Hiking the Pyramid Lake Overlook Loop

On Wednesday, August 17, 2016, we chased after our third pair of red chairs near Pyramid Lake, high in a valley behind the town of Jasper.  While the seeking of the red chairs is fun, it really is just an excuse to see some of the best parts of the Canadian National Parks, and this hike was no exception.

As we arrived at Pyramid Lake, we were greeted by this view of Pyramid Mountain beyond a still, reflective lake:

As usual, Kathy had the hiking route sussed out and gave unambiguous directions for our start.  "Unambiguous?" you say?  In this case, yes, because it was a loop hike and, just like the Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz, she was telling us that some like to go one way, and some like to go the other.  And some, yet still, like to go both ways.

We chose the clockwise route to get to the red chairs more quickly.  We found them, sitting in a dark glade overlooking the lake (you can glimpse it on the left) and out toward Pyramid Mountain.  David said that the Canadian Park Service really should see to trimming the trees to improve the views.

Having satisfied our appetite for red, we continued out to the first overlook which gave us a view west over Pyramid Lake, on the right, and Patricia Lake, on the left.

We noticed a felicitous reflection in beautiful little Patricia Lake, and zoomed in to see it better:

Rounding the point, we saw magnificent view to the south and east, including the town of Jasper and the Athabasca River, but we were looking straight into the sun and our photos just didn't do justice to the views.  So you'll just have to imagine how wonderful the view was.  If you would like help, take a look at some of the views from the top of Old Fort Hill in our next blog entry.

Moving on, we came back around and lower near the shores of Pyramid Lake.  We caught this view of boaters on the lake:

While the views on this stretch of the trail were not as panoramic as they had been higher up, we enjoyed sweeping meadows with mountains and clouds in the background:

Having had an enjoyable hike, we headed out for lunch in the truck, when Kathy spotted this elk cow and calf headed down to the shore of Patricia Lake for a quick drink.  Somehow, we were able to get a photo of the elk without also including all of the hordes of tourists who blocked the road and our truck's path in one big "elk jam":

If you want to know about our lunch in a pretty location, read the next blog entry about the Old Fort Loop Trail.