Farnsniente

A sculpture of a hiker in front of Chateau Lake Louise

Hiking to the Lake Agnes Tea House

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in
📍 Lake Louise, Alberta

Photos

Trip index

Summary

We took a beautiful, semi-strenuous hike eight kilometers (round trip) up from the lake through pine forests past Mirror Lake and on to Agnes Lake with beautiful views down to Lake Louise. We ate lunch on the porch at the tea house there. Back at the hotel we rewarded ourselves with a soak in the hot tub and a delicious dinner at their Mediterranean restaurant, Louiza.

Details

Ah… a down day. We’re not relocating somewhere else today. We have a dinner reservation and that’s about it for any structure. 

First thing’s first… off to breakfast. It’s included with our room, which is nice. For some reason, in signing up for the ‘train trip’ they asked if we wanted to upgrade to the nicer rooms and we (apparently) said “yes”. I think if I’d seen the room cost by them selves I would have gone screaming into the night. But anyway, here we are. 

Breakfast is up where we are, in the “nicer rooms”, up on the 7th and 8th floor. Needless to say, the breakfast spread is good, with lots of fruit and smoked salmon and I’m sure some other things, but really why, when you have those two things. We share a table with a couple seemingly from eastern europe but now living in London. We get to hear the trials and tribulations of the rich traveling and not having everything quite up to snuff. Tell us about it. (wink, no really, don’t). 

Fed we head out for the day, but not too far. We’re headed out for a hike, finally. We’re headed up from Lake Louise (the city and the lake) up to Lake Agnes. Like everything in this part of the world named for some relative of Queen Victoria. We’re proud of ourselves for going hiking and ashamed of ourselves for having (once again) forgotten to bring water. Duh. Hiking 101. Hello?? 

At our destination is a “Tea House” where they serve tea, but also small meals like sandwiches, scones, soups, etc. It’s “remote” so no roads up to there. Everything sold up there is brought up in the backpacks of the people who work there, and all trash, etc. is carried out the same way. Or so the story goes. Chateau Lake Louise also has a big horse stable and they have rides, including one up here to the tea house, so I’m guessing the horses become pack animals for the concession. 

The potential fly in the proverbial ointment is that being so remote they only take cash, or so we’ve read. We only have cash and precious little of that and it’s just US currency. We’re not sure if that will get us water, let alone a sandwich or tea. 

Thankfully upon our arrival we find that Elon Musk’s fingerprints are visible here in the form of a Starlink internet satellite hook up, powered by a solar panel. Contrary to what we’d read they now do take credit cards and are doing a land-office business. 

The Tea House has two lines, a ridiculously long line for “to go” and an almost non-existent line for “dining in”. We say “duh” and hop into the short line. We’re quickly seated and order our bottled water and tuna sandwiches. We watch the local fauna scurry around looking for dropped food from the unsuspecting patrons.  

Back down on Terra Firma (back at the Chateau) we moan and groan about our tired muscles as we put on our bathing suits. Next stop is the hot tub. It’s pretty big and pretty warm. It’s indoors (which undoubtedly works well in the winter) and is right next to the big indoor pool. Both are magnets to the guest’s children, who are here in number. We soak and massage our tired old muscles on the tub’s jets. 

Refreshed, dried, and dressed (though smelling of chlorine) we relax for the afternoon before heading down to our dinner reservation at Louiza’s at the hotel. We had a reservation at the hotel’s Walliser Stube restaurant but that seemed to be too much food for us. We were excited about the possibility of having Fondue in July but that (seemingly) only came as a part of their “fixed menu”. $115 per person (Canadian) and you get Fondue (to start) then Beef Tenderloin or Schnitzel or Trout then dessert. Way too much food for our delicate constitutions. 

The Italian restaurant (Louiza’s) where we end up is just right. We are able to under-order (well, on the food, at least) and enjoy our meal watching a brief downpour in the bright sunshine. No rainbow that we can see. 

A long post-meal walk and up to our room for bed.

Photos

One of the many stations and food areas for the breakfast buffet. It’s not a ‘make your own omelette’ but rather an experienced gentleman from Mexico will be happy to make one to your specifications. We recognize the hot plates as being induction. We approve.
The lounge area where they serve breakfast (and happy hour and tea and…) has lots of tables and games, which the kids enjoy. They also do a good job with the floral arrangements.
There are lots of flowers outside as well. They seem to be good with the climate. The long, low covered area behind is where we had our dinner last night. A good viewing point for Lake Louise and Mount Louise.
The view. Apparently the Instagrammers and other influencers were a bit too much for the hotel and so they now have big signs everywhere saying that the property proper is only for key carrying guests (or people with reservations at one of the properties restaurants). Truth be told it was nice not having tripodded iPhones and ladies pursing their lips everywhere.
Down by the water is a small statue in honor of some long ago explorer. We’re about to head out in a similar manner, though on much better groomed trails, we’re sure.
The path along the lake is open to everyone and it seems that everyone is here. The Chateau rents canoes but apparently some people want to bring their own. We saw these two people blowing into their canoes, to inflate them. This is a glacial lake, with temperatures to match. We hope these lake-going vessels stay inflated, otherwise there’s going to be some cold swims. Brrr.
The lake is very picturesque and bigger than it initially appears. If you zoom in you can see small specs at the far end. Those are people in canoes who paddled a long way from home.
First stop on our way to the Tea House: Mirror Lake.
There are quite a few hikers headed to the Tea House. It’s quite the draw. There are ‘hiker only’ trails and also ‘OK for horses too’ trails. We stay mostly on the former. Here we’re along side the water coming out of Lake Agnes. Loud pretty falls.
Lake Agnes, again larger than it might appear. There is a trail around most of the lake and one can see tiny specks of people on the far shore and even atop some of the peaks in the distance (thought I’m not sure if they’re in this picture).
Lots of people here, not always able to hang on to their food. The local fauna count on that.
Our table at the Tea House. The hike is two or three miles (kilometers?) all uphill from the Chateau. We are ready for some water and sustenance.
On the hike back we get a glimpse of our hotel.
The hike is mostly trails but at the very top it’s stairs. Very civilized.
Some of us hike faster than others (smile).
The view from our room. Are we looking at Lake Louise? Oh, no, those rooms are a bit more dear, dear. We’re looking at the other wing of the Chateau and at the galleria (shops) connecting the two wings. In the distance is the Lake Louise ski area with its summer gondola. We’re headed there tomorrow.
More flowers. Lots of flowers, including peony (though not shown in this picture).
Delicious dinner, though apparently in need of a touch of pepper. Our waiter, Raj, was tickled to be able to demonstrate his big toy to us.