Lake Louise is probably the best known of the lakes in Banff NP , featuring tranquil turquoise waters in the lee of majestic mountains. It's a must see on the coach tours which means unless you get there early in the morning, you're going to have lots of company...we hoped to beat the crowds are arrived before 9am but it wasn't early enough. It's obligatory to snap a photo of the lake from just outside the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, located dramatically at the head of the lake. Personally I wasn't too keen on the hotel - it just looks too big and like a statement of ownership regarding the lake, but I'm sure it's fantastic inside. After admiring the view of the lake from the front lawn of the hotel, we headed off on one of the many hikes in the area, heading for Lake Agnes. We were passed halfway up by a group of horse riders who were definitely getting the easier climb (apart from the horses themselves), but it was lovely weather and we were enjoying the exercise. Mirror Lake was our first milestone before reaching a lovely waterfall just before Lake Agnes. Upon reaching Lake Agnes we opted to head on upwards to the top of Big Beehive. It was another hour or so although the view from the top was pretty impressive. The clouds were building by this time though so we started heading back down to Lake Louise.
