The morning was bitterly cold – snowflakes drifted down into our campsite every so often.
It was a good thing we had rented heavy-duty sleeping bags from MEC, otherwise we might still be frozen in the tent!
Here is a cold and grumpy Sara, trying to warm up by the fire:
Warm tea makes it all better. 🙂
After eating breakfast and packing up the campsite, we walked around and explored the Mosquito Creek campground. I traversed some logs and hopped across a trail of stones to get to the centre of the creek. Just because.
We highly recommend this place for tenting. Although, it might be more desirable in the summer months.
Onward to the next adventure! We really wanted to hike Johnston Canyon, but we found out that it was closed for the season. Bummer.
No worries – we would just have to hit Moraine Lake instead.
Deep green-blue in hue and guarded by misty snow-capped mountains, the beauty of the lake was difficult to take in all at once.
By now, you should know that I’m not satisfied with simply looking at the lake, taking a picture and then moving on. No. We must climb!
Where to, you say? Well, to Larch Valley, of course! Home of the larches!
Not exactly sure what larches were, we ascended anyways. A sign at the beginning of the trail proclaimed that this was a grizzly-bear area and that hikers must proceed in groups of FOUR at a minimum. Luckily, another group of four was going up at the same time as us, so we introduced ourselves and instantly became hiking buddies.
Still sore from the 15 km hike at Lake Louise yesterday, Sara was hurting as we trekked 6 km with a 450 m elevation gain to the larches.
But Sara is a trooper and a former Essex wrestler. Needless to say, she powered up the trail and made it to the end victorious.
So what are larches? Larches are coniferous trees that shed yellow needles (see image below).
The net result is a valley covered in yellowish carpet of needles that we had the privilege of witnessing.
Did I mention that it was snowing up there? Well, it was snowing and it was cold! However, it only added to the majesty of the Valley.
Walking down was a lot easier for the both of us.
By the time we were coming down, the snow and fog started to clear and we could see the blue glow of Moraine Lake far below.
One last view of the Lake before we move on…
Our next stop was the lovely town of Banff.
Not wanting to face the cold for another night, we decided to stay at the Banff International Hostel. We cooked fish and potatoes with broccoli for dinner and met guests from all over the world: Australians, Brazilians, Americans, Germans (obviously) and even a few Lithuanians.
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