Danielle and SPHP never saw it, although SPHP did briefly hear something crashing through the forest.

Danielle at the Giant Steps with Mt. Temple in the background.

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Lupe arrived in Canada for the very first time on the morning of July 20, 2013. By afternoon she was in Banff in the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Lupe and SPHP toured Banff the rest of the day and all morning on the 21st, but by afternoon it was time to leave the crowds behind. Lupe and SPHP left Banff heading W in the G6 on Trans-Canada Hwy No. 1.

SPHP intended to take Lupe to Sunshine Meadows, which isn’t far from Banff. From Sunshine Meadows, Lupe and SPHP could take the trail up over Healy Pass to explore the Egypt Lake area. SPHP left Hwy 1 intending to head up to Sunshine Meadows, but almost immediately found out that the road was closed for construction. Heavy rains in June, 2013 had flooded and damaged the road.

Lupe and SPHP wound up driving on to Lake Louise, arriving a bit after 3:00 PM. It was a bad time to arrive. All the parking lots were full and cars were parked alongside the road for a great distance. Lupe is a lucky dingo though, and SPHP soon found a parking place in the upper parking lot near the lake.

Lake Louise was gorgeous and busy. Most of the crowds were at the NE end of the lake near the Chateau Lake Louise and the boathouse where they rent out canoes. There was still time for Lupe and SPHP to make the round trip hike up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail beyond Lake Louise and back. Lupe and SPHP set off on the Lakeshore trail. The Lakeshore trail goes a little over 2 km right along the NW shore of Lake Louise heading SW with little or no elevation gain.

Lupe first reached Lake Louise near the boathouse where they rent out canoes.

Lupe near the start of the Lakeshore Trail at Lake Louise 7-21-13 — Lupe at Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada 7-21-13

Mount Victoria (11,375 ft.) from Lake Louise. — **Mount Victoria** **(11,375 ft.)** from Lake Louise. The Plain of Six Glaciers trail would take Lupe up to the base of Mount Victoria just to the right of the lowest big patch of snow.

Lupe checks out the grounds at the Chateau Lake Louise. Like the Banff Springs Hotel, the Chateau Lake Louise was originally a Canadian Pacific Railroad Hotel. — Lupe checks out the grounds at the Chateau Lake Louise. Like the Banff Springs Hotel, the Chateau Lake Louise was originally a Canadian Pacific Railroad hotel.

Lupe continued beyond Lake Louise on the Plain of Six Glaciers trail, which soon starts climbing as it continues up the valley towards Mt. Victoria. A few km on the Plain of Six Glaciers trail brought Lupe to the Plain of Six Glaciers teahouse. Lupe just isn’t that big on tea or coffee, although she probably would have gone for some cookies or chocolate cake if SPHP had mentioned that the teahouse had those delicacies as well.

A look back at Chateau Lake Louise from along the Lakeshore Trail. — A look back at Chateau Lake Louise from along the Lakeshore trail.

The Plain of Six Glaciers trail on the way to the teahouse.

From the Plain of Six Glaciers teahouse, it was another 1.3 km to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail at the base of Mt. Victoria. Lupe and SPHP continued on to the very end of the trail.

Lupe at the start of the last 1.3 km section of trail going onward to the base of Mount Victoria from near the teahouse. — Lupe at the start of the last 1.3 km section of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail going to the base of Mount Victoria from near the teahouse.

Mt. Lefroy (R) and The Mitre (center) from the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail. Philip Stanley Abbot fell to his death from near the top of Mount Lefroy on 8-3-1896. News of the tragedy inspired great interest in mountain climbing in the Canadian Rockies. — **Mt. Lefroy** **(11,293 ft.)** (R) and **The Mitre (9,836 ft.)** (Center) from the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. Philip Stanley Abbot fell to his death from near the top of Mount Lefroy on 8-3-1896 on his third attempt to be the first to climb Lefroy (he had tried and failed twice before in 1895). News of the tragedy inspired great interest in mountain climbing in the Canadian Rockies. American Dingoes, however, prefer to avoid falling off precipices. Lupe showed no interest in climbing Mt. Lefroy.

This glacier-filled canyon between Mt. Victoria (R) and Mt. Lefroy (L) is known as The Death Trap.

The Death Trap 7-21-13 — The Death Trap as seen from the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. Abbot hut is supposed to be at the upper end of The Death Trap, but SPHP couldn’t see it.

Intrepid Carolina Dog Lupe near The Death Trap 7-21-13

Lake Louise from the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail.

SPHP never did figure out what six glaciers the trail was named after. The only really big glacier in view was the Victoria Glacier coming down through The Death Trap. Presumably some of the glaciers have melted away over the years. Lupe and SPHP still had a great time going up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. The trail is in very good condition and even relatively small children can manage it.

Although the trail had been very crowded when Lupe and SPHP had left Chateau Lake Louise earlier in the afternoon, Lupe and SPHP were the very last to leave from the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. The trail was now deserted.

On the way back to Lake Louise, not long after passing the teahouse, Lupe and SPHP saw a wolverine ahead on the trail. At first the wolverine seemed rather curious and stared at Lupe. Lupe stared back intently at the wolverine. After pondering Lupe for a few moments, the wolverine concluded it had better not tangle with an American Dingo. It ran away out of sight down the trail. The wolverine had a rather peculiar gait, a kind of loping along.

It turned out the wolverine had not left the trail. Instead, it had stopped to see if Lupe was still coming. Lupe and SPHP caught up with the wolverine several more times before the wolverine decided to quit the trail and go into the brush. That was the last Lupe saw of the wolverine. Lupe was rather fortunate to see a wild wolverine at all. Wolverines are quite rare.

The wolverine wasn’t the only wildlife Lupe saw. Once back at Lake Louise, when Lupe was almost to the parking lot, she saw a porcupine. Despite wolverines’ reputation for ferocity, it turns out porcupines are much braver than wolverines. The porcupine was not the least bit afraid of American Dingoes. The porcupine took its sweet time sauntering across the trail before Lupe could pass.Lupe and SPHP returned to Lake Louise a year later on July 24, 2014 to make the hike up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail again. Click here for photos and commentary from that trip!

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Tag: Canadian Rockies

Paradise Valley – Lake Annette & The Giant Steps, Banff National Park, Canada (7-22-13)

Lake Louise & the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail (7-21-13)