Lake Louise & Moraine Lake, Banff

Although there are many beautiful lakes in the area, Lake Louise - the greenish blue lake against the stark backdrop of Victoria Glacier and Moraine Lake - the turquoise lake set in front of the ten mountain peaks are two most beautiful lakes.

Most people prefer to drive up to Lake Louise but we preferred to hike from our campsite. The beautiful and peaceful trail took us next to the creek, passed the rushing rivers and through the forest to Lake Louise. Lake Louise was indeed scenic and understandably one of the most photographed place but the place was also filled with tourists from all over the world. We were happy to have seen it but would remember more of the hike there than the place itself.

Moraine Lake with its surrounding mountains is much more beautiful than Lake Louise! We chose to hike  on the Valley of Ten Peaks trail.

After the steep ascent through the forest, the trail levelled off such that we were basically walking alongside the ten majestic peaks with the valley separating in between. The view was really spectacular! Even though it was in the midst of summer, part of the trail was still covered with snow. Unfortunately, my sneakers failed me and was broken along the way.

By the time we finished our trek and came back down to the Moraine Lake valley, the bear warning sign was in place, signifying the possibility of bears looming around in the area in the evenings in search of dinner. We again had no luck in sighting any bears.