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abie915 t1_irdbslt wrote

Reply to comment by ColinTheMonster in Autumn in the north is hard to beat. Northwest Territories, Canada [OC] [1080x1602] by TritonTheDark

I finally had a chance to go to Banff this summer to see Reddit lake (I mean Lake Louise lol) in person. It's stunningly beautiful, but the whole experience was ruined as it's an absolute madhouse with hundreds of noisy, selfie taking tourists milling around.

When I'm out hiking I expect to have peace and quiet and hear nothing but the sounds of nature, but unfortunately most popular natural attractions and national parks are more akin to a theme park these days.

Anyway to get to my point, I've decided to intentionally seek out remote and harder to get to places. It's the only way that I can think of to experience true wilderness.

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covewood t1_irdgz8x wrote

Did you see Moraine Lake? It's hard, as an Albertan we shake our sticks at tourists but then we turn around are are the tourists everywhere else.

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squickley t1_irdpphy wrote

Can confirm on the second point. Southeast BC is swarming with you guys lol

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abie915 t1_irf5hra wrote

Moraine is hard to get to get to, but boy was it gorgeous!

FYI for anyone who wants to go there: the parking lot fills up at 3 AM and the road to the lake is barricaded after that. There is a bus to it from Lake Louise, but tickets are released 48 hours in advance and sell out pretty quick, so plan ahead :)

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covewood t1_irgqdvf wrote

3am????? Holy shit, I got there at 9am once and it was fine. Good to know now

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Marokiii t1_irdt4h1 wrote

Go to moraine lake instead, after about 20 minutes of hiking you leave behind about 90% of the tourists. After about a hour you are left with only a handful of people who like you want to enjoy the peace more than taking pictures.

Sentinel pass is perhaps my favorite hike in all 4 of the rocky mountain national parks.

edit: stanley glacier in kootney NP is also a great hike thats not difficult but has awesome views + waterfalls you can actually get underneath and a glacier you can touch if you go all the way + a bit farther.

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abie915 t1_irf53p6 wrote

I was lucky enough to go to Moraine lake. I don't know if you've been there recently, but the parking lot only holds 100 or so cars and fills up at 3 AM or so, and they barricade the road after that. There is a bus that runs from Lake Louise parking lot to Moraine, but they release tickets 48 hours before the trip and those usually sell out pretty quickly. Forget about buying a ticket the day you're there.

In my case, I was lucky enough to get there towards the end of the day. There weren't any bus tickets left, but some cars had left so they let me drive.

Thanks for the tips, will bookmark those for my next trip! In case you're in Jasper, I highly recommend the hike up to the Geraldine lakes, which are gorgeous. The trailhead is at the end of a rutted dirt road and I think I saw maybe four people the entire day I was there.

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brocahantas t1_irex8yi wrote

I mean you can't expect solitude when visiting one of the most popular and accessible places in the country.

If you can drive right up to it (like Lake Louise), it's going to be busy. That goes for pretty much every national park. Hike a couple miles from the trailheads and you'll lose the tourists.

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abie915 t1_irf3z2f wrote

I wasn't expecting solitude at the popular spots, but I was somewhat taken aback by just how many people there were. I mean there was a giant parking lot for tour buses for chrissakes.

You're spot on about hiking a couple of miles to lose the throngs - that's something I've noticed as well. Another way to find quiet spots is to get guidebooks of the area which usually list how busy a particular trail is.

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