Lake Agnes hike

My first fitness goal of 2014 was going to San Diego and walking a 5K Mermaid Marathon in February. Done.

My second fitness goal was the Colour Me Rad 5K. More challenging because part of it involved walking up Canada Olympic Park. The gain was 131m.

My third fitness goal was to hike to the Lake Agnes Teahouse, by Lake Lousie in Banff National Park. Now, a 3.5 km hike may seem easy, until you realize that it's uphill all the way.



I tried to hike it once, on a whim, in 2009. I wasn't prepared for how hard it was and I only made it halfway. Back then, I knew there was something wrong inside of my neck with a pinched nerve, so when the back of my neck throbbed hard, I knew it was time to turn around (in 2010 a MRI revealed that I had a herniated disc, that had ruptured against my spinal cord. All better now thanks to surgery).

It was one of those things that had been marked "incomplete" in my mind. And so, I decided that on August 24, 2014, I would do it. My first two fitness goals were part of the training, I started adding more hillwork and bought trekking poles.

I asked friends and family to join me, and we ended up a brave group of 4. My dream was fixed in my mind. We would get to the top and celebrate with a nice cup of tea in the famous teahouse.

My friend Susan, me, brother-in-law Tim, sister Mary-Anne. All optimistic that we could do it!


We laid down some expectations first. This was not going to be a race. The goal was to get to the top no matter how long it took. We could stop for as many breaks as needed to catch our breath.


Lake Louise receded beneath us as we climbed. I had never seen it from so high and it was particularly milky from above.


The trail behind us.


The trail ahead of us.


The trekking poles made a huge difference. We took lots of breaks, sometimes with other people from all over the world. One of the things I love about Lake Louise is the variety of nationalities that flock there.

And I made a discovery about myself. I discovered that I don't like constantly walking uphill for over two and a half hours. :-)

This is the Little Beehive and Mirror Lake. The water level was quite low so it was more like a pond. But it was the first major landmark and we could see the famous teahouse in the distance.


When I dreamt of getting to Lake Agnes, it was always sunny in my vision. Well, Mother Nature did not get the memo. It started to rain, with hail, as we got closer and closer. But we pressed on. I was getting seriously exhausted. I said that if the teahouse turned out to be an urban legend, I was going to be very angry. ;-)

This is part of a waterfall formed from Lake Agnes - we were close!


Then we had to walk up what felt like a million steps to reach ... Lake Agnes!


And the teahouse!


According to MapMyWalk, it took us 2 hours and 54 minutes. The gain was 365m.

Now, part of my dream was that we'd have a seat, eat lunch, relax. It would be celebratory and wonderful and relaxing. But because of the rain, the teahouse was packed with tourists who had not brought any rain gear. I ate lunch perched on a seat crammed against a wall and my drink was a $4 styrofoam cup of hastily mixed hot chocolate. So it wasn't magical. But the staff was cheerful and quick and I got some really beautiful postcards for my postcard addiction.

I was drained. I was not happy to discover that the outhouses were uphill. But I struggled on, found relief, then came back to the teahouse. The rain was letting up, so I walked around and took some pictures and appreciated the beautiful view.


Lake Agnes selfie!


We were very happy to have made it!


And then we headed downhill. MapMyWalk says that it only took an hour and 35 minutes. And we were very happy to make it back to Lake Louise!






When I was asked what my next fitness goal is ... my first reaction was "what next fitness goal?" But this really wasn't so hard on my body. I had a good long soak with Epsom salts that night, and my calves were a little stiff after, but I really wasn't feeling bad at all.

And now I'm thinking ... something flat. Maybe a 10K. But not another mountain hike for a very long time. I know people who love mountain hiking and good for them, I think they should continue enjoying it, but I think I'll try other things before doing it again. I understand a bit better now why people go back-country hiking for different scenery and challenges and that may be what I try next.