Losing, and finding, Prince Charming

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

Lake Agnes Teahouse, above Lake Louise

 LAKE LOUISE, AB --  Prince Charming has some difficulty remembering proper names, of people and locations.  When I scold him about it, he shrugs, as if names don't really matter.
 But they do, as he learned Thursday on a hike above Lake Louise.
 First I should explain that the Prince is recovering from a case of shingles, and has a rash across one shoulder that prevents him from carrying a backpack.  So when we set out on a four-miles-plus hike to the Lake Agnes Teahouse, I was carrying all of our food and most of our water.
 I should also explain that I hike a bit faster than the Prince, who likes to stop and rest often.  This annoys me, so I usually go at my own pace and wait for him at the top. He had plenty of water to get that far, and we could eat then.
 I did the two miles up to the teahouse in an hour of steady ascent.  I found a spot on a bench from where I could see everyone who arrived behind me.  I expected the Prince to be along in 15 minutes or so, and he would not miss the chance for a snack at the teahouse.
 I waited 40 minutes, and he never showed up.
 So I started down the mountain, expecting to see him resting on a rock beside the trail somewhere, or on one of the benches near the trailhead, which is at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
 Failing that, I figured he would be back at the Magic Bus in the parking lot, another 300 yards past the trailhead.
 He was nowhere to be found.
 I left a note in the van, giving the time I was there and promising to check back in 30 minutes, as the chateau is a vast property and very crowded with tourists and it would be difficult to spot each other.  Neither of us had taken cell phones on the hike, so I pocketed mine.  If he came back to the car, he might be able to call me.
 I walked all the way back to the trailhead, and wandered through the shopping areas on the lower levels of the chateau.  I went back to the car.  My note was right where I had left it, and so was his phone.
 I walked back toward the chateau. By now I had been off the trail more than an hour, and I was becoming concerned.
 This time the Prince and I found each other on the broad walkway between the chateau and the lake.  He was furious.
 He had forgotten the name of the teahouse (Lake Agnes) and had followed the trail signs to a rock formation known as the Little Beehive.  At some point, so he claims, the trail markers stopped reading "teahouse," instead  pointing only toward "Lake Agnes."  Too late, on the way down, he noticed the little picture of the teacup next to the "Lake Agnes" on the signs.
 He had no food and not much water, and he had hiked a mile more than I did, and climbed an extra 200 vertical feet, but he had never found the teahouse.
 He took a long nap when we got back to the campground.