Banff National Park: Moraine Lake and the Consolation Lakes Trail

I thought that I would start this blog off by posting about the trails that I have experienced in the Canadian Rockies. As a child I had visited the Rockies on several of our moves across country; however, I had little to no memory of those visits. August 2011 marked my first trip to this magnificent area of the country as an adult. It was a spur of the moment trip and the main purpose was to meet my dad's cousin in Lake Louise in order to pick up our Great Aunt who we would then be taking back to my dad's home in BC so that she could visit with her sister, our grandmother. Having only a few days notice of this trip threw me through a loop, I am a planner, and the notion of taking on this trip having done little to no research was a tad overwhelming. Never fear though, my dad had been to the area before and I was able to locate some books and plan on the flight out. 

We would spend three full days in Lake Louise, Banff before meeting our Great Aunt on the fourth day and driving back to my dad's home.

On the first day we arrived at the Lake Louise campground around 10 in the morning after having spent a very wet night in Glacier National Park. After we set up camp  and hung our belongings out to dry we had the afternoon to take a short hike. I suggested that we head up to Moraine Lake and hike the Consolation Lakes Trail. I was aching to set eyes on the magnificent Moraine Lake and the Consolation Lakes trailhead was located right at the lake and the hike was described as being short and easy, a perfect way to ease in.

Moraine Lake was about a 20 minute drive from the Lake Louise campground and the views on the drive are not too shabby.

Road to Moraine Lake

Upon arrival at the lake there is a medium sized parking lot. Since it was the early afternoon in peak tourist season the lot was packed but we were luckily able to grab a spot. You get a very small glimpse of the lake from the parking lot.

In order to get the traditional view of the lake you need to climb up to the top of the moraine. No worries, it is a well-designed path, no scrambling up over rocks here. Pretty much anybody can manage the steps to get to the top of the moraine. This is the view you are greeted with when you get to the top. Beautiful, even on a cloudy day. It is even more magnificent on a sunny day when the true colour of the lake is reflected beautifully.

Moraine Lake

The family from left to right: Dad, Stepmother, the brothers, and myself. Of course, can't leave out the star of the family: Marcus, our beloved pup.

Once the family got tired of my taking about a million photos of Moraine Lake it was time to set off on the Consolation Lakes trail. The trailhead is located right next to the moraine. As with all trails in the Moraine Lake area you are required to have a group of four to hike the trail and you must stay close together. This is sue to the fact that you are in bear country. There was a lovely American couple looking to join a group so they could explore the trail and we invited them to join us.

Babel Tower is one of the first sights along the trail. 

The trail is relatively flat with very little elevation gain. An easy hike to start out with if you are just getting acclimated to the altitude, don't want a strenuous hike or if you only have a few hours to explore. The majority of the trail runs through a forested area with little to see but towards the end you emerge from the trees and see some very pretty scenery.

 Lower Consolation Lake

There are two Consolation Lakes: Lower and Upper. There was no defined trail leading to the Upper Lake and due to the time we did not want to go exploring to find the trail. Guidebooks do tell you how to get to the upper lake but we did not have one with us at the time. My dad, brothers and I scrambled around on the large boulders that lay to one side of the lake for a bit. True to our natures the brothers jumped around from boulder to boulder carefree while I carefully and slowly found my way.

 As you can see, the skies cleared and the sun came out while we were on our hike. This meant I had to take more pictures when we got back to the trailhead and Moraine Lake!

Babel Tower