We drove into Banff National Park and towards Lake Louise and felt the beginning of Labor Day weekend.  We stopped at several beautiful overlooks and noted the increase in traffic.  We stopped and did a short hike to Peyto Lake, a beautiful turquoise blue and milky with glacial flour.  We found the overlook so crowded with tourists we could barely see it.  I'm not sure which is worse, the isolation or the crowds.

We went into Lake Louise, named in honor of Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.  The lake is a beautiful milky emerald lake filled with glacial four.  We took a very vertical 2 1/2 mile hike to a Teahouse on Lake Agnes.  In the late 1800's, when this area was being discovered (and developed), the had many Swiss guides that lead hikes up the steep mountains and over glaciers.  These Swiss guides also lent an air of "civility" to the wilderness by creating teahouses along the trail for one to have a small bite to eat and a pot of tea.  A few of these teahouses still exist and are manned by University students who sleep there (and in 2 cabins) without running water or electricity (hummm... sounds like some of our friends).  They cook the baked goods fresh each morning and serve tea to those who dare trek up the trail.  We quizzed our waitress a bit about the logistics of such a remote enterprise.  They helicopter in 8+ very large tanks of propane and all the bulk supplies they will need for a season.  They bake and cook everything fresh daily, from scratch.  They may have an additional supply drop during the season.  Sometimes the students don't hike down on their days off, if they don't need to, preferring to hike trails from here.  We had a soup and bread special with a pot of tea and relaxed for a while.  We hiked back down and it was getting late enough, that we needed to find a camping spot.

We had to find an ATM for cash and then waited in line for a campsite in Banff campground.