On our last full day in Lake Louise, we awoke to more… you guessed it… Smoke! We just couldn’t catch a break this trip!

We set out after breakfast toward Lake Agnes, on what has become a very familiar trail to Nadine and I.

The trail headed up through the forest, and we stopped for a rest at the end of the first long switchback.

Eventually, we arrived at Mirror Lake.

Continuing up the trail, we stopped briefly at the falls below Lake Agnes, and then took the stairs up to the teahouse.

And we arrived at Lake Agnes, under a mix of cloud and smoke.

We had packed sandwiches for lunch, because as I figured, the lineup to get a table at the teahouse was crazy.

Given how horrible the visibility is today, there’s not much point continuing up the Beehives, so we descended the stairs on the other side of Lake Agnes, and followed the highline trail out toward the Plain of Six Glaciers.

Here we are skirting the base of the Big Beehive.

Passing a small bunch of lonely larch trees on the edge of the trail.

We arrived at the Highline Trail and followed it to the west.

The views started to open up toward the end of the valley (but still with lots of smoke).

I always like this spot on the trail, with this lovely swath of purple wildflowers.

At the junction between the Highline Trail and the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail, we turned left and headed back to Lake Louise.

As we were getting closer to Lake Louise, the trail entered the forest and we came across these two ground squirrels.

What happened next, we were not expecting! It’s best if you watch this video in full screen mode.

These little squirrels can sure fight!

After being entertained by the squirrels, we continued toward Lake Louise.

I didn’t take a lot of photos along the shore of Lake Louise, as the poor visibility didn’t make for great photography.

Now for some maps of the hike, starting with an overview looking straight down, followed by a few different angles.

Here are the tracks on a topographic map.

For those of you who would like them, I’ve uploaded our GPS track files here for download.

Our total hike distance was 12.0 km, starting from a minimum elevation of 5,690 feet at Lake Louise and reaching a maximum of 6,969 at Lake Agnes, for a net gain of 1,279 feet. Total ascent/descent was 1,505 feet.

Back at the hotel, we rested a little before getting ready for dinner at my favourite restaurant here, the Walliser Stube. With this being our last day here, we wanted to finish with a really nice meal!