Outdoor Report: Fall colours and crowd dodging in the Alberta Rockies

It's still fall which means the mountains are still crawling with hikers hoping to catch a glimpse of the fleeting fall colours.

But don't let the crowds keep you inside. For this week's Outdoor Report, Paul Karchut shows us how to navigate oneof the busiest spots inBanff National Park.

Just how busy is the Lake Louise parking lot?

The little drive from the Lake Louise Village up to the actual lake itself, can take up to two hours.It's the samestory with the road that branchesoff up toMoraineLake.

Normally, that drive wouldtake four minutes.

Andwhile Parks Canada has started a shuttle serviceand they've hired traffic controllers, it's just getting crazier.

But you also can't deny the area's supreme beauty and for some people, hiking season just isn't over without a larch trip up into this area.

So how can Iskip the camel train?

It's actually pretty simple.

When you get to the village, don't drive up to the lake. Ditch your car, grab a coffee and walk there.

The Louise Creek trail starts just on the other side of the railroad tracks from town.It's a well-maintained trail with a consistent, not very challenging grade that follows the flow of Louise Creek right to the lake itself.

It was pretty, too.Almost rainforest-like.

And it'swide enough that you canwalk side-by-side and chat with your hiking buddy.

Think of it as a sort of threekilometrewarm-up that also avoids a lot of parking frustration.

Where did you go from there?

Most visitors to Lake Louise tend to trend right,taking the trails past the Chateau and up to the two tea houses.

We zigged instead of zagged and went up to Saddleback Pass which,after hiking just threekilometrespast Lake Louise,gets you into high larch country.

Up there, youget a commanding view of the glacier spilling off the north face of Mount Temple which is framed beautifully by the turning larches.

Then, if you still have a bit more jam and feel like getting a bit higher, the steep but very doable 1.5 kilometerclimb up to the top of Mount Fairview would get you a bird's eye view of those changing larches and what is probably the best alpine view of Lake Louise around.

But I was sickand it wassleeting so we just kept it to Saddleback Pass. Itwas still a phenomenal day and not nearly as busy as many of the other larch hikes that top people's lists.

Even with that little walk up the Louise Creek, all in, this was a 12 or 13 km hike.

Now, normally I wouldlet my guide, Jamie Carpenter,extol the virtues of this trip.

But I record all my interviews on my phone which I sat on and broke.Suggesting that, perhaps,I need to go on a few more hikes before the season is over.