Canada 2024: A Lost Day and a Snowy Lake

July 8th, 2024, began well with an excellent catch-up breakfast at the Malcolm with Bob and Valerie Knowlden, our B&B hosts for many years until they "retired." (Click on any image to enlarge.)

The pigs are Bucky and Poppy.

Eventually, it was time for Joan and me to check out, and I went down into the basement garage with our luggage. Today's goal was a hike to either Sherbrooke Lake or Paget Lookout. (They share an initial stretch of trail.) However, this time I could not get the trunk on the Nissan Versa to latch. Joan and I tried combining our strengths, but it was no use.

 

We had signed up for "roadside assistance" with Enterprise, and now phoned them, reaching the Canmore office. "No cars here," he said, "but give me a couple of hours. I'll keep you up to date." Joan and I walked around the development, inspecting the flowers, and sat on benches to watch ducks and the other tourists. We waited for 3½ hours with no word from Enterprise. We called again, but the voicemail was full. Joan reached Brandon at Enterprise's Calgary office, who said he would escalate. We received a call from the area supervisor, and stated forcefully that we needed to be in Field this evening, not tomorrow! After another while we got a call from Jake -- he has a car for us, but needs to clean it first.

 

Jake and a helper arrived with a buzzy subcompact Mazda CX-3; it was a hatchback (no trunk) and could barely fit us and our luggage, but it was a car! One item of business was documenting the numerous existing window chips to make certain we would not be billed for window damage.

We headed out five hours after our first call to Enterprise, reaching the Cathedral Mountain Lodge in time to register, unload, splash our faces, change shirts, and show up for our 6:45 dinner reservation. It was not the hiking day we had planned, but we were wrung out nonetheless!

July 9th dawned, and post breakfast at Cathedral, we drove up to the Lake O'Hara parking area after squeezing ourselves, two duffels, and two daypacks into Mozzie, as we'd dubbed the car -- Moz for short. We joined the morning lodge bus for the 11-kilometer ride up to O'Hara (private vehicles are not allowed; it's a protected fragile Alpine area.)

At the lodge we checked in, picked up our lunches, pulled out our hiking poles and binos, and began a hike. (Rooms and cabins aren't available until later in the afternoon.)

The sky was almost cloudless, and the temperatures cool; the lake is at 6630' (2020m) altitude. Spring had arrived late, and we were told some higher trails weren't yet clear of snow and ice. All Souls was closed; the Yukness and Huber Ledges warranted a caution. Recent rains had created shallow pools in spots along the Lake O'Hara shoreline.

 

Joan and I headed out for the Opabin Plateau on the scenic West Opabin trail, which began as a gentle walk in the woods.

Here the lichen and fungi were abundant.

 In the Cladoniaceae family of fungi ...

The vegetation rapidly changed as we ascended the plateau's west flank.

We kept our eyes and ears open for pikas, and spotted two marmots down along the shore of Lake Mary.

Binoculars helped us identify them!

Then we passed a group of young women from Chile, Japan, and Peru, who were working in Canmore. How lucky they were to have grabbed seats on the morning park bus (not the lodge bus); those usually disappear within hours of the seat lottery's opening.

In this image, the narrow trail threads through boulders that have fallen through the ages. Squint at the middle (click on the image to enlarge), and you'll see a blue-shirted hiker ahead of us.

Joan and I reached the level edge of the plateau and stuck to the west-hand side rather than take a side trip to the overlook right away.

Western anemones were gorgeous in the bright sunshine.

Water features abounded as we hiked up the length of the plateau.

Passing by Lake Hungabee, at the foot of the final climb to Opabin Lake.

Looking back at Hungabee, having almost reached the top. Note the pockets of snow.

The Opabin Lake panorama (altitude 7,470') was entirely different, dominated by snow and ice. The peaks that ring it block direct sunlight in the mornings and late afternoons.

The varied windblown snow was deep wherever the ground beneath was uneven. Joan and I postponed any visit to the lakeshore for a later day, and tramped over to the east trail. A few times one of my boots landed in a couple of feet of snow, and some got inside. As we descended on the east trail, the snow petered out.

Along the plateau, the series of lakes, ponds, and cascades for which it is famous were showing off in the sunlight.

On the east side, the descent to O'Hara became a series of switchbacks buried in the forest, with the tumbling stream on our left for company. Suddenly, the closed tunnel opened up on the breadth of Lake O'Hara.

Nearby a dipper hunted and preened.

This bench invited us to pause and admire the lake,

 

but the afternoon was wearing on, and we needed to unpack at our cabin and clean up before dinner.

