2023 Banff National Park: Helen Lake

I'd pulled the Helen Lake hike out of some list of hikes to do in the Banff area. Just the drive to the trailhead was beautiful, with us stopping by Bow Lake for some gorgeous still water mirror shots.

The trailhead itself looked uninteresting, just a roadside parking lot with a rest room but not much else --- it lead into a forest, but the promise was of course for plenty of climbing to do. The initial climb was wooded and not much in terms of views, but as you get higher the trees thin out a bit and now you get great views of the glaciers surrounding the area. We met a group of 5-6 chinese people from Calgary --- their intention was to hike all the way to the pass. They assumed we were going to do the same and cautioned us that it was a difficult hike for the kids --- they were nonplussed when we said we were only going to Helen Lake.

As we got up above the treeline we met a pair of hikers who told us that the mosquitoes were really bad at the lake, and rather than eat lunch at the lake or at the waterfall we should eat lunch near where we met them. We had already put on insect repellent after I'd gotten bitten a couple of times, and didn't want to get more mosquito bites so we took their advice.

The waterfall was gorgeous, and a lot of fun, and there we were joined by a backroads tour group. The Backroads tour do similar things to what we do, but charge $4000 per person for a 6 day trip. In exchange you get a guide and a group of friends to slow you down. I was kinda surprised that lunch didn't appear to be included, as each hiker was packing and carrying their own lunch. 

We spotted mountain marmots and got in close enough to take  picture that didn't entirely suck. From there it was a short walk up to the lake. The lake was a gorgeous tarn that was still enough to reflect the surroundings. We were well above the treeline but the mosquitoes were very aggressive so we did not stay long.

We turned around and hike down, and the views were completely different from the hike up. The view of the surrounding peaks in the soft early afternoon light took our breath away. Bowen and Boen asked to drink the water from the waterfall so I got out my water filter and we refilled the bottle. It was good water.

We still had plenty of time, so we drove all the way back to Banff, stopping only to return the hiking sticks since we anticipated not needing it the rest of our stay. There in Banff, we found a place that served Fondue, and ordered 3 dinner entrees to share. It was yummy after the long hike.

It started drizzling after dinner so we didn't stay to explore much, as everyone was suffering the symptoms of footsoreness after 2 days of back to back hikes. We got back to the Lake Louise Inn for a short swim and then I did laundry.