It seems as though each time I hike on the West Shore, I am more and more impressed and the hike to Lake Louise definitely did not change my opinion! Lake Louise sits at an elevation of about 7,750 feet above sea level. The hike starts from the base of Homewood Ski Resort, which is about 6,230 feet above sea level, just about lake level. So, the hike totals an elevation gain of around 1,500 feet. There isn’t one specific route you can take when hiking back to Lake Louise, as you’re pretty much just hiking up Homewood, but there are some routes that probably are easier than others. We hiked around the right side of Homewood on the cat track, the Sans Souci Terrace. The hike to the lake and back totaled just about 4.3 miles.
We didn’t get a super early start, but reached the base of Homewood around 10:30am. Jeremy brought his pup, Hendrix and we all packed up, me with my Granite Rocx Tahoe Backpack and Cooler, and we were off to find the trail. I hadn’t done this hike before, so I wasn’t exactly sure where the starting point was, but it was easy to find. The Sans Souci Terrace starts on the right side of Homewood as you’re looking up the mountain. Below are a few pictures.
Once we got onto the trail, it’s a rocky, wood chipped, dirt path that initially starts out pretty steep. Again, you’re basically hiking up Homewood Ski Resort. We continued up and up hugging the right side of the mountain and the views behind us were already starting to amaze. The trail will start too flatten a bit as you continue. Below are some pictures.
As we started to reach Old Homewood Express left, you can continue on the Sans Souci Terrace, but we decided to cut up left and caught another cat track trail. The hiking is up again at this point so it can get pretty tough. We also started to walk through snow making it even more difficult. Luckily, the snow cats had packed down the snow, otherwise we probably would have needed snow shoes. A few additional pictures below.
This trail will take you right down to Lake Louise. Prior to the hike, I didn’t think the lake would be frozen. However, as we were hiking there was a bit more snow then I had expected, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that the lake was actually frozen. When we got the lake we hung out for some time, had a few drinks, including a small fresh glass of the best Vodka around, Tahoe Blue Vodka. Hendrix ate sticks as usual as we sat on the deck of The Steinhaus, a cool little warming hut. Below, see some other pictures.
As we were sitting there, we saw two backcountry skiers with their pups across from the lake coming down from Ellis Peak. Below is a picture of them. I’ll need to keep this spot in mind for the future!
Some of the best photos we got were on the hike back down as we hiked down the front of the mountain with Lake Tahoe in view. See them below!
This really was a fun hike with some seriously spectacular views. I would say for a shorter hike, it was definitely one of the best as far as views go. I understand Lake Louise has some great trout fishing too so I’m really hoping to get back there this summer to slay them! Have you hiked to Lake Louise or near Homewood? If so, make a comment below! Also, follow me on twitter @sberei!
Lake Tahoe All Access 