Canadian Rockies 2025: Mosquito Creek and Mo5 Campground

 On July 27th Joan and I departed from the Cathedral Mountain Lodge, first driving east to the Icefields Parkway, then north for about 25km to the parking area for the Mosquito Creek trail. Today's jaunt would be a moderate out-and-back hike on our way to the Lodge at Bow Lake.

After a short climb, the trail curved and steered us towards the creek.

Joan inspects the way ahead. Crossing the creek would require a bridge.

Forty-five minutes later, voila!

Another half-hour, and we reached the popular campground Mo5.

Bear (ursine) safety is important here, and your gear and food are stored as aerial items.

As we saw.

We wandered further along for a while.

A "variable checkerspot," Euphydryas anicia, was taking a break.

We drew closer to the mountains, with Molar Mountain illuminated by the afternoon sun.

Now it was time to turn around and drive to the Lodge at Bow Lake and check in. (Historical note: in working with Indigenous consultants and Elders from the Stoney Nakoda Nation, it was found that the original name, “Num-Ti-Jah,” was not officially gifted to Jimmy Simpson, its founder, nor spelled correctly. At the Elders' recommendation, the new stewards of The Lodge decided to remove it from the name.)

 

The lake is enormously popular for many reasons -- to start a hike, for wedding photos and receptions, and so forth -- so the new owners established a private parking area for guests near the highway; when you park there, call the front desk. Someone will arrive to ferry you and your gear to/from the lodge past the road-clogging masses. This year, in addition, barriers were installed to prevent vehicles from parking along the road leading to the parking area. Here are two photos from our 2024 visit: first, the main buildings.

This was the scene from the top (fourth) floor. No elevators; we had to walk, but the views were worth it!

And nearby a 17-room extension is under construction.

 

We had a wonderful dinner and sleep. Tomorrow's goal: an ambitious but spectacular hike to Nigel Pass.

Canadian Rockies 2025: Way Above Emerald Lake

On July 26th Joan and I drove up a winding access road to the enormously popular Emerald Lake, setting out early to avoid being forced to park far down the road by the tsunami of cars, campers, and buses that flood the designated parking area. Our counter-clockwise loop began with a boardwalk. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Here's a map of the area; note the packed contour lines. We're gonna tackle a long climb.

Low clouds hung over this cool morning.

The first leg of the lake trail, winding along the shore, is under gradual repair. It's prone to sustained muddiness, so supplies for creating more boardwalks are anchored offshore.

Soon we turned onto the Burgess Pass trail, and immediately began climbing through switchback after switchback.

Bankeraceae fungi often grow from mature conifer and broadleaf trees, of which we had an abundance ...

Up and up we went. A wide variety of blooming and non-blooming plants, changing with the altitude, kept calling for our attention. The trail grew rougher, with occasional obstacles such as fallen trees to go over, under, or around. Views only emerged after 2½ hours of climbing.

The woods finally began to diminish and thin. This pic was taken 45 minutes later.

Then the Burgess Pass trail briefly merged with the Wapta Highline. Following our noses rather than a plan, we turned left to reach the high point marked by a black circle in this map.

We'd climbed 3,000 feet, or about 920 meters. It was time to gawk and luncheon before retracing our steps.

 Looking down at Field.

Clouds, mountains, and an erosion plain were in view on the far side of Emerald Lake.

After our break, it was time to retrace our steps. Partway down we encountered a trio of women hiking up, our first encounter with fellow hikers since leaving the lakeside, and the only encounter until we were back at the water! We turned right to finish circumnavigating the lake. At first, it felt odd to encounter so many fellow visitors. The further we went, the drier the trail became, and eventually the village complex came into view.

It was as busy as ever!

Joan and I will claim credit for 10.5 miles (almost 17  km), not counting the treks through the parking lot to/from our car, and 6,000 feet of elevation change -- 3k up and 3k down. Whew! I think we earned our dinner back at Cathedral Mountain Lodge.

Canadian Rockies 2025: Yukness Ledges

Thursday, July 24th, began with a long breakfast as we engaged with table-mates on topics ranging from novice hikers to senior care. Then Joan and I geared up to tackle the Yukness Ledges, crossing from the Oesa side to the Opabin side. Uncertain of the weather, we brought our waterproof backpacks. (In the end, we didn't need them.)

Ascending the Oesa trail, we soon encountered a marmot youngster. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

The ascent passes by the plaque honoring Lawrence Grassi.

We continued climbing towards the Lake Victoria cutoff.

Moments later, another marmot appeared, feeding upon the greenery.

Then, a bloom of Glentiana glauca, commonly know as  pale gentian or glaucous gentian.

At one point Joan chatted with a young park staff member, waxing so enthusiastic about the Yukness Ledges that he turned around to try them for himself. Then we crossed the Victoria outlet on stepping stones and followed the cutoff, clambering through boulder fields to this intersection. We're almost to the Yukness Ledges route. 

It's still an uphill stretch to the ledges. 

With maximum zoom, my camera caught these hikers on Wiwaxy Gap, far away.

The main attraction of the ledges is the views,

but sometimes there are intriguing plants or rock formations as you weave along, following trail blazes through tumbled pieces of mountain. A closeup ...

