The hike up to Eiffel Lake in Banff National Park is my favorite alpine hike I've gone on yet. I went a few years ago, thrilling to the views of rock, ice and incredible wildflowers. Each time I've returned here, though, the hike has been closed because of a grizzly in the area who was raising cubs.
This year, however, she hadn't started using that area yet, so the trail was still open. I was ecstatic!
It leaves from gorgeous Moraine Lake and climbs high into the alpine zone, above the treeline. As before, the wildflowers covered the slopes in a myriad of colors, pink and red Indian Paintbrush, pale white Pasque flower, yellows, purples and blues extending in all directions.
The trail journeys into the Valley of 10 Peaks, named after the immense mountains that rise on one side of the trail. Glaciers cling to their precipitous slopes. As we climbed, Moraine Lake grew smaller and smaller, until it was just a blue jewel gleaming far below.
We crossed a few snowfields, looking for prints of wolverines.

I didn't see any wolverines, but hoary marmots came out to check me out, peering from their rock perches and sometimes coming down to the trail to stare. We reached Eiffel Lake as a storm started brewing over the mountains. Fresh snow still covered the area from the snowfall the night before.

The views from the alpine are simply stunning. We could see all of the Ten Peaks, and the rock and dirt-covered Wenkchemna Glacier stretched out far below us.