CR2015: All Souls' Prospect

July 29th was our last day at Lake O'Hara, but our afternoon bus didn't leave until 4:00. Knuckles and Pierre were eager to take another, albeit shorter, hike.

Along the shore of Lake O'Hara a hermit thrush had caught breakfast.

The morning started out promising but quickly clouded over and began to sprinkle as we climbed the West Opabin trail, headed for All Souls' Prospect. That's the kind of week it was. The mountain goats were grazing yet again on the flanks of Mount Schäffer.

The rain intensified as we began the boulder-strewn stairsteps where All Souls' splits from West Opabin. Soon we reached the section of All Souls' trail that had been rerouted this year; the steepest, slipperiest, and most overtaxed section near Opabin had been replaced with a more gradual ascent. This photo looks back from the trail towards the Opabin Plateau, nestled between the peaks.

At one point we were almost directly above the mountain goats. (This picture was taken with zoom, of course.)

All Souls' Prospect offers a great panorama, but catches the wind and does not encourage hikers to linger overlong. Click on the image to enlarge.

A young couple, just visible in the look-back photo above, caught up to us. They had been married one year, with a wedding gift of one set of parents' slot for Lake O'Hara this year. They started down a couple of minutes before we did, as clouds began to spill over McArthur Pass.

When we were about halfway down a gale blew in with horizontal rain and a wicked wind chill. Conditions were better by the time Joan and I reached the junction with the Big Larches trail, but rather than linger outdoors any longer, we decided to return to the lodge for afternoon tea. In this picture the goodies have not yet been set out, but we were content to sit in a dry, warm place until the snacks appeared.

The weather was greatly improved when it was time to board the bus.

On the 11 km drive down to the parking area we heard a remarkable story about over-reliance on electronic devices and the ensuing selective blindness. The ranger ("warden" in Canada-speak) had unlocked the fire road gate that morning to drive up to the warden's cabin. After moving her truck but before she could re-lock the gate a man drove past all the Parking and No Access signs and proceeded all the way up the closed road to the lodge. He was to meet someone "at Lake O'Hara" and his GPS told him to keep going. Needless to say he was ordered back down the road.

A mystery was also resolved. The night before we had heard helicopter noise, but couldn't see anything through our cabin window. It turns out that a couple had walked in for a day visit to Lake O'Hara, and then one had injured an ankle. They missed the parks bus back down, had no campground reservations, and couldn't walk out. Ouch! I expect the helicopter ride wasn't cheap.

We went on to spend the night at Cathedral Mountain Lodge, not far away. There was another heavy shower during dinner, followed by the return of the sun. We repacked to prepare for tomorrow's adventure, which we knew would include a drive we had not yet taken in the Canadian Rockies. There was also to be a spur-of-the-moment extension.

CR2015: Yukness Ledges and Sleeping Poets Pool

July 28th was overcast but not threatening to rain. Today was the last full day of our stay at Lake O'Hara, so our goal was Sleeping Poet's Pool, which we had been unable to visit the year before.

As we made our way around Lake O'Hara to the Lake Oesa trail, Joan and I were thrilled to get some good binocular views of a pair of varied thrushes, a bird not found in Ohio. Its unique ringing song always tells us we're in the Rockies.

We headed for Lake Oesa to pick up the Yukness Ledges trail. On our way, we look down on Lake O'Hara and a canoe (click to enlarge).

When we arrived at Oesa the weather was cold, but still no precipitation.

What's that? Out on the lake there are researchers in an inflatable rubber boat, no doubt sampling the water.

Another fun bird spotting at Oesa, a hermit thrush. These occur in isolated areas in Ohio, including the hemlock ravines at Clear Creek Metro Park.

But we're bound for the Yukness Ledges. Bye-bye, Oesa.

At first the trail drops down a short way from the level of Oesa.

We slowly gained altitude and distance along the Yukness Ledges Alpine Trail. Behind us both Lake Oesa and the lower, smaller Lake Lefroy were in view.

Using full zoom, my camera caught these hikers on their way up to Oesa. They're almost there.

After the Yukness trail drops and turns west in front of Mount Yukness, the view ahead is like this:

The first half of the ledge trail showed clear signs of maintenance work since last year; false trails and dangerous edges were blocked by a row of stones and the alpine trail markers, a blue square with two yellow vertical rectangles, appeared to be freshly painted.

This zoom photo from the ledge trail shows the Oesa trail winding through a boulder field.

The point where the trail passes the center of Lake O'Hara is an irresistible sight: no matter how many photos I have of it, I'm compelled to always take another. Note that the clouds are still low.

This deep gully is the last spot where the winter snow lingers on the Yukness Ledges trail, but after the hot June this year, there is none.

After turning another corner we're headed south, and the Opabin Plateau is below and ahead. Just when you think that the trail to Sleeping Poet's Pool must not exist any longer, it appears, close to the Opabin end of the Yukness Ledges. Here, Joan is making her way up the steep, unofficial and unmaintained trail. Because I'm looking up to take the picture, it's even steeper than it appears.

An expansive ledge well above the Yukness Ledge trail holds the pool. Note our daypacks just right and below the center of the image, offering scale. There's plenty of water this time; in some years there's hardly any.

The lip of this ledge begins as a series of rocky steps before turning into a sheer drop.

The view changes as you walk along the edge. The little knob far below in this image is Opabin Prospect!

During our restful lunch next to the pool a solo climber came down the scree slope from higher on Mt. Hungabee. Afterwards we carefully descended back to the Yukness Ledge trail, where light showers resumed, and thence down to the Opabin Plateau. After tromping along the Opabin Highline trail, I took this photo looking back towards the upper part of the Cascade Lakes.

A gray-crowned rosy finch was busy foraging amidst the running waters, hopping about so frequently it was difficult to grab an in-focus picture. This is the best of the lot.

We also saw a parent/child pair of dippers, and a marmot on a high rock.

Joan and I descended using the West Opabin trail, and shortly after the All Souls Prospect alpine route had split off, we saw a fisher, a secretive member of the weasel family. This was the first sighting for either one of us. Further along we were treated to yet another view of the mountain goats that have been visiting the slopes of Mt. Schäffer this week.

Near the bottom of the trail we came across a porcupine, capping an extremely critter-filled hike.

That evening we had another wonderful dinner at the lodge, and prepared to depart. But tomorrow we would leave on the afternoon bus, giving us most of the day for one last hike at Lake O'Hara.