CR2012: Sleeping Poet's Pool and Yukness Ledges

This day started with another stunning morning. Allow me to feed you another photo of the view from our cabin.

However, notice the puffy white clouds so early in the morning? As we learned at a weather presentation at the Le Relais shelter, this indicates a high enough level of humidity in the atmosphere that afternoon precipitation is likely. Today this rule of thumb was true.

Our goal for today was to climb up to Sleeping Poet's Pool and then traverse the Yukness Ledges. The trail for the pool branches off from the Yukness route close to the East Opabin trail, so East Opabin was the first leg of our hike. This trail is broad and stays in a forested ravine for a long time as it rises to the Opabin Plateau.

We had a prime ornithological sighting early on. We heard the vigorous chirping of winter wrens as we approached the log in the above picture. Standing quietly and peering at the log, we discovered that a baby wren was begging for food, but the parents, who had been hunting, were unwilling to reveal the baby's location as long as we were standing there. The wrens are hyperkinetic, so the next two pictures are blurry.

First, here is the parent with its catch, waiting for a chance to slip over to the baby unobserved.

After a while the baby emerged, frowning, to see what was delaying its breakfast.

We moved on, gaining altitude through switchback after switchback until we reached the start of the plateau, where the trail forks. The left fork is the direct route to the Yukness Ledges trail.

The trail continues to rise, albeit more gradually. Because the path follows a creek, the ground is often wet, and stepping stones are provided.

The East Opabin trail continues on to Hungabee Lake, where the Yukness Ledges trail comes in from the left. Opabin Lake itself is just beyond the moraine in the center of the photo; we'll visit it on our last day at Lake O'Hara.

The first section of the Yukness Ledges trail climbs through the boulder field on the left; in places steps have been created.

Not long after guiding you up and up through the boulder field, the Yukness Ledges trail levels out; soon after, the trail to Sleeping Poet's Pool leaves to the right. Don't look for it on any map, unless you have an old Lake O'Hara map; it's no longer official nor publicized, and it is steep. Here a photo looking back at this trail, taken on another day. The Yukness Ledges trail is near the bottom, while the Sleeping Poet trail hauls almost straight up. Careful foot placement is required and poles are very handy.

The short trail leads to a ledge higher on the mountain; here, Joan has arrived on the ledge, but the pool is further on.

The pool itself was still largely covered in ice, being often in shadow.

The view from the edge is spellbinding.

Another party had climbed up to the pool, not far behind us, and they decided to lunch there.

It was a family group from Houston, and they kindly offered to take our picture. Joan and I rarely manage to get into the same frame, so we accepted. Note how the clouds are getting larger and thicker, compared to the day's start. We are both wearing binoculars, of course, and the holster on my belt is bear spray.

We did not lunch here, but we did take a rest stop. In the process Joan discovered this smooth alpine gentian, sometimes known as glaucous gentian or inky gentian. We don't often see it, so this piece of serendipity was a treat. Isn't the color striking?

There is only one way to leave Sleeping Poet's Pool, the way you came in. On the way down, I took this picture of a beardtongue, a large family of flowers.

Going down a steep slope is trickier, if less aerobic, than going up , and it's harder on the knees. In this photo, the trail looks moderate, but that's a deception: the camera is pointed down along the trail, not horizontally.

Partway along the Yukness Ledges trail, I took this picture of the Lake O'Hara basin. Compare it to the view from Sleeping Poet's Pool. Also, note that the clouds are becoming thicker.

We came across this example of snow melting around a rock; the rock absorbs heat from the sun much faster than the snow, and the snow melts back from it.

The Yukness Ledges trail is an excellent platform for observing hikers on other trails. From the portion closest to the Opabin Plateau, you can keep an eye on All Souls' Prospect and the associated alpine route. From the portions closer to Lake Oesa, much of that trail is laid out before you (click the photo to enlarge).

With binoculars, it is easy to check out the comings and goings on the Lake Oesa trail. Those folks on the right with large backpacks and orange rock helmets (click to enlarge) are almost certainly going up to the hut at Abbot Pass.

After we turned 90° to the right and climbed several short ledges, Lake Oesa itself came into view.

On this cloudy afternoon the lake has a different personalilty than it did two days ago.

It's milkier in color, and wavelets stirred by the wind mean that it no longer sharply reflects the mountains and the snow.

On our way down to Lake O'Hara, we encountered a foraging marmot ...

and patches of flowers small and large ...

including blooming carnivorous butterwort.

We enjoyed these flowers and creatures between bands of showers that were drifting up the valley. The weather adage had been correct, that early clouds portended later showers, and we even had a bit of graupel, sometimes called soft hail. But we knew that this happens in the mountains, and had rain jackets in our daypacks. Overall, we were deeply satisfied with our first return in several years to Sleeping Poet's Pool.

Dueling Hummingbirds Feeder Ballet

Several days ago Joan and I were treated to a fascinating pre-migration hummingbird behavior. We know that the hummers are in a different mindset now; the feeder, which a month ago was drained by early evening, is now still half full when Joan empties and refills it with fresh sugar water each day.

Two hummingbirds, one male and one female, were both interested in our large hummingbird feeder (we have two). Each could not or would not drive the other one away permanently, but was also too uncomfortable to share the feeder. This led to a repetitive, chaotic behavior that went on for a couple of hours. I caught about 2½ minutes of it with my camera.

