Helen Lake & Ridge, Banff National Park July 21, 2021

Camping at Lake Louise afforded me a mere thirty minute drive to the trail head for Helen Lake rather than the two and half hour drive from Calgary. Friends completed this hike yesterday and raved about the wildflowers being in their prime of life.   I have been there before but was never in a position to take the time I wanted to savour the wildflower season, today I did!  I savoured every scene and every second!  This was the first real view after ascending for about ninety minutes through the forest.

I remember this spot!  It's when you exit the forest, make that left hand turn then there it is,  beauty as far as the eye can see.  This is where the wildflower show begins too!  My plan is to carry on beyond Helen Lake and ascend to the ridge above it, which is to the right of the long white streak of snow on Cirque Peak in the middle of the photo.

The trail was lined with wildflowers of all colours. 

They extended down and up into the meadows beside the trail.  

The beauty was here too as far as the eye could see.

continuing along the trail

This is the first summer for me for bird watching.  Between admiring the beauty of the surrounding mountains, enjoying all the vibrantly colourful wildflowers, now I have the bird watching too.  My senses were all on high alert.  Now comes time to make identifications:  top left=Pine Siskin, top right=Clark's Nutcracker, bottom left=Golden-Crowned Sparrow.  

a few of the wildflowers 

arriving at the creek crossing

I gave up counting the marmots when I reached ten. The first one I saw I got excited and took many photos.  Then there was another one, one here, one there, one up there and over there and then I saw these two and got really excited.  It looked like they were dancing when in fact I believe they could be fighting.  

At the shore of Helen Lake, I took a little time to snack, enjoy the view and capture a destination photo.  My next destination is up on that lower ridge on the right.  I chatted with another soloist here who passed me a little while back.  His destination was Dolomite Pass.  Another soloist was heading up where I was.  There was no one else to be seen.    

hippies-on-a-stick along the trail by Helen Lake

beside Helen Lake 

After a bit more elevation gain, I got an amazing view of Helen Lake down below and the mountains out along the Icefield Parkway.  

You can see the trail I followed down below that lead to where you veer off to head up to the ridge.  

In addition to Helen Lake you can also see two tarns in the middle far left.  

It was break time again up on the ridge.  I could see tiny dots moving in the far distance so others were beginning to arrive at Helen Lake.  I began the descent down to the Lake and then continued along the trail back.  To my left were the Dolomites, the Banff National Park version of the Dolomites. They do resemble the Italian version.

back at the waterfalls where the creek crossing is

It was an easy crossing.

When I arrived back at the wildly wonderful wildflower sections, I realized I still needed to admire them more.  As if I did not do enough admiring already, I snapped and snapped and snapped again.

fireweed growing where once there was a forest fire 

The end is not far away when you get to see the mountains through the forest lower down. Believe it or not the sound of traffic was a welcome sound.  It was hot and I felt tired. I was ready to finish and drive the thirty minutes....

...back to my campsite where my hammock was hanging and waiting for me!