The scene constantly shifts.

The path began to bend towards Opabin.

The Opabin prospect was easy to spot.

On reaching the Opabin plateau, we spotted a pika.

Not having yet traveled the Opabin highline on this visit, we set it as our next goal. Our direction was generally south.

Passing by the Moor lakes, we saw a stunning reflection.

On the highline trail, there are locations overlooking the streams and, on the far side, more trails, including the West Opabin descent to O'Hara.

Descending on the west trail, we stopped and talked to several Spanish youth and their group leader. They had walked up from the O'Hara parking area -- 11 km or 7 miles -- to reach the trailhead! Having reached this point, it was now time to start their return leg. One of their first comments was how wonderful it was that we seniors/elders were out doing so much hiking. Mmm, thank you. Perhaps the image of the Spanish grandmother dressed in black lingers back in the Iberian Peninsula!

 

The O'Hara cabins usually come with flowers; this one caught my eye.

Our traveling pigs, Pudgy and Poppy, were glad to see us but disappointed that they had not been brought along. (The waterproof daypacks don't have pockets for them to ride in.)

 

Friday, July 25th, was our final day at O'Hara. We needed to be packed up and out of our cabin by 10:00, and would take the afternoon bus down to the parking area. It was a wet day. Joan and I hiked through showers back to Lake McArthur; upon reaching the trail's crest and seeing the lake, we decided that was good enough. We hiked back down to O'Hara and ate our packed lunches indoors; the afternoon tea at the lodge held lots of visitors. Later, after boarding the lodge bus and being reunited with our rental car, we drove to Cathedral Mountain Lodge for the next two nights.

Canadian Rockies 2025: Rainy Day, Then Wiwaxy!

July 22nd was a rainy day; never heavy, sometimes quite light. Not trusting to luck, Joan and I wore rain pants, a jacket, and even a waterproof backpack, despite its limitations. We walked around Lake O'Hara clockwise, the long way to start a climb towards Opabin, and took the west trail up. From the prospect, views of Mary Lake and O'Hara were on offer. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

From here we wandered up the Opabin Plateau's middle path, hoping to see pikas or marmots, and keeping an eye out for a dry place to lunch. Finally, snug under our "traditional lunch tree" near Lake Hungabee, we dined in chilly weather. At the end of our meal, a woman with two young folks from the UK came up. Joan and I chatted with them, and then volunteered the location. We descended on the east trail and, on reaching Lake O'Hara, the intermittent drizzle began to let up. The ducks were out.

Better weather continued to move in. After dinner, Joan and I spent time admiring the lake and mountain views from the O'Hara lakeshore.

Zooming in on the Seven Falls in the photo above.

Mountain ranges and misty peaks caught our eye.

Tomorrow, we resolved, we'd head up there -- to Wiwaxy Gap, of notorious steepness. The trail gains just under 1700 feet with an average grade of ~14%, with some gentler and some even steeper stretches. The steepness is so notorious that very, very few come directly down, but traverse to Lake Oesa instead.

 

July 23rd was a cheerful day. Off we went to the Wiwaxy Gap trailhead, and began climbing. Here's a first look back towards O'Hara as we zig-zag up the side of an avalanche gully. (There are views all the way up!)

Twelve minutes later, some hard-won progress.

More huffing and puffing -- although we felt stronger than expected, many of the young and strong passed us; we passed a few.

Then switchback after switchback. Getting near the top, we could see the chain of lakes heading up to Oesa.

At the gap!

A view towards other lakes ... our next leg of this hike, the Huber Ledges.

From here you can also see the Sleeping Poets pool, a reclusive pond hidden above the Yukness Ledges.

I asked Joan to pose in front of one of the Wiwaxy peaks.

Up here it was chilly, and we donned our rain jackets to stay warm. It was time to grab a snack, a fraction of our lunch fixings.

One group of hikers headed out on the ledges ahead of us.

Click on any image to enlarge. 

The Huber Ledges require attention. There's one spot where we lost the trail, the same spot as the last time we did the Huber Ledges. A dad with two boys came along and said he'd seen a video recommending that if you lose the trail, head up. We briefly backtracked and found the route. It really needs a blaze or two at that point. In this photo, the easily navigated last third is visible.

A look back to the gap.

This panorama goes from Oesa to O'Hara, with the Yukness Ledges in the center.

We passed a hiker who had overtaken us at Wiwaxy by proceeding nonstop through the gap. He had stopped to fix lunch along the trail, an instant pasta meal heated over a cookstove! We continued our descent.

 

Soon, a curious marmot appeared.

It was the least concerned about us -- probably spoiled by other hikers' handouts.

Oesa, at last! The smooth rocks near the lake beckon us to come and sit awhile.

We continued our descent, pausing at the extraordinarily clear waters of Lake Victoria.

Not long after, we spotted a lazing marmot.

Twenty minutes later, another marmot dashed across our path,

then turned to stare at us from the rocks. Peek-a-boo!

Fatigue was creeping into our cadence and balance, but we managed to carry on. A light shower began partway along the O'Hara lakeshore, not far from our cabin, and we picked up our pace. Mission accomplished!