CR2013: Opabin Lake and the Tree-Eating Marmot

By September 5th Joan and I had hiked Mount Yamnuska, Ha Ling, Rummel Lake/Pass, Karst Spring, Lake Oesa/Yukness Ledges, Lake McArthur/All Souls' Prospect, Wiwaxy Gap/Huber Ledges, and Last Larch Prospect. Of these only Karst Spring had been a shorter hike, and we had been able to "train" for only two and a half weeks after returning from our extended Arctic trip. We were ready for an easy day, especially for our tired feet, but we still wanted an enjoyable hike. Our go-to in this situation is always the Opabin Plateau. Just look at the map.

You can enter and exit the Plateau by different routes (East and West Opabin), visit the Prospect and meander on West, East, and Highline trails, and work your way back to Opabin Lake. What's not to like?

Joan and I started up the West Opabin trail, rockier but more scenic than the East trail. We soon encountered a hoary marmot that was staring intently out into space.

Our first extended stop was at Opabin Prospect. This photo looks up the plateau and to the west, not out to the grand view around Lake O'Hara.

The prospect is an excellent viewpoint for inspecting Mary Lake as well as Lake O'Hara.

Here's a closer look at Mary Lake.

There's  a Robin Crusoe tree down there.

On this sunny day the canoes are in use on Lake O'Hara.

Across the lake, on the trail to Lake Oesa, is the viewpoint Joan and I call "lunch rock." It's a dandy place to have lunch, or a snack, while your legs dangle over the edge.

In the other direction there are already hikers at All Souls' Prospect.

From Opabin Prospect you can even watch the comings and goings at the lodge and cabins. Take your binoculars!

At places such as this we'd love to have a geologist as well as a naturalist along. What story does this mountain have to tell us about our planet's history?

Joan and I then turned and began hiking towards the interior of the plateau. Soon there is a view of the lower of the Cascade Lakes.

Here's a section of the cascades.

The trail comes down to the level of the lakes, and here we spotted what we later identified as female harlequin ducks. Yet another reason for binos. (The males all fly back to the coast soon after mating season.)

We continued up the plateau, and at one rocky pile were greeted by a pika.

But what truly stopped us in our tracks, as we started up the final slope to Opabin Lake, was this tree-eating marmot. (Click to enlarge.)

He soon tired of the small sapling and moved off to the right.

There he found prey more his own size.

Continuing up the slope by the west-side trail, Joan and I began to catch a view of Opabin Lake in its mountainous nest.

This late in the season, the glacier at the foot of Opabin Pass looks fragile and dirty, desperately waiting for the first snows.

A closeup of Opabin Lake. Sometimes we lunch by the shore; this time we lunched with this broader view.

We exited so as to make a loop. This image is of Hungabee Lake from partway down the east-side trail. More than once, when lunching in the rain, we have taken shelter under some of those trees on the far shore. Which ones? That's a secret for Joan and me.

Back down on the Lake O'Hara circuit trail, I paused to take a photo of the water cascading down from the Seven Veils Falls.

Joan returned directly to the cabin to rest her feet, while I wrapped up a photo project that will be the subject of a later post. Dinner, as always, was excellent and reviving. My final photo for today is a twilight picture of Lake O'Hara. At this hour the day-hikers have disappeared and the campers are preparing their evening meal, away from the lodge. It is ever so quiet, and becoming chillier.

This was our last night at Lake O'Hara for 2013, but Joan and I would be taking the afternoon bus tomorrow, leaving us time for one more hike in this secluded alpine retreat.