Lake of the Little Fishes AKA Lake Louise

     After leaving Radium Hot Springs, I found myself on the Kootenay Highway. It's a scenic highway that runs through Canada's Kootenay National Park.     

I stopped frequently to admire the scenery.

I had the good fortune of obtaining a free pass to Canada's national parks and highways within.

Spectacular scenery everywhere!

     See the dark clouds? I stopped at this rest stop to wait out a brief rain storm. That's a 1966 Airstream (photo below is for Chef Renauld who refurbishes Airstreams); a friendly couple from Washington State own it.

Enjoyed the dramatic storm!

     Like a butterfly with no flight plan, I found myself at a crossroad (click here for map of decision point); either go west or go east. Decided to "Go West!" on Highway 1 to Lake Louise rather than east to Banff. Highway 1 however is the main east-west highway through mountainous terrain for not just tourists, but truckers, commuters, locals, businesses, employees, everyone! Traffic was horrendous, fast, and impatient (one trucker blared at me for quite awhile). I was more than happy to get off that highway. And lucky enough to spend the night at an "overflow" area adjacent to Highway 1.

     The next morning I got an early start fortunately, to find one of the last parking spots at Lake Louise.  The iconic Lake Louise of Canada was first named "Lake of the Little Fishes" by the Nakoda who were indigenous people of Western Canada and Montana. Lake Louise is a popular lake.

People get married here.

I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. It's not a large lake.

It is however "pretty blue" but there are other lakes nearby that are just as pretty, such as this one.

I did a "pre-brunch walk" to the Lake Louise Overlook. Those are canoes in the lake.

The trail police didn't kick me out for wearing leggings with a hole.

After brunch, I began the trail to Lake Agnes. It's alittle over two miles (four round trip). Fortunately the crowd thinned out.

The lakefront trail is more popular (and shorter) than the Lake Agnes Trail.

     I was very impressed by the number of young mothers with infants on the trail. They were hiking four miles carrying an infant! There are three young mothers in poor photo below; the one in the middle has her infant in a pouch worn in front. I saw probably 15 young mothers with infants.

     It's hard to photo bright sun and dark shade, but the trail was pleasant, well-marked and wide (photo below). Besides being impressed by the number of mothers with infants, I was also impressed by the various nationalities of people and the number of languages I heard. 

     The elevation gain of the trail is almost 1,300 feet.  

Near the end of the trail is Mirror Lake.

Near the very end of the trail is a stairway.

And this is Lake Agnes.

Oops, that's the tea house (they sell beverages) at the shoreline of Lake Agnes. The folks on the balcony are looking at this view . . . .

     It's a beautiful lake, but there are many equally beautiful lakes which aren't crowded with tourists. I return to La Lair in the crowded parking lot and ponder my next move. More of the horrendous Highway 1 (450 more miles to near Seattle) and more crowded Canadian national parks along this route which I'm beginning to detest? Stay tuned for an unexpected solution to my dilemma.