lake agnes tea house hike
 

am considering going with family members who can walk for hours but are not fit enough to do lots of steep hiking. in regards to stenuous, how would you rate this hike? for the average hiker am i correct in understanding that we should plan on about 6 hours? thanks.

You are going to be walking uphill all the way there ltt, so anyone not fit will feel breathless (consider also that you are at a high elevation = less oxygen).
It isn't a difficult hike in terms of terrain, so if you go slowly, I think that it can be done.

It is in a hanging valley and you go up fairly steeply.
The view is first class.

Ltt, here's a website that gives a fairly detailed description of the beautiful hike to Lake Agnes Teahouse.

http://www.canadianrockies.net/luminous/mpagnes.html

Note that there is an elevation gain of 582 feet per mile. I would not be able to take my mother on this hike. She can walk long distances on flat ground but, because of her poor knees, she finds inclines very difficult. For her walking DOWN a steep hill is more painful than walking UP one.

If your travel companions are merely unfit, perhaps they could start training now. If they have wrecked knees, however, it may not be just a matter of fitness, and there may be a limit to the amount they can do to ready themselves for this trip.

I thought I was in good shape as I do walk a lot, however this was straight up and I only made it about a quarter of the way up before quitting.

I guess it depends how determined you are. I am definitely NOT fit, and not very motivated to exercise either, but did manage to hike up to Lake Agnes Tea House and beyond, all in search of a better viewpoint to take photos!!!

If you are "average" and can "walk for hours" as ltt indicated, I think that you can do it, just don't try walking at warp speed, and take brief rests along the way to catch your breath.

We hiked to Lake Agnes (and also Little Beehive on the way) last September. We are in our late 50's and generally walk a mile or two (on city streets) 3-4 times a week. We do 1-3 mile hikes while on vacation (with one long one like this thrown in) (usually once or twice a year). Since we have hiked in the Rockies before, maybe we knew what to expect (as far as elevation, less oxygen, etc), but if we can make it, I think almost anyone can. My knees usually bother me going down steep hills--but I don't remember them being a problem on this hike. It did take us every bit of 6 hours--but we stop frequently to rest, take pictures, etc. (and there were plenty of people resting with us) We had considered doing the loop to the Glaciers, but decided that would be too much for us. This was pretty much all the hiking we did that one day--but it was one of the best memories of our trip.