CANADA Adventures Part3 (BANFF HIKING, lake louise, mirror lake & lake agnes)

Today dear Steemians I come to you with another Blog of mine. While the days passed since my last one, I bring to you something exciting and want to thank you for your patience. I’ve working my butt off – to say politely- in the last few weeks, traveling, taking photos, organizing photo shoots and …. Working on a new project that I shall share with you soon….

All of this means that you will have many exciting things coming your way but for the time being, you can follow my other account – martaesperanza2 – where I post single images daily and perhaps some updates too.
And now that that’s said… let’s get to the fun stuff!
Ohhh the magical land of Canada… how I love thee…. The couple of days spent there have been magical and rewarding beyond imagination, but the best is yet to come! This blog is about the trip I took to Banff.

I set off in the morning, a lengthy journey of three hours has been amazing as I watched the flat land, slowly transform to rocky mountains, mighty forests, while I drank my coffee I bought at the gas station. (I loved that Mocha….the price was 2 dollars for a massive cup… why isn’t coffee this cheap everywhere -says with a sobbing voice). Aside from my complete coffee craze, I was bouncing in my car seat with child-like excitement as we started approaching rockies. Every window of the car had an amazing view I needed to capture so I ended up filling about half my memory card before even getting to the place. I will save you the misery and pick a selection of my favourites instead of showering you with all of my images! Hehe

We arrived at Lake louise, and boy. I have no words. I’m just sitting here trying to think of a perfect word to describe the sheer amazement, excitement and awe I felt while I stood in front of that lake, staring at the lagoon blue water with a mountain backdrop. I just stood there. For a few minutes. Before finally exploding in emotion, excitement…. Maybe a few tears…. To be honest I don’t remember, I’m pretty sure I blacked out a little hehe

My deep appreciation for nature runs deep, so seeing something this beautiful with my own eyes really struck my heart strings. I took some photos of me and my exploring hat before deciding to head to the hotel behind us, in order to get some more coffee for a fuel up before the hike.

The hotel was massive, I’m pretty sure if I was without supervision, with my mind still a bit blurry from excitement- I could easily get lost in the never ending corridors. I did admire the castle-like décor and when I finally got to my favourite spot… which was the coffee shop – my day was ALREADY complete. Beautiful views- check. Hot Black Coffee- check. I was happy beyond words.

But after coffee, it was time to take advantage of the rest of the day and explore the area. So after admiring the lake louise again, we picked a hiking route which would take us to the peak of the mountain and final destination of lake agnes. I’m know I’m being very soppy. But my favourite places are forests, lakes and mountains and I was witnessing all three of them, in a great amount. The route started pretty hard….. not only because I was stopping every few steps to capture photos… but also because the path was very steep and my injured knee was very unsatisfied with it.

I kept climbing up the steep path, trying not to trip over roots and saying hello to fellow hikers and tourists. The higher I climbed up, the quieter it started getting but also the more challenging the path. At some point we started getting to snowy forest paths and my mind exploded at that point… snow? In June? Waaaaaattt?
But that was it, the higher I got up the colder it was getting, and starting out in a stuffy, hot day, sweating loads as I was walking up- at this point even though climbing still kept me fairly warm – I still needed a jumper as it was getting a bit too cold for my liking.

The route at this point was even more challenging as humid air was present, and there was quite a lot of mud and mushed snow. Of course it was no big challenge for me as I was in my exploring mood, ready to face danger in any form with my overly priced hiking boots! I carried on walking up the path admiring each detail, the trees, the pine cones, the roots… I mean the list could go on forever. That’s until I reached another stunning view, the next stop – which was the mirror lake.

And I mean I honestly it could get any better from there. The green and blue shaded water was perfectly reflecting the mezmerising surrounding of trees and the mountain peaks. The water seemed almost clear in some parts and if it wasn’t so cold… boy it would be tempting to take a dip. I mean it was a view like out of a fairytale, I couldn’t have imagined it any better. Once again a compulsory selfie which was featuring my hat was a must.

I kept walking up until I finally started reaching peaks of trees and the views started getting a bit clearer as I was slowly emerging from forest depths. The grand mountains surrounded me and I was even met by a filming crew while on the way. The cowboys, Django styled men on horses with film crew were surrounded by curious hikers.

I was interested until I saw a chipmunk and started chasing it to capture the photo…. Ohhh classic Marta there…. Hehe
I walked around the corner and was hit by another beautiful view of a waterfall. Which was loud as it fell from different levels, gradually building up as it went down. I stood there letting the gentle fresh water mist hit my hot and sweaty face. It was so refreshing I stood there just breathing and taking in another simple yet perfect moment.

Then it was time to hit a massive stairwell that would take me to a final destination…. Lake Agnes. I saw a big wooden cottage house emerging and felt as if I was in a fairytale again. Although completely exhausted and out of breath I almost ran to the Lake view, which was obviously another stunner. The three lakes are so different yet so beautiful and perfect in their own ways. This one was semi covered in snow and looked like something out of ice age.

The tones of white and black reflected in the cold water of the lake. I sat on a rock in front of the lake for a great deal of time, refusing to move anywhere until I examined all the surrounding details. After I had enough, even though I could of easily stayed there longer, I agreed to shift to the wooden cottage house for a refreshing beverage.

The wooden cottage had some hikers sitting outside enjoying the view while people lined up for a freshly brewed hot beverages and some home-made bread and snacks. The workers were like fairytale characters, rushing around the wodden kitchen with a big oven, one of them taking a massive kettle outside to take the water out of the lake for the beverages…. I found that very awesome.

Ordering a hot drink, knowing I’m drinking a water from this beauty of a lake. I finally managed to get my hot chocolate and was enjoying the views of the lake from windows and also the sight of cheeky chipmunks running inside and picking crumbs from the floor. The workers of the cottage are living and working on top of that mountain, and everything is done in a very environmentally aware manner. Trying to minimise rubbish waste and more.
After enjoying this magical place it was time to head outside as the cottage shut down close.

The evening was approaching and it was time to start heading back. I was dreading the journey back a bit as it seemed so very long! But! It was in fact very short, as I knew what was coming…. I spent less time being distracted by views and taking photos and made it back down the mountain in a record time.

En route back I was still admiring the various mountain views… while also remaining in amaing awe by all the beauty I just have witnessed. Needless to say, this day will stay strongly in my memory for years to come. I had a great sense of satisfaction of achievement from the hike as well. It was the longest and hardest I’ve done since I had my knee injury, and each lake stop felt like an award for the ‘level of hike achieved’ hehe.

I was exhausted but happy beyond words, and managed to get back to the beautiful Calgary before the night set in.
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed telling it!

Until next time,

Cheers,

Marta x