CR2011: Snowy September 2nd at Lake O'Hara

Overnight it drizzled, and then snowed. We awoke on September 2nd to a powdered-sugar morning.

The cabin looked like this.

And heading to breakfast, the lodge was like this.

We decided to start with a clockwise loop of Lake O'Hara, because the weather looked uncertain. A footbridge crosses the stream where it exits the lake.

The Lakeshore Trail offers plenty of views. This next image was taken near the lake's outlet.

We decided to return to the Opabin Plateau. When the weather could take a turn for the worse, it's not too high up nor too far away from the lakeshore. This time we took the east trail up. Here Joan is near the top, or rather, near the point where the trail becomes much less steep.

Heading further back into the plateau, towards the namesake Opabin Lake (7500') and Opabin Glacier, the east trail is gentle for a while.

A pika stood guard to cheer us up. Eeep!

This image was taken as we approached Hungabee Lake and the moraine behind which Opabin Lake and Glacier lurk. Notice how the air is thickening with mist. It was getting windy again too.

Scaling the moraine -- the trail is visible towards the left -- we came up to Opabin Lake. This year the water level was low, and I stood on an exposed stretch of lake bottom to take this picture.

It was now too windy and drizzly to stop in the open for lunch. We took the trail down the west side of the moraine, and crossed over to a nook in the trees near the northeast corner of Hungabee Lake, where we had eaten during inclement weather in other years. Afterwards we passed by the head of the Moor Lakes.

Then we traversed the Highline Trail, which is always fun. We were breaking trail; there were no footprints in the snow ahead of us, reminding us of a few years ago, also breaking trail on the Highline, when a Russian couple followed us assuming that we knew where we were going.

Intermittent waves of drizzle and flurries continued as we hiked. We finished by descending along the east trail to the lakeshore, and thence to the cabin. Tomorrow would be much different.