Lupe arrived in Canada for the very first time on the morning of July 20, 2013. By afternoon she was in Banff in the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Lupe and SPHP toured Banff the rest of the day and all morning on the 21st, but by afternoon it was time to leave the crowds behind. Lupe and SPHP left Banff heading W in the G6 on Trans-Canada Hwy No. 1.
SPHP intended to take Lupe to Sunshine Meadows, which isn’t far from Banff. From Sunshine Meadows, Lupe and SPHP could take the trail up over Healy Pass to explore the Egypt Lake area. SPHP left Hwy 1 intending to head up to Sunshine Meadows, but almost immediately found out that the road was closed for construction. Heavy rains in June, 2013 had flooded and damaged the road.
Lupe and SPHP wound up driving on to Lake Louise, arriving a bit after 3:00 PM. It was a bad time to arrive. All the parking lots were full and cars were parked alongside the road for a great distance. Lupe is a lucky dingo though, and SPHP soon found a parking place in the upper parking lot near the lake.
Lake Louise was gorgeous and busy. Most of the crowds were at the NE end of the lake near the Chateau Lake Louise and the boathouse where they rent out canoes. There was still time for Lupe and SPHP to make the round trip hike up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail beyond Lake Louise and back. Lupe and SPHP set off on the Lakeshore trail. The Lakeshore trail goes a little over 2 km right along the NW shore of Lake Louise heading SW with little or no elevation gain.
Lupe continued beyond Lake Louise on the Plain of Six Glaciers trail, which soon starts climbing as it continues up the valley towards Mt. Victoria. A few km on the Plain of Six Glaciers trail brought Lupe to the Plain of Six Glaciers teahouse. Lupe just isn’t that big on tea or coffee, although she probably would have gone for some cookies or chocolate cake if SPHP had mentioned that the teahouse had those delicacies as well.
From the Plain of Six Glaciers teahouse, it was another 1.3 km to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail at the base of Mt. Victoria. Lupe and SPHP continued on to the very end of the trail.
SPHP never did figure out what six glaciers the trail was named after. The only really big glacier in view was the Victoria Glacier coming down through The Death Trap. Presumably some of the glaciers have melted away over the years. Lupe and SPHP still had a great time going up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. The trail is in very good condition and even relatively small children can manage it.
Although the trail had been very crowded when Lupe and SPHP had left Chateau Lake Louise earlier in the afternoon, Lupe and SPHP were the very last to leave from the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. The trail was now deserted.
On the way back to Lake Louise, not long after passing the teahouse, Lupe and SPHP saw a wolverine ahead on the trail. At first the wolverine seemed rather curious and stared at Lupe. Lupe stared back intently at the wolverine. After pondering Lupe for a few moments, the wolverine concluded it had better not tangle with an American Dingo. It ran away out of sight down the trail. The wolverine had a rather peculiar gait, a kind of loping along.
It turned out the wolverine had not left the trail. Instead, it had stopped to see if Lupe was still coming. Lupe and SPHP caught up with the wolverine several more times before the wolverine decided to quit the trail and go into the brush. That was the last Lupe saw of the wolverine. Lupe was rather fortunate to see a wild wolverine at all. Wolverines are quite rare.
The wolverine wasn’t the only wildlife Lupe saw. Once back at Lake Louise, when Lupe was almost to the parking lot, she saw a porcupine. Despite wolverines’ reputation for ferocity, it turns out porcupines are much braver than wolverines. The porcupine was not the least bit afraid of American Dingoes. The porcupine took its sweet time sauntering across the trail before Lupe could pass.
Lupe and SPHP returned to Lake Louise a year later on July 24, 2014 to make the hike up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers trail again. Click here for photos and commentary from that trip!
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