FAIR VIEW
We
had one more day in the Lake Louise area before finishing our trip with 3 days
and 2 nights at Lake O’Hara. I
considered several possible hikes:
Kindersley Pass in Kootenay National Park, the Emerald Lake loop in Yoho
National Park, and Fairview Mountain above Lake Louise. Ultimately Christy made the choice for
me. She decided that she wanted to spend
another day in Banff. I didn’t want to
make her drive me a long distance again.
Fairview Mountain was the most conveniently located hike, so I went with
that one.
We
visited Moraine Lake together first. We
got a bit of a late start, and the area was a total zoo when we arrived. Luckily we were able to find a parking spot. We took a short walk together along the
lakeshore, to enjoy the views of the lake and peaks that make up the Valley of
Ten Peaks. I had a scare at our first
stop. I took my camera out for a photo,
only to see that my lens was shattered!
My heart stopped racing when I realized that it was just my $5
polarizing filter. It was then that I
remember that my camera (in its case) had fallen off a rock the previous day
while I was changing shoes. It only fell
2’, and I didn’t even check it at the time.
The only real difficulty was getting what remained of the filter off my
lens. It had jammed into the lens rather
badly, and it required a major project with my leatherman
to remove it.
From
there, we headed over to Lake Louise.
Traffic was backed up heading into the parking area, so Christy dropped
me off a bit before it. She headed for
Banff, while I hiked up the road to the lake and the Lake Louise Chalet. The lakeshore was a madhouse, and it was
relief to get onto the trail and into the woods.
The
hike up to the Saddleback, the pass between Saddle Mountain and Fairview
Mountain, was rather dull. It was mostly
just endless switchbacks in deep forest.
There was one view from an opening, but the vista of the Bow Valley
wasn’t terribly inspiring due to an overcast day. I continued up to the Saddleback, and then
followed the trail up to the summit.
Fairview Mountain is the highest peak in Banff National Park with an
official trail to the summit. The final
climb from the Saddleback was almost entirely above tree line, and pretty
steep. The views really opened up once I
cleared the trees. The best vista was
behind me, to Mount Temple.
The
view from the summit was even better. It
included Mount Victory, Mount LeFroy, and the
Victoria Glacier. It also provided a
bird’s eye view down onto Lake Louise, which is a beautiful blueish green. The summit was very busy when I arrived, so I
continued out the ridge a short distance for more privacy. I had lunch there, 2 hours after starting my
hike. It was a great spot for it, except
that I had to fend off the resident chipmunks, which are obviously
well-fed. I found the best way to
discourage them was to squirt water at them from my platypus hose.
I
descended by the same route, and made even better time on the way down. Once back at Lake Louise, I took a series of
bike / cross country ski / walking paths back to the campground. I followed Louise Creek most of the way, and
found this part of the hike to be quieter and more peaceful than the hike up
the mountain. I even found a short cut
over to the campground that wasn’t shown on my map. Our campsite was on the far side, and I ended
up following a trail along the Bow River over to it.
I
actually beat Christy back. She returned
a bit later, after getting a massage in Banff.
She was hopeful that would help her knee hold up while we were hiking at
Lake O’Hara.
That
evening we went through our gear to pack for Lake O’Hara. We separated out the food and supplies that
we didn’t have any use for. This
included a roll of aluminum foil. I
decided to take the foil over to the nearest cooking shelter and leave it
there, since somebody might find it useful.
On the way, I passed a large organized group, from either France or the
French part of Canada. There was a woman
there that looked like the group leader, so I asked her if she wanted it. She took it, with enthusiasm. I stopped at the bathroom, and on my return I
passed by their campsite. The entire
group was at the picnic table. The
leader walked to the head of the table, held the aluminum foil over her head,
and made a dramatic proclamation in French.
The entire group applauded politely.
I’d
love to know what she said. For that
matter, I’d be curious to find out what they were planning on doing with the
aluminum foil. The next time I went to
the bathroom I took an alternate route.
I was afraid to go by their campsite again. What if they were all naked and wrapping each
other up in the aluminum foil?
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!