On the 4th Day of HIking (Lake Oesa)

Our fourth day of hiking in the Canadian Rockies began with a quick breakfast at Cathedral Mountain Lodge. As we ate, morning drizzles came and went, leading us to dither over what to pack and what to wear. After a drive back up Kicking Horse Pass to the parking area for Lake O'Hara, we waited with others at the shelter for the morning lodge bus.

Also waiting there was a couple we had met last September at O'Hara, Jeanette and Brian (spellings are approximate!). A parks ranger was greeting visitors and explaining the O'Hara system to walk-ins (11 km on the fire road). She told us that there were fewer walk-ins than the previous year, the year of free parks passes celebrating Canada's 150th year.

At the lodge we received trail lunches and our cabin assignment, #1, which would be available after 1:00; Joan and I planned to be on the trail well past that. We headed for Lake Oesa, but a few yards out we encountered a shower and returned the lodge porch to don rain paints and otherwise prepare for precipitation. By the time we'd done that the shower was over!

Soon we could look across O'Hara at the cabins; our #1 is the leftmost in this photo.

After several switchbacks we arrived at "lunch rock," as we call it, the top of a bluff overlooking the lake.

On the way we saw evidence of a rough winter, with avalanche tracks of downed or bent timber. Several trees had been turned into mere stubs at lunch rock.

As we hiked on Joan and I heard distant pikas and small birds, but no marmots. A faster, younger couple passed us, who held reservations for Abbot Hut tonight, now cancelled due to the closure of the hut for foundation repairs. Parks Canada does not want it to slide off the side of the mountain.

Our path wound through a couple of boulder fields before reaching the bottom of the Grassi Steps,

named for their builder, the coal miner and one-man trail crew, Lawrence Grassi. This plaque is at the top of the stairs:

I think of this waterfall as the "curve." Here the trail,

after climbing steeply, takes a sharp bend and levels out. Immediately after is Victoria Lake, and a cutoff trail in case you want to reach the Yukness Ledges without taking the loop past Lake Oesa.

After a bit more climbing and another small lake, one of the favorite moderate-hike destinations at O'Hara: Lake Oesa.

It wasn't crowded on this chilly and overcast September 9th. Joan and I found a very congenial rock to sit upon for lunch.

As we departed another shower began, mixed with ice pellets, so we pulled out our pack covers and decided to take the direct route back, not the Yukness Trail/Victoria Cutoff loop. A while later the shower stopped -- it was that kind of day. At the Yukness Pool we saw a pika!

Back at lunch rock, Joan posed for me.

Below, on Lake O'Hara, canoers.

The weather had improved, so we decided to reach our cabin by continuing around O'Hara. The foot of the lunch rock bluff had some kind of monitoring station.

The apex of our loop around O'Hara, the southern end, created a good photo framing.

We had plenty of time to unpack and clean up before dinner. Joan and I were seated at a table for six, including Jeanette and Brian. We were all looking forward to tomorrow.