Don't go out in the woods today ...

Spent the day at probably the most photographed place near Banff, Lake Louise. With it's turquoise water, red canoe boats and the grand chateau, it definitely ticks all the boxes. However, it was really crowded so I hiked up to Lake Agnes.

Much more peaceful and just as beautiful. I hiked by myself today, and this means employing some covert tactics so you are not actually alone on a trail at any time, but you don't have to ingratiate yourself to other groups of hikers.

I took a less popular route back down and followed two girls at a not very discreet distance. However, they turned out not to be hiking, but doing a run to the bottom. I was about 1km into the trail and it was heavily forested and I was completely alone ... I started to get a bit freaked about the possibility of encountering a grizzly, so started heading back up the mountain at a cracking pace. It didn't help that I had photographed my 4th bear of the trip only two hours earlier!

Made it back to the top, then loitered at the start of the popular track and found some more appropriate people to stalk down the mountain.