Lake Agnes – March 27, 2005

Hiking with Linda.

Report by Linda Breton:

Crazy Carpet Madness

With my knees battered from an outing on windy Loder Peak the day before, Easter Sunday was the perfect day for a reconnaissance trip to Lake Louise , and a chance to try out something new. Mount St. Piran would be a long shot with the current state of cartilage, but accompanied by crazy carpet aficionado Andrew Nugara, I set off to try crazy carpet mountaineering.

We were both surprised by the amazing snow depth still at Lake Louise . Exceeding a meter in places, and the trees all draped in white, it was a perfect winter setting. On top of that, it was completely windless, and hot and bright enough for both of us to get a bit of a burn. It was definitely the place to be in the mountains that weekend!

The trail to Lake Agnes was narrow and hard packed from skiers and hikers. Step off the edge, and you were likely to sink up to your thigh or deeper, we discovered. I set a frustratingly slow pace on the slippery snow, and eventually decided to stop at Lake Agnes for some lunch. The stairs to the teahouse were plastered in deep snow and ice, and I actually wore my six point crampons to descend this bit of nastiness later (any excuse I can get). The teahouse was closed, of course, but Lake Agnes was an unbelievably peaceful and stunning place to be when no one’s around.

Realizing there was no way my knee would allow me to continue to Piran, we opted for crazy carpeting the trail back to the Chateau. Believe it or not, this was my first time on a crazy carpet, and I think I was probably screaming and laughing more than any actual careening down the trail. Drew demonstrated the finer points of carpeting: rounding trail corners at high speed, head first/stomach descents, and coming to unexpected stops in deep snow pits around tree trunks. Though I was disappointed to not have been able to try it down the mountain, the carpet was a pleasure on the touristy trail. I don't think I will ever leave for the mountains without a crazy carpet again!

The side of Mount Fairview in the foreground and the summit of Mount Aberdeen in the background (photo by Linda)

 

Big Beehive and some of Mount Whyte to the right (photo by Linda)

 

Lake Agnes back-dropped by Mount Whyte (photo by Linda)

 

The Devil's Thumb and other interesting rock features of Mount Whyte (photo by Linda)

 

Linda boards a Crazy Carpet for the first time

 

Linda almost runs into a tree on a Crazy Carpet, for the first time

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