September 14, the last day of our visit to Lake O'Hara, was gray but calm, with mists and low clouds.
Joan and I had signed up for the late (4:00 pm) bus, snaring us another hiking day. We took the East Opabin trail up to the Opabin Plateau, a change from our other hike there. On the way we saw some birds on the O'Hara lakeshore.
Before embarking on the east trail we looked back to the bluff formation we've nicknamed "lunch rock."
After the forested switchbacks of the east trail we took a staircased connector to the Cascade Lakes. We were breaking trail through the snow, except for animal tracks.
At the lakes we saw ducks and an american dipper, adapted and oblivious to the frigid water.
Another shot of mountains, lakes, and ice.
We continued on the West Opabin trail and headed towards Opabin Lake, skirting the edge of Hungabee Lake.
Looking east towards the Yukness Ledges.
There was a group of five photographers strung out along the plateau; we encountered them individually. In this image one of the photogs is scoping out a scene.
Hungabee Lake -- almost a black and white photo!
Soon Joan and I reached Opabin Lake, at the foot of the Opabin Glacier.
We descended to the other side of Hungabee,
The track at right is the East Opabin trail.
and picked up the Highline trail. This gave us a fresh look down to the Cascade Lakes.
Out to the Opabin Prospect, where Lake O'Hara played peek-a-boo.
After our crisscrossing of the plateau we headed down the West Opabin trail, and some precipitation began. It picked up as we chatted with a Parks Canada warden on the O'Hara lakeshore. It was time to go into the lodge and warm up with the fire and afternoon tea, followed by the bus ride down to the parking area, where I brushed snow off our rental car by hand. We were on our way to Moraine Lake Lodge, which wasn't far, and where we would spend the next three nights. However, the explosive popularity of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake presented obstacles.
In particular, a left turn from the Lake Louise road to enter the Moraine Lake road was forbidden. Signs and barriers were up, and a guy was waving people on. We guessed that drivers were expected to drive to the Lake Louise parking and make a U-turn to approach Moraine Lake as a right hand turn. But according to the literature/e-mail from Moraine Lake Lodge, as lodge guests with proof via printout, we should have been allowed to make the left hand turn. The barrier dude explained that his supervisor told him that nobody turned left, but he thought it was a stupid rule and since Joan and I had already turned in that direction to talk to him, we might as well go ahead. What about next time? we asked. "Give it a go," he said, shrugging. We squeezed the Corolla into the last parking space at the lodge. We were staying in one of the cabins -- outlying structures fancier than the term "cabin" implies -- and ours was at the far end. After dinner we chewed over our options for tomorrow's hiking; the weather forecast was not enticing. Joan and I decided on Paradise Valley and then we collapsed into bed.
The morning of September 14th was bright and cheerful -- and the landscape frosty/snowy.
The photogs loved it.
Joan and I decided to hike up to and around the Opabin Plateau today,
and leave a more alpine hike for tomorrow, when those high trails might be less snowy. This photo shows snow up at Wiwaxy Gap and the Huber Ledges,
and the snow is more widespread in the shady areas. Clouds began to form as moisture rose from the sunlit slopes.
The West Opabin trail started out through the woods.
Then it began to climb the west flank of the plateau, and Mary Lake came into view.
After traversing rocky steps and switchbacks, Joan and I neared the crest of the trail. But wait -- was that a mountain goat ahead? (Click on the image to enlarge and check the center.)
Bring up the binoculars! It sure was.
This male mountain goat was so happy to lie on the grass and chew cud in the sunshine that as long as we remained on the trail, he was unconcerned about us, even when I raised my camera. This was a great privilege he granted.
Those are horns, not antlers, meaning they are part of the animal's skull, even if covered in a sheath that darkens the color. We left him to his meal, and took the short loop out to Opabin Prospect.
It's a great view out there.
Look down from the edge and get a great view of the lakes.
Joan and I continued around the Prospect, reaching the point where the trail dips down to the Cascade Lakes.
At the edge of the water we caught sight of an American Dipper, a bird that catches all its food by striding about underwater.
After crossing the footbridge I looked back the way we had just come.
A left turn took us to the Opabin Highline trail, which meanders deeper into the plateau along a ridge. We stopped for lunch at a viewpoint that looked back at the lakes and bluff.
This stretch of trail was deserted, but across the way we spotted hikers on the Yukness Ledges trail.
Before reaching the end of the Highline we encountered two gents who told us that there were ptarmigans on the last section of the East Opabin trail, where it climbs to its namesake lake. Joan and I reached the south shore of Hungabee Lake. (That's pronounced Hun-GAH-bee, not HUNG-a-bee.) Opabin Lake is beyond the moraine that rises from the far shore, and can be reached from either side.
We encountered a pair of guys navigating, barely, by a map on their phone that had no topographic lines or lake names. They asked if this was Hungabee, and we assured them it was. Ascending the East Opabin trail, we indeed encountered ptarmigans. Seven of them, in the dry creekbed just left of the footpath. They were fluffed up against the cold,
and changing into their winter plumage.
Some would venture out of the creekbed from time to time,
and one, seemingly cast out from the group, gave us quite a stare. Was it curious, or on alert?
To make a loop Joan and I crossed to the west side of the moraine, where another trail ascends/descends, and looked down on Hungabee Lake. The West Opabin trail is visible on the left.
We noticed a group that was traveling "cross-country" towards the All Souls trail, rather than taking the West Opabin down to the far end of the plateau, where the two intersect. Technically this may be the shorter distance but I don't think they could have saved much time. Joan and I returned to our cabin, and I caught this sunset photo on our return from dinner.
What a day, with ptarmigans and a mountain goat closeup! Tomorrow, our last day at Lake O'Hara.
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.
