August 2015 – Page 2 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Eiffel Lake Trail & The Valley of Ten Peaks, Banff National Park, Canada (7-22-13)

After Lupe’s trek up the Paradise Valley trail to see Lake Annette and the Giant Steps in Paradise Valley, there was still time left in the day for more Canadian Rockies exploring. Nema and Danielle, who had joined Lupe for the Paradise Valley trip, were interested in taking the trail from Moraine Lake up to Larch Valley and perhaps even on to Sentinel Pass. They were willing to let Lupe and SPHP join them.

Lupe and Danielle at Lake Annette in Paradise Valley earlier in the day.

After a 12 km drive over to Moraine Lake, where it was just late enough in the day so a few parking spots were opening up again, Lupe met up with Nema and Danielle again. Danielle unexpectedly announced that she wasn’t feeling energetic enough for another trail, but after a few minutes, Nema convinced her to come along. Soon Lupe, Nema, Danielle & SPHP were heading up the trail.

The trail to Eiffel Lake starts at Moraine Lake. For about 3 km it is the same trail that also heads up to Larch Valley and Sentinel Pass, beyond which is Paradise Valley where Lupe had been earlier in the day. The trail climbs fairly steeply through a forest the entire way up to where it splits. Although it had been overcast and occasionally sprinkling rain earlier in the day in Paradise Valley, by now it was fairly sunny out. It started feeling rather warm going uphill. Lupe and SPHP were glad the trail was in the shady forest.

Due to the forest, other than a few occasional glimpses, there really weren’t any views on this first stretch of trail. The trail was very busy. By now most people were going down, but there were still some heading up too. Lupe became a pied piper. Part way up, Lupe met Peter and Verna. Peter and Verna live on an island in eastern Canada. They were returning from a trip to see their daughter who lives in northern British Columbia. Peter and Verna joined Lupe’s hiking party. Chatting with Peter and Verna helped the last long section of switchbacks go by a little faster.

There was a bench at the place where the trails divided. The trail to the left went to Eiffel Lake and beyond to Wenkchemna Pass. The trail to the right went on to Larch Valley and Sentinel Pass. Most people head for Larch Valley and Sentinel Pass. Although Nema and Danielle also originally intended to go to Larch Valley, that trail still had considerable elevation gain ahead, whereas the trail to Eiffel Lake from here would be nearly level. Nema and Daniel decided to skip Larch Valley and head for Eiffel Lake. There would be great views of the famous Valley of Ten Peaks, the lower end of which is occupied by Moraine Lake, along the way.

A young ranger woman was stationed at the trail intersection. She was lecturing everyone about staying in groups of 4 as required due to recent grizzly activity in the general area. She was pleasant enough about it, although it seemed a bit silly as there were lots of people hiking this trail. SPHP doubted there were any grizzlies around when there was such a crowd.

Still, the law allows for a penalty of $5,000 for non-compliance. The penalty seemed pretty ridiculously high, considering it could be enforced whether there was any grizzly or not. On the other hand, the ranger was armed with a rifle, too, so it was possible the penalty could be much higher yet. SPHP asked the ranger how many hikers she had shot with the rifle for non-compliance so far. She replied “none” in good humor. SPHP decided not to press the issue so that answer would remain the same.

While the which way should we go discussion and ranger chat was taking place, Lupe was busy making friends with a couple who sounded like they were from Germany. They had their two daughters with them and were resting on the bench. By the time a decision had been made to head for Eiffel Lake, Lupe had added the German family to her hiking party, too. Now Lupe had nine hikers with her including SPHP. This was very unusual, but fine with SPHP since it meant there was little chance of being eaten by grizzlies or shot by the government.

Lupe’s whole group took the trail to the left heading for Eiffel Lake. Danielle led the way. She must have recovered her lost energy. She was slender and lightly built, but had great stamina and moved quickly. The rest of the party had trouble keeping up with her. Eventually Peter and Verna gave up trying and turned back.

From where the trails divided, the Eiffel Lake trail was wonderful. The trail was quite high up on the lower slopes of Eiffel Peak (10,095 ft.) and nearly level. Not too far from the bench where the trails divided, there started to be openings in the forest with tremendous views of the Valley of Ten Peaks.

Mt. Fay (10,610 ft.) from the trail to Eiffel Lake. — **Mt. Fay** **(10,610 ft.)** from the trail to Eiffel Lake.

Mt. Babel (10,180 ft. on L), Mt. Fay and the Fay glacier (center) and Mt. Bowlen (10,079 ft. on R). Moraine Lake visible at lower left. — **Mt. Babel** **(10,180 ft.)** (L), Mt. Fay and the Fay glacier (center), and **Mt. Bowlen** **(10,079 ft.)** (R). Moraine Lake visible at lower left.

The trail eventually crossed one big snowbank shortly before Eiffel Lake came into view. By now the German family had been left behind, too, although they were still on their way. Lupe’s hiking group was back down to just Danielle, Nema and SPHP.

Eiffel Lake near the upper end of the Valley of Ten Peaks. Wenkchemna Pass is visible beyond the lake. The mountain beyond the pass is probably Curtis Peak. — Eiffel Lake near the upper end of the Valley of Ten Peaks. Wenkchemna Pass is visible beyond the lake. The mountain sticking up beyond the pass is probably Curtis Peak.

L to R: Mt. Babel, Mt. Fay, Mt. Bowlen, and Mt. Tonsa (10,020 ft.). SPHP isn't 100% certain, but believes the peak at the far right is Mt. Perren (10,010 ft.) — L to R: Mt. Babel, Mt. Fay, Mt. Bowlen, and **Mt. Tonsa** **(10,020 ft.)**. SPHP isn’t 100% certain, but believes the peak at the far right is **Mt. Perren** **(10,010 ft.)**.

On the Eiffel Lake trail Lupe was right across the Valley of Ten Peaks from Deltaform Mountain (11,240 ft.) — On the Eiffel Lake trail Lupe was right across the Valley of Ten Peaks from **Deltaform Mountain** **(11,240 ft.)**.

The scenery was magnificent everywhere one looked. The Eiffel Lake trail doesn’t actually go down to Eiffel Lake. Instead it stays 30 to 40 meters above the lake and skirts it a little way off to the N. Ultimately the trail heads W all the way up to Wenkchemna Pass. Lupe and SPHP would have loved to go on to Wenkchemna Pass, but Nema and Danielle were done. It was clouding up again and threatening to rain anyway.

Reluctantly, Lupe and SPHP turned around and started following Nema and Danielle back. Danielle outpaced everyone and disappeared from view. Nema and SPHP chatted while Lupe kept a sharp eye and two ears out for squirrels. Near the end of the return trip it did start to rain. Around 6:00 PM, Lupe was back at Moraine Lake. Nema and SPHP spotted Danielle ahead in the parking lot. She was already on her way to their vehicle. She waved and shouted back at Lupe and SPHP that it had been nice to meet us. Lupe and SPHP said goodbye to Nema.

Nema and Danielle were going to go up to Jasper the next day. They had reservations to spend several days hiking the Skyline Trail near Maligne Lake. After that they planned on working their way S along the Icefields Parkway, so there was some slim chance that Lupe and SPHP might meet up with them somewhere again as Lupe and SPHP worked their way N, but Lupe never saw them again. Links:

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

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

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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