Canada 2024: Monica Lake and a Steep Climb

On July 11th, 2024, Joan and I packed our day gear, headed for breakfast in hiking attire and toting our stuff. We hopped on the 9:00 lodge bus and were dropped off at the Linda Lake cutoff, saving ~2.5km of outbound hiking. Our ultimate destination: Monica Lake, which lies at the foot of Cathedral Mountain, at the mouth of the Duchesnay Basin. We hadn't been all the way there since 2011. Here's a map of this day's route; (click on any image to enlarge).

The blue line took us to the cutoff, along which we headed west to Linda Lake (the southbound arrow is our return route). We trod up and down, but mostly up, and along the way crossed Morning Glory Creek.

The intersection where the Morning Glory trail splits off is marked.

The abandoned Cataract Brook trail is no longer on any map.

Continuing, we arrived at the northeastern edge of Linda Lake,

and chose to forge ahead on the route taking us beyond, rather than around, Linda Lake.

Except for a distant vision of a pika, we'd seen little wildlife but lots of flowers, and we indulged in some botanizing. We occasionally yelled "Yo Bear!" to alert any nearby ursine creatures to our presence. Some stretches of the path required close attention, crossing boggy areas or streams.

There are peaks on either side of the basin. Here's Odaray Mountain, altitude 10,292' or 3,137m.

We are not going up there.

Ducklings swimming around Linda Lake with mom.

A young marmot was on the lookout.

For a while, the trail winds gently upward.

We passed by Cathedral Lake,

and took the route towards Cathedral Basin.

The trail soon began to climb the left edge of a scree and talus field. And then it grew steeper. And steeper. Small switchbacks appeared and made the ascent safer, but still not easy, and grasping the occasional tree was mandatory.

I remember my first time on this climb; I wore clothes suited for a chilly morning. In the sun on that climb, I was soon in a sauna of my own sweat!

 

Plenty of flowers along the way.

Including this red paintbrush.

The greenery slowly gave way to stone.

Looking back. We ain't at the top yet.

Eventually, the trail leveled out and swung east towards Cathedral mountain, passing through debris and boulder fields that meant Joan and I had to carefully pick our way forward. Occasionally an ancient red-and-orange trail blaze lingered on a boulder. Still, it was clear that hikers had invented several routes through this obstacle field.

 

Then, we exited the rockfall zone and picked our way through a meadow toward Monica.

The basin and the lake. (The lake is in the lower right; click on the image to enlarge.)

Looking back towards O'Hara.

Zooming in ... Lake O'Hara is circled in green. It's a ways back there.

We found a congenial rock and had lunch in the sunshine. Three people -- the first we'd seen since the bus -- arrived, gazed at the lake, and were startled when they spotted us. After a chat, it was time for the long march back. Here, Joan identifies some plants.

One of the level stretches along the top.

Looking down at Linda (left) and Cathedral (right) Lakes.

Pink mountain heather along the way.

Whew! We made it down to the level of Cathedral Lakes.

At the south shore of Linda Lake. It's a destination in its own right. Joan and I paused here and chatted with a fellow hiker named Doug. Doug did most of the talking.

We traversed the rocky bluff at the south end of Linda Lake, and, saying goodbye to Doug, took the unsigned trail along the east shore to reach the trail we'd come in on, avoiding the horrible descent+ascent on the Beeline.

It was a long day, and Joan and I could have used an additional water bottle on the slog back on the Campground trail. We refilled a water bottle at the campground and then took the creek-side trail back to O'Hara rather than tramp on the road. A few detours were necessary because of high water (spring snow-melt).

 

After a quick cleanup, we were off to dinner, and had a great conversation with a couple at our table, Bob and Barb. We closed the "restaurant!" Then it was time to REST.