July 11 - Moraine Lake

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We got up early this morning and left towards Moraine Lake, which is about 30 minutes from our campground.

This place is AMAZING! We have never seen water this colour before. The color of the water makes you feel like you are in the Carribbean, but surrounded by the Canadian Rockies. It is really nice!

After admiring this beautiful lake, we decided to go on our 5.6 KM hike called The Valley of the Ten Peaks at the Eiffel Lake (which is in Moraine Lake area). The first part was very tough. we gain an elevatioun of 320 meters. Let's not forget that we have never hiked a REAL mountain! lol Anyways, once that tough part was over, we walked along the side of a mountain on a narrow trail. This was probably the best part because you could see perfectly ten peaks of enormous rocky mountains. It is quite the scenery! We finally arrived at the Eiffel Lake where we had a little picnic. We met 2 woman, from the area, one of them worked for Banff National Park, and we learned we could continue further to the Wenkchemna Pass, which is, in total, 9.7 KM, one way, from Moraine Lake and we gain elevation of 720 meters! WOW! It was tough, but well worth it when we got to the top. We had an amazing view of the valley and also on the other side of the pass. This where we learned our lesson, even if it is in the middle of the summer, you still need a winter jacket in the rockies!! We counted that we hiked through 11 snow banks and at the top of the pass it felt like in the middle of January! BRRRR.....Let's put it this way, it is the first time that Melanie wears mittens during the summer season! We would definitly recommend this hike! Well worth it!

That night we wanted to go to the hotsprings, but we decided to update our blog. That was a big mistake! ehehehhe...

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Photos

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Canoes on Morraine Lake

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Us with the ten peaks behind us

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What a view

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View from the pass

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Nigel with Moraine lake behind him

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Mel FREEZING... even with her little mitts on

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Mel doing snow angels in july!?!?

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Us on our first snow pass :)

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Eiffel lake

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A harry marmot.. our first time seeing one.. cute little buggers... they make loud whistling noises lol

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morraine lake :0

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Some cool peaks

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Morraine lake from above

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The valley of the 10 peaks... from the end that most people dont see it from .. lucky us!

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view back down the valley

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Eiffel Lake

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BEAUTIFUL Morraine Lake!

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WE DID IT!!!!!!

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The sign at the top of the pass

Comments

[Mame]

Spectacular !!!!!
WOW... breathtaking I'm sure, these are the pictures i was waiting for. This is CAnada, again wow! :-D You guys are sooo lucky to be living this. Forget about going down south next year, we're going up north, yep ! Gotta see those mountains . xoxoxo

[Jehanne]

AWESOME!
I love your trip it looks like so much fun! :) Keep it up my friends! xoox

[Grammy]

Wow!
Almost 60 years ago I hiked to Echo Lake and the ten peaks. I still remember how cold it was - actually it was snowing a bit. While we were up there we met an elderly couple (70's at least) wearing thin mocassins (the kind that you buy in souvenir stores) and plastic rain bonnets over their hats. They weren't even puffing. But I will never forget the view. We are so thrilled you are having such a marvellous trip and seeing so much. Love Grammy and Grampy