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.
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.
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.
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.
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