Hiking to Glacier Lake - Banff National Park

In early June (2021), four of us headed to Banff National Park for a great 3-day hike, camping along the lakeshore of beautiful Glacier Lake. On Day 2 we dayhiked along the lake and further into the valley, coming upon large black bear tracks on the trail.
At camp we had another lively dice game, enjoyed pizza, pancakes and sausages, spaghetti and meatballs, and grilled cheese sandwiches without the cheese … oops, I forgot to bring that too (and the pancake flipper) ... and then had a nice campfire each evening. Such a great spot!

Music: “Wild Soul” by Reveille; licensed through Soundstripe ... 7WWGX6MZM0QRCA8H
0:00 Intro
1:00 Day 1
5:04 Day 2
11:41 Day 3
12:38 The Joke
18:45 Epilogue
Fur trader and map maker extraordinaire David Thompson was the first European to record a visit to Glacier Lake, in 1807. With its (relatively) low elevation, this is a great “early” season hike to try out new gear, beat the late-winter blues, or to just “get out there”. The area is habitat for black bears, as evidenced by the large tracks we saw along the northern shore of the lake on our daytrip.
The trailhead is located on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93), just north of Saskatchewan River Crossing, in Banff National Park. The hike begins through a forest of lodgepole pine, remnants of the 1940 Survey Peak Burn. The trail, initially quite flat, descends to a bridge over the North Saskatchewan River, and then climbs gently through trees to the overlook of the Howse River. Descending to riverside, the trail then climbs up over the ridge of Survey Peak before heading down to the shore of Glacier Lake, the 4th largest lake in Banff National Park.
The rough trail along the northern shore of the lake originated as a mountaineering approach to Mt. Forbes and the Lyell Icefield to the west of the lake.