Moraine Lake & Lake Louise at Night

Elevation: 1884 and 1731 m
Elevation Gain: Nil
Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are bodies of glacial-fed turquoise water that reside at the base of “the Valley of the Ten Peaks” and below Mount Victoria, respectively. The lakes and their spectacular mountainous backdrops are, without a doubt, among the most photographed locations in Canada. Walter Wilcox named Moraine Lake in 1899 for the rockpile at its north end which acts as a dam and was, ultimately, responsible for its formation. While Wilcox mistook this pile of rocks for a moraine, it is generally agreed today that it actually resulted from a rockslide. By contrast, Lake Louise formed as the result of an actual, terminal moraine damming the meltwater from glaciers on Mount Victoria and the lofty peaks that surround it. Aboriginal people referred to Lake Louse as "The Lake of the Little Fishes." In 1882, Tom Wilson referred to it as "Emerald Lake." Finally, in 1886, the Canadian Pacific Railway named the lake "Louise" for Louise Caroline Alberta (the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria). The CPR had a long history of operations at Lake Louise beginning with a chalet in 1890 and concluding with the construction of the Chateau Lake Louise in 1925. The Chateau is no longer owned by the railway but it continues to be one of the continent's premier resorts.
My Ascents:
August 16 2020
Trailhead: Moraine Lake Parking and Lake Louise Parking Lot.

Cozy in our camping trailer, I awoke with a jolt. “WOOF!” As I rolled over, I was greeted with an intense canine stare. Crux needed to go out (at least it wasn’t the kids). Grasping blindly in the darkness, I eventually found my phone. Its screen came to life in my hands, blinding me and bathing the trailer with its fluorescent glow. It was 12:56 am and 4 degrees C outside.

Looking about for my sweatpants, I quickly located them. Brianne had, apparently, worn them to bed and, at some point during the night, kicked off the blankets because they were so warm. No matter. I stumbled groggily into my shorts and put on Crux’s leash. A little cold never killed a guy and, besides, I wouldn’t be out long. Crux would do his business and he and I would return to the warm trailer and crawl back into our respective beds.

Yawning while Crux searched for the perfect spot, I nonchalantly stared up at the sky. What I saw was astonishing. Camping used to be in tents and midnight bathroom trips often yielded the satisfaction that the starry night sky brings away from bright city lights. Now, spoiled by our camping trailer’s facilities and furnace, we stay warm and oblivious to the wonders above. As I stared up, the wondrous night sky jolted me out of my daze like 1,000,000 incontinent canines. I was up.

Crux did his thing and returned to the camping trailer. I grabbed my camera, a headlamp and a down jacket. This was the view that immediately dispatched with my slumber. After photographing our sleepy camping trailer, I climbed into the car. 20-minutes later, I was in the near-empty Moraine Lake parking lot.

Arriving at Moraine Lake, I felt refreshed. It was even colder at 1884-m than it had been in the valley below. Absent were the hordes that spoil this spot. Closed was the busy boat rental. Save for another 2 photographers whose discussion I could hear through the inky night, the lake and the wondrous night sky above were mine and mine alone.

LEFT: The “Ten Peaks” are a commanding presence anytime but especially so at night when only their silhouettes can be seen thanks to the glow of the stars.
RIGHT: Countless stars surround the Tower of Babel. During the day, the detail of the peaks is contrasted by the plainness of the sky. At night, the situation is completely reversed.

There are no words that adequately describe the sky’s splendor on a clear, cold night. I played with my camera for an hour or so at Moraine Lake. With 15 to 20-second exposures, astrophotography is a slow business which is even slower when you don’t have a tripod! After satisfying myself that I got a few decent shots propping my point-and-shoot up with rocks, I decided that it would be silly not to move on to nearby Lake Louise to see how the “Jewel of the Rockies” looked at night. 15-minute later, I witnessed yet another astounding site: an empty parking lot at Lake Louise!

LEFT: Light from the Chateau casts its glow on Lake Louise’s oft-photographed outlet stream while glaciated Mount Victoria broods in the dark.
RIGHT: The Chateau’s light creates opportunities to play with illuminated foregrounds and inky black backgrounds.

Day or night, the spectacular blue of Lake Louise’s waters glows.

Thanks to the vibrant Milky Way, Mount Victoria takes an atypical backseat as only the second-most spectacular thing in this photo.

LEFT: A "train" of satellites blazes across the sky away from the Continental Divide. I’ve seen satellites before but I'e never anything like the perfect synchronicity that these ones displayed!
RIGHT: As I wandered around the lakeshore, I was able to escape the Chateau’s stray light and watched in awe as stars floated on water and twinkled above. 20-second exposures provide an amazing opportunity to look up and to take in the view for yourself. It’s much better in person than it is through a camera’s viewfinder! Better still, the hordes that clogged up this same spot earlier in the day were now absent. Only silence and stars remained and I soaked both in in equal measure before, begrudgingly, deciding that I ought to return to our campsite below.

The time was 3:15 am. Tomorrow would be another busy day, filled with family and mountain adventures. A couple of hours sleep would probably serve me well. Besides, by now, the dog probably needed to go out again...