CALGARY CANADA 2016 - 5 - PLAIN OF SIX GLACIERS AND THE TEA HOUSE

Today we are heading to Lake Louise to pick up the plain of six glaciers trailhead. Apparently, it is one of the most spectacular hikes in these parts both my friend Jeannie and I heard from different people. If I had come down from Larch Valley hike on time yesterday, we would have done this hike, but naughty me, I got carried away with the beauty of the ten peaks around Moraine Lake and we couldn't. Today is the only day we have left to enjoy this trail but the weather is a new story and Lake Louise has a different persona this morning. Clouds are low, obscuring the skyline, the peaks must be spectacularly carving on the Canadian sky, unfortunately we cannot see most of the peaks that surround the lake.

On our last day in Banff National Park, the serene Lake Louise

Yet, the turquoise color is standing its ground despite the domineering gray that overshadows all colors around and above the lake. The temperature has also dropped substantially compared to yesterday, we have already put on all our warm clothes, it is still bone-chilling. We have a rushed breakfast by the beach and get on the trail as soon as we can. The lake and its surroundings are now under a modest amount of mist. It is as if we are looking up at the mountains through a veil.

Jeannie on the trail under a thick layer of mist 

As we reach higher elevations, the mist around us turns into a drizzle. I wonder if gray has a calming effect on the hikers, there isn’t much talk on the trail. The sounds I take in are that of our footsteps lightly crushing the already dampened foliage covering parts of the trail. Otherwise, the soft and moist soil silences even our footsteps. The drizzling rain dominates the ambience with its unique melody with lower notes on the soil, higher pitches on our raincoats and dry leaves. The dance of the fine drizzle with the large drops leaving their homestead on the tree branches is quite a spectacle when I can pay attention to it.

One of the rare moments when we can see one of the six glaciers

The water dribbling down the edges of my raincoat's hood is yet another scenery to watch. As I am on a different wavelength with all the water related happenings around me my gloves and sleeves that are soaked in less than an hour bring me back to reality. Jeannie is in no different condition. I remove the gloves, fold my sleeves and put my arms and hands under my pancho. All the while we are chatting with the lovely young couple' they are from Belgium but live in London now, rather having given up their jobs, they are on the road. They will spend 3 weeks in Canada, we find out, before they move to Mexico City for a while, then to South America, a trip which will continue until the end of the year. They are very worried about Brexit, not knowing whether they will be able to find a job in London at the end of their trip.

Our friends from Belgium and Jeannine, before we part our ways

Their names are Lily and Mono, two brilliant, open minded, kind young man and woman. We have long genuine conversations, all the while I notice that they gently pace themselves according to our pace. You rarely bump into such young people on the trail, understandably so. Mono is very curious about what is happening in Turkey nowadays and I tell him all the in-between-lines facts that are difficult to read through media coverage. Although he knows some about Turkey through his two Turkish friends, who still live in Turkey, he is still stunned to hear that Turkey unfortunately is moving toward Islamo-fascism just like in Saudi Arabia, Iran. He is now more worried about his friends.
 

Lake Louise from a distance as we near the tea house 

As I converse with him, Jeannie is talking with Lily, who turns out to be a lively, warm person, I will discover, when Jeannie and I exchange “conversation partners”. Now she has Mono, and I Lily. Lily loves anything and everything about food. She tells me she worked at restaurants, food industry, etc, and has now made up her mind that wherever they decide to settle down after their travels, she will work in catering industry, but also go back to school to learn more about becoming a chef. She tells me all about the happenings in the food industry in Europe such as people establishing supper clubs!

Victoria Glacier in the Valley of six glaciers

Apparently, people gather in each other’s homes in large groups and have pot luck suppers but more around a theme with gourmet foods. Just my thing, I wonder if I should move back to Europe instead of Canada especially if Trump gets elected…

Our plan is to reach the tea house that was established by the Feux family. Apparently, this family had a vacation here in 1903 and since they fell in love with these parts of Canada, they continued returning to the park for 40 summers! At some point they built this tea house up on the mountains to provide shelter and warm drinks and soup to the hikers and visitors. What a lovely idea.

As we finally get to the teahouse, the peaks disappear behind descending clouds

As our semi-chilled bodies are almost aching under the rain and cold, Jeannie and I will definitely stop at the tea house before we decide whether to go any further or not. At the high altitude, the visibility is even less than what it was down by the lake. Lily and Mono, would like to go to the lookout point first and stop at the tea house on their way back. We exchange contact info and the sweet couple moves on. By the time we leave the teahouse, the clouds will have descended so low, we will barely be able to see the bottom of the glacier, let alone the peaks.

Clouds burying even Victoria glacier behind a curtain along with the peaks

As Lily and Mono walk away I notice that they actually walk much faster than we have been together. Although I don't feel old and act old, 57 years on this earth certainly has slowed me down a bit, not necessarily compared to my peers but compared to these young energetic people. Were they really  keeping up to our pace or were they also enjoying it for the sake of our conversations? Who knows, all I feel now it how heart-warming it is to see that there are young people on earth that can connect with aging people without making them feel accommodated. When a day comes, which certainly will, that I will not even be able to do the routine things I am now able to do with no problem, I would like and hope to be surrounded with people like Lily and Mono.
 

The infamous teahouse in the valley of six glaciers

 

In another quarter of a mile, we are at the tea house, a charming two story cabin secluded in the woods 100 yards off the trail. We discover that it consists of one room surrounded with a wrap-around deck. In the room is three tables seating up to 6 people each. The smaller tables that can accommodate up to 3 people each are all on the deck. Our goal was to have hot tea to warm up, but we learn that they have gluten free vegetable soup with ingredients that are totally local! This is a welcome surprise, along with our sandwiches, the hot soup warms up our miserable bodies. The herbal tea is cherry on top of the cake! I send loving kindness thoughts to the Feux family.

On the way down, Lake Louise behind me

After we get a good rest with good food and warm up, we head down. Although we had constantly looked back on the way up to enjoy the lake behind us, it is a totally different experience now. We are headed toward the lake and are able to see every single sliver that emerges from behind a boulder here, a bush there until we get the largest view of a turquoise jewel at the end of the valley. The river at the bottom of the valley is a silver line, meandering through its bed as if she doesn't move at all. We don't know yet, what a beautiful scene she is going to surprise us with when we reach its delta. 

The delta of the river cutting through the valley of six glaciers carrying glacier waters to Lake Louise

As we continue along the lakeshore, Jeannie and I are full of endorphins. I am grateful that I had the chance of hiking this spectacular land, met beautiful people, inside and out, learned more about Canada, Alberta, and their history, and felt one more time a world citizen full of desire to protect this land that belongs to all of us. We are both ready to go back to our inn at the village, lower our exhausted but happy bodies into the hot tub, swim a bit in the pool and enjoy our last evening at the wonderland of Banff national park. Who knows when and if we will be able to return...

The size of the dandelion greens in the forests of Banff