The mountains shifted their appearance as the sun grew low.

Zooming my camera to the max, I caught this image of the Seven Veil Falls on the far side of the lake.

Tomorrow, another lake ... McArthur.

HIking Canada 2023: Last Day at O'Hara

July 21st, 2023, was our last day at Lake O'Hara. We had signed up for the 4:00pm bus, so Joan and I had time to take one last hike. When we need a quick return, we often choose the Opabin Plateau. This day we climbed to the plateau from the west, the route more scenic and more likely to provide wildlife sightings.

The rocky slopes often hold pikas or marmots.

And today we did see a pika on the way up. We took the trail to the prospect at the next intersection, which is always a treat. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Continuing from the prospect, Joan and I reached the "hidden" stairs from the heights down to the Cascade Lakes. They're "hidden" from this direction because the hiker must step down through apparently meaningless gaps in the rock formation. This year, stones lined the true path.

Looking back from here revealed the Cascade Lakes.

This panoramic sweep reveals, starting at the left, the Cascade Lakes, the Opabin Highline, and, in the far distance, the Opabin glacier.

We took the low circuit and soon stared at this rocky ridge, a glacial deposit that hides Lake Opabin.

Climbing up the west path, we reached the lake.

Joan and I settled down for first lunch. Dark clouds gathering in the south had us wondering about rain, but fortunately they passed us by. A few mosquitoes visited us, an event we rarely encounter at O'Hara. Our view during lunch:

Here's a closeup of the glacial patch that remains.

Not much, eh?

We began returning along the Highline, which offered many views, including the "hidden stairs" formation.

From here we could see, through binoculars, hikers at All Souls Prospect. (Click on any image to enlarge).

This was the beginning of the descent on the West Opabin trail.

Near the bottom, we encountered a man looking for the rest of his family, including a young girl -- had we seen them? Joan and I had no information to offer.

At the bottom, I proposed an extension before returning to the lodge for tea-time. We hiked around the O'Hara lake shore to the East Opabin trailhead; it was a longer (more time-consuming) jaunt than I expected, and the bench was already taken. Despite my poor choice, there was still time to relax at the lodge before taking the bus down 11 km to the parking area.

From there, we drove to Moraine Lake. The hordes bound for Moraine have forced Parks Canada to ban private vehicles on the narrow 12-km approach road, except for bicycles. Commercial and shuttle buses now dominate the parking area. However, guests at the lodge can drive their own car up ... yippee! After dinner we collapsed, as our "lesser activity" day had been packed.

Back to Canada: Opabin Plateau

The weather forecast for July 17th included a chance of rain, so Joan and I opted to hike on the Opabin Plateau, which has much to see but is less exposed than many other trails, and doesn't take us as far from O'Hara. We chose the West Opabin trail, more likely to reveal pikas or marmots than the East trail.

Lots of trails, lots of exploration up on Opabin.

This trail again took us past Mary Lake, but on the other side. Of course, there were flowers along the way.

A yellow columbine poking up above the rest.

The trail began to climb more steeply, and we emerged from the woods, climbing near the base of the plateau through rocky areas.

After briefly spotting an elusive pika, Joan and I admired a stoic pika looking the other way. It's still shedding its winter coat! (Click on the image to enlarge.)

On reaching the edge of the plateau we had a choice of paths, and decided to visit the prospect first.

Joan and I walked around to the heights above and to the west of the lower stretch of ponds and river.

From a high spot, before descending to the waters, I took this photo that shows two trails, the Yukness Ledges alpine route (indicated by a red arrow, bottom right), and the very unofficial Sleeping Poets Pool track (green arrow). Yukness Ledges is level but not flat, that is, you don't gain altitude but you go up and down a lot. The Poets Pool, on a wide ledge above the Yukness route, is reached by a very steep and sketchy path, a bit of work going up and demanding careful foot placement going down. (Please click on the image to enlarge.)

As we climbed the final hill to Opabin Lake on the west-side trail, I took this photo looking back. The large lake is Hungabee Lake, and the Moor Lakes lie beyond.

Joan and I settled down for lunch near the east end of Opabin Lake.

There we met a woman who worked for the Alberta Provincial Parks, and had discussions about ever-changing park budgets and regulations. At one point we spotted a golden eagle and studied it as well as we could as it flew on.

 

Returning on the east side, another photo down to Hungabee.

We returned on the highline trail, between the east and west trails. There were good views down to the other trails.

From our perch we saw glimpses of marmots, but none held still long enough for me to grab a photo.