Two Hummingbirds in a Standoff Ballet from Ben Branch on Vimeo.

Here is a still frame from the video, to generate a good thumbnail for Blogger.

The things we see outside our kitchen window!

CR2012: Lake MacArthur

On the next morning, the weather looked very promising,

so Joan and I set out for Lake McArthur. Our favorite route is to begin with the Big Larches trail, which although steep in spots offers some inspiring views. Others may take the trail that goes through the Alpine Meadow, past the Elizabeth Parker Hut, but we find that option less interesting. When leaving from the shores of Lake O'Hara, there are several destinations, including Mary Lake, but the signs will take you through the intersections -- though you should always have a trail map!

The first portion of the trail winds through the forest,

with some modest uphills and downhills. Shortly you will reach one of the two distinguishing features of the Big Larches trail, the scree fields that have tumbled down from Mount Schäffer. (The other is the larches, most prominent in the autumn when they turn yellow.) The trail skirts the edges of these, but doesn't try to take you through them.

The middle section of the Big Larches trail is the steep part. Essentially, you are taking a staircase up along the edge of the rock flow. But the presence of that rock flow, by replacing trees, offers you a wonderful low-altitude look back at the O'Hara basin.

In this picture, Mary Lake is peeking through the woods at right, just below the Opabin Plateau. In center you can see Lake O'Hara and the succession of small ridges that intrude on the valley that lifts you to Lake Oesa, and the Wiwaxy peaks are at far left.

A few minutes after I snapped that picture a butterfly greeted us.

After the climb along the rocky fringe, the trail becomes much gentler, and soon after passing the turnoff for the All Souls' Alpine route, you arrive on the shores of Schäffer Lake, at precisely the same spot where the Alpine Meadows route disgorges its followers.

The mix of rocks and trees on the far side of Schäffer Lake is where we're headed. The trail goes by the right side of the lake, and we take the left-hand choice at a fork. The right-hand choice leads to McArthur Pass and the Odaray Highline, which is limited to four parties per day because that territory is an important wildlife corridor. Grizzlies, cougars, moose, wolves, porcupine, mountain goats, and even wolverines are known to use it for travel between mountain valleys. Not everybody observes the restriction, unfortunately, but we do. In the next photo, we've begun to climb that bump on the far side of Schäffer Lake.

Soon we can see into the McArthur Valley.

We're still in the boulder fields of Mount Schäffer and Schäffer Ridge, and we will continue to be. This is prime marmot and pika territory; we've seen them in the Big Larches section and in the sections to come. Within a  few minutes, we see a family of four marmots, and two youngsters are tussling.

Soon you are confronted with a choice, if you haven't decided already: there are two routes to the northwest shore of Lake McArthur, the high-level circuit and the low-level circuit.

The high-level circuit is rockier and has some steps that we'll see shortly; the low-level circuit is less rocky but causes you to lose and regain altitude. Joan and I prefer to make a loop of it, and today we went in on the high-level trail and came back by the low-level trail.

Just a few minutes beyond the sign I took this photo; the trail winds  along the left side. Lake McArthur is tucked at the foot of the mountain on the far left, Park Mountain.

In the next photo, the high-level trail approaches a brief section of stone steps.

Here's a closeup. Fortunately, you don't have to climb all the way up; the trail follows one shelf to the right and then continues on.

The trail bears to the left and becomes much less rocky, but is still climbing.

When the high-level trail passes through the meadow, your steps quicken; you know you're getting close.

The debris flowing down from Schäffer Ridge, on the left, shows two simultaneous color themes, an almost-mixing of two different geological eras.

Then, after we climbed the last rock outcrop, Lake McArthur appeared. The wind was still, leaving the lake a mirror for the mountains and the snow.

When we arrived near the shore, we were reminded all over again why Lake McArthur was the favorite spot for Joan's father. As with all alpine lakes, the sun and clouds can change McArthur's appearance several times during a lunch.

There was still some ice on the lake,

and the water level was a couple of feet higher than usual, spilling over the low point in the trail, where the high-level and low-level circuits meet.

The low level trail, on leaving McArthur, drops down to the west of the high level trail.

The low level trail descends and then immediately regains that altitude. In this photo, we are partway down this descent, and we know we must regain the top of the far rock pile.

We arrived back at Schäffer Lake, where two footbridges span the outflow.

Looking back at the lake from the bridges.

Although we were three-quarters of the way back to our cabin, the wildlife encounters weren't over yet. The Big Larches trail treated us to a view of this pika.

These critters don't stand still. They are busy harvesting forage for the long winter ahead, occasionally stopping to scan their surroundings, perched atop a large rock, and letting loose with a high-pitched "eeeeep!". I managed to get a picture of this fellow carrying provisions back to his larder.

After returning to our cabin and cleaning up, it was time to think about our own provisions, which meant strolling to the lodge for dinner. In this photo, the gong has not yet rung.

For the last few years the Lodge has adopted a seating system that Joan calls "speed dating," in which you get different tablemates each evening. You can, of course, request to be seated with a specific party, but we've met such a wide range of people this way that we prefer it.

Tomorrow we'll tackle Sleeping Poets Pool and the Yukness Ledges.