Day 4: Moraine Lake
This was probably my favorite day of the trip. I was so tired from the past few days that I almost skipped out on getting up 4:45 am for the sunrise at Moraine Lake and I’m SO glad I didn’t. It was absolutely breathtaking!
We left Mountaineer Lodge by 5:15 am and drove over into the parking lot, arriving by 5:40 am. I thought we would be the earliest of early birds but oh how wrong I was! We got one of the very last parking spots and by the time we left at 7 am, the parking lot was definitely closed. My suggestion to come at the this time of the year (end of June) is probably shoot for between 5 and 5:30 am arrival.
With renewed energy, I found the path to the overlook above the lake, which I didn’t trek up the evening before. It’s easy to find and it’s not a hard path. It’s a basically a short trail and staircases and probably takes about ten minutes to get to the top of the overlook from the parking lot. There are numerous spots on the hill to get amazing views. My favorite spot was a quiet one off to the left when you arrive up the hill from the staircase, as most people rush up to the top/middle of the hill. I stayed at the overlook for about an hour, watching in awe at the majestic reflection of the mountains in the still lake. There were a few people paddling out on the lake in canoes as well. It was beautiful to see the light, shadows, and sky change as the sun lit up.
I have a billion pictures from the sunrise
YOHO NATIONAL PARK
Yoho National Park is very close to Lake Louise and an easy day trip. By car, it’s about 20 minutes away. After having breakfast, we left the hotel at 9:30 am and made a brief stop at the Spiral Tunnels. This place was skippable, unless you’re really into trains. We stayed here for like 5-10 minutes, and unless a train is pulling in, I am not sure it’s worth it. It’s famous because the engineers had to be creative back in the day with getting trains up and down steep hills.
We then drove onto one of the highlights of the park, Emerald Lake. It was sooo crowded when we arrived; I wish we came a bit earlier! We ended up parking down the road away from the parking lot, which was full. Emerald Lake is very pretty but not as magnificent as Lake Louise or Moraine. However, it is more relaxed here and you can go for an easy walk around the lake.
Emerald Lake
Canoes here were $70 CAD for an hour
Another lake you can see in Yoho National Park is Lake O’Hara. You need to make online reservations in advance (like WEEKS in advance) and I hadn’t done it so we didn’t go. I think after a while though, all the lakes start to look the same but I think the best ones were Moraine, Lake Louise, and Peyto.
We headed over to Takakkaw Falls and got there by 12:30 pm. Parking was crowded but larger and we were able to get a spot. It’s the highest falls in the park and very nice to visit. You can hike up pretty close to the falls (we didn’t do this). I think by this point we were feeling tired from the jam packed past few days! We then headed back to the hotel to rest a bit.
Takakkaw Falls
Later in the afternoon, around 4 pm, we headed back out to Lake Louise again to have a walk around the perimeter of the lake and just to relax and take the scene in. From the hotel out to the other side of the lake and back, it’s about a two mile roundtrip walk.
From the other side of Lake Louise, looking out at the Fairmount Hotel
Given the lack of dining options in the area, we ended up back at Peyto Cafe for dinner again and called it an evening!