For the sake of variety we took the east trail back down to O'Hara, and along the shoreline spring pollen had accumulated in downwind areas.

There was plenty of admire along the lakeshore, including creeping beardtongue,

and an orchid, a northern twayblade.

All in all, a satisfying and rain-free day!

Canada (2019) Part Three

Time again for reporting on our September 2019 trip to the Canadian Rockies. This is the third post (the first post is here) and will cover the third and fourth of our five days at Lake O'Hara. There was, of course, no 2020 trip.

September 10th began with low clouds and variable rain.

Joan and I decided to climb the Big Larches trail, after a brief stop at scenic Mary Lake.

The Big Larches trail is a favorite because of its views and the good chances for seeing a pika or marmot, but there was no such excitement today. Our legs felt tired on the climb up to Schaeffer Lake; perhaps it was due to the five prior days of hiking! Deciding a more relaxed day might be appropriate, Joan and I continued through the meadow and then turned around, taking the boring but expedient Schaeffer Lake trail down through innumerable switchbacks and past the Elizabeth Parker alpine hut,

Reservations thru the Alpine Club of Canada

to reach our cabin and enjoy a porch lunch while we dried out.

The volume of rain continued to go up and down. After lunch we shoved off on a counter-clockwise route around O'Hara, observing diminutive and proximate nature, including mushrooms and this mossy log on the edge of the lake, rather than distant vistas.

We took the spur trail to the Seven Veils falls, seeing dippers and fungi along the way. These falls had been off-limits for years to prevent further damage, but a new route had recently opened complete with a small terraced viewpoint.

 

Or, as seen with an assist from DeepDreamGenerator.

These waters orginate from the heights above, including Lake Oesa, and travel largely invisible under thick layers of scree but emerge after hitting an impermeable layer.

Zooming in ...

A video visit to the rushing waters ...


Rejoining the main trail we soon passed a submerged tree, ripped out of the ground and cast into the waters by last winter's avalanches.

Joan and I took a short side trip before completing the O'Hara loop, heading down a trail paralleling the outlet stream, going as far as the first large pond, where we saw several ducks.

This completed a soggy but interesting day.

On September 11th Joan and I got off to a late start, 10:00, and headed for the West Opabin trail again. If the weather held we hoped to climb to Sleeping Poets Pool.

A Lake O'Hara panorama along the way.

The canoes tied up at Lake O'Hara seemed to float on air.

We had good duck sightings on Lake Mary before the climb up to the plateau.

Looking back at Lakes Mary and O'Hara after gaining some altitude.

 We had better pika sightings than last time!

Rather than detour to the prospect we continued south on the West trail, through the rock formations we call the "wrestling marmot stadium" after an encounter during one of our first visits to O'Hara. Joan and I bee-lined for Opabin Lake and gave it a good look.

The vista back through the plateau wasn't bad either.

Click on the image to enlarge; the west trail is just left of the lake.

We returned down the East trail just far enough to catch the Yukness Ledges junction. We executed the boulder-hopping that began this alpine trail, and then tackled the steep, unofficial and unmarked goat track up to Sleeping Poet's Pool. With careful footing and a hiking pole in each hand we eventually reached the ledge containing two small seasonal pools and the larger Sleeping Poet.

GPS reports that we're at 7900 feet. There are a few short ledges before the sheer drop, offering good sit-spots.

 Joan and I settled in for a lunch with a view.

Our sandwiches were in plastic tubs with a green lid, preventing any leakage while hiking. A ground squirrel was attracted to Joan's green lid, but after a couple of squirrel snatches Joan rescued it for good.

The would-be thief.

The only way off was to backtrack, tenderly and carefully, to the Yukness Ledges, a somewhat retrograde motion. From there we continued on the much wider and gentler official alpine trail, heading towards Lake Oesa and treated to a continually changing panorama.

A view down to the Opabin Plateau and Prospect.

From a vantage point further along, Lake O'Hara spread out beneath us.

Zooming in, the trail around O'Hara and up towards Oesa is easily visible.

We continued until reaching the Lake Victoria cutoff; the main trail heads off to the right to reach Lake Oesa. The day was getting late, so we took the shortcut.

It winds down to the left through boulders until reaching Victoria, one of a chain of small lakes fed by the outflow from Oesa.

Proof we were there.

We arrived back at our cabin after 4:00 and gladly put up our sticks and cleaned up for dinner. Tonight's tablemates were good for conversation, and so as often was, we were one of the last two tables to leave the dining room!