Canada 2024: Yukness Ledges Snow Stomping

On July 12, 2024, Joan and I set out to hike the Yukness Ledges alpine route. We headed for the East Opabin trail, the shortest way to reach the west end of the Yukness Ledges route. But our way was blocked by red tape -- snow melt was flooding a creek outlet. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

We turned around and ascended on the West Opabin path instead, encountering both a marmot

and a pika!

So that detour worked very well indeed. We swung past the prospect for a view,

and as we continued on, the theme for the day developed -- meeting people and engaging in conversation. Soon, we encountered a group, some of whom were from Taiwan, and they asked for our help. They had no map; how far was the prospect? An older man (father? grandfather?) is waiting further back for news on which way to go. Joan gave him the best advice.

We crossed to the Highline and were rewarded with an expansive view of the Yukness Ledges.

Joan and I crossed over to the East Opabin trail and thence to the west end of the Yukness Ledges route. The beginning is adventurous, following blazes uphill through a boulder field until a trail is reached. In this panoramic shot, the boulder field is at the left, next to Lake Hungabee, and the trail is on the right.

After a short distance, the Opabin Prospect came into view on our left.

A least weasel carted across behind us; we were in awe of its speed as it dashed over, under, and through these boulder fields.

 

After finding a congenial spot, we sat down for lunch. A group of young women passed by and stopped to chat. They asked, How long have we been married? One of them took this next photo. Then a newlywed couple came up and asked us how long we'd been married. The theme was continued ...

We had not coordinated our outfits ...

The north-facing slope, rarely seeing direct sunlight, was where the snow traps were lurking. At first, they were merely close to the trail. The blue-and-yellow trail blaze is in the middle of the green circle in this photo. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Another snowy view.

At the midpoint, hikers traveling in the other direction warned us of a dicey stretch, which we soon encountered. Snow was across the trail over a dip where it wiggled through talus and broken boulders. The terrain, we knew, had voids within the tumbled rock where a misstep could cause serious injury, but we could not see them. Joan and I continued cautiously, gripping our poles tightly, and did not come to any harm; however, I did not indulge in photography there.

We continued on and the snow intrusions withdrew. The path turned a corner and we began to draw closer to Lake Oesa.

Before the final hop up to the lake level, more snow was hidden on the approach. It's all about shadows and sunlight.

The near lake shore was snow-free, and the ice on the water had begun to retreat.

Returning to O'Hara on the Oesa trail, we encountered this snowbound sign and trail at the Victoria Lake cutoff. The snow wasn't through with us yet, but this was its last hurrah.

The series of ponds and lakes we'd passed gave way here to a torrent of melting snow.

Looking back the way we'd come.

From a lower altitude, here's a last look at the Yukness Ledges that we'd just navigated.

Joan and I reached our cabin just before 5:00pm. We were seated with Bob and Brenda again at dinner, replete with tales of their time in Malaysia. A fitting wrap-up of today's conversational theme!

Hiking Canada 2023: Yukness Ledges and Opabin Highline

Day 10

On July 20th, Joan and I traversed the Yukness Ledges and Opabin Highline. We chose to do this clockwise, starting up the trail to Lake Oesa from Lake O'Hara.

After an hour and a quarter, we arrived at the Victoria Cutoff. By taking this shortcut, we'd save time and energy otherwise spent going on to Lake Oesa and then back to the far end of the shortcut. This photo was taken at the start of the cutoff. Note the alpine trail marker (two yellow stripes on a blue background) at the left side of the large boulder. We'd be following these. (I added a green circle; click on any image to enlarge.)

After rock-hopping across the outflow stream from Victoria Lake, the next portion was also rocky. This photo looks towards that lake.

Then the real climb began.

At the foot of the climb, another trail marker adorned a square block, the first of many marking the way to thread up the slope.

The view looking back after we'd climbed partway up.

Four minutes later, we saw these blooms.

Thankfully, there's a sign where the routes meet. (Photo from 2017).

The path winds through rocks, gravel, and roots, depending on which stretch you're in. It dips up and down through gullies, sometimes with steps, sometimes not. Joan and I soon encountered a group of young women from the campground on an "alpine circuit" ledge for the first time. We gave them a thumbs-up on the Yukness and let them go ahead. The "Gully," known for its steep dip, had stairs now for most parts, but we could overhear that one of the girls was frightened. But they remained ahead of us and eventually were out of sight.

The only constant characteristic of the Yukness ledges is the marvelous nature of the views.

Looking back, we saw other hikers, which gave us a sense of scale. (This is also a 2017 image.)

As we continued along the trail, the Opabin plateau and its prospect (the rocky bit that sticks out in the middle distance) came into view.

This view back towards O'Hara revealed a relatively benign (if narrow) stretch of the trail. The Opabin prospect was still much lower than we were.

Eventually we descended through another boulder field, following the alpine blazes, and were deposited next to Hungabee Lake. (Opabin Lake is behind the rise on the far side.)

Joan and I chose to wander among the elevated terrain in the middle of the plateau. This yielded a scenic lunch spot.

Afterward, we decided to return to the O'Hara lakeshore via the East Opabin descent, most of which is a rather dull, switchback-filled route but quick. From there, we took the O'Hara loop trail counter-clockwise to the short spur trail for the Seven Veils Falls.

Much of the water coming down from the heights around Lake Oesa emerges from the rocks here.

Here's a zoom-in look.

This was our last full day at O'Hara, but we weren't leaving until tomorrow's afternoon bus (4 pm), so there was one more hike to choose.

Hiking Canada 2023: On to Lake O'Hara

Day 6

Joan and I awoke on July 16th, 2023, and drove up Kicking Horse Pass to the Lake O'Hara parking area. There, the AM lodge bus arrived and disgorged the departing guests. Then it took us and the other arriving guests up the 11km fire road to Lake O'Hara, where we picked up our bagged lunches and set out on hikes while rooms and cabins were being prepped. Joan and I decided on our traditional first hike, up to Lake Oesa. This map shows our outbound route in yellow, with the alternate first chunk of return in green. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

I grabbed this image from the footbridge at the outflow of O'Hara, looking up the lake setting for the cabins and lodge. The blue skies were beautiful after all the smoke we'd encountered since landing in Canada.

I didn't take many pictures at first, despite seeing a pika, a marmot, and a distant view of a mountain goat, but to honor Lawrence Grassi is mandatory.

The trail passes the shore of Lake Lefroy, the last lakelet before the final climb to Oesa.

A staircase of stones is involved, and the sedimentary rocks reveal the ancient beach-side history of this land; the altitude of Oesa is 2,276 meters or about 7,400 feet.

Lake Oesa stretches at the feet of peaks that reach or surpass 11,000', such as Mount Lefroy.

It's quite a sight.

Here, Joan and I sat on one of the congenial flat-ish rocks and consumed our lunch. Then, rather than return directly, we decided to walk a stretch on the Yukness Ledges trail before cutting back to the Oesa route. There's a spot on the north side of the lake where hikers can clamber down and across to Yukness ...

The Yukness Ledges route begins by traversing a rubble field.

Stones, slabs, and boulders from different geologic strata abound.

At the point where the Yukness trail swings to the west, there's an intersection with the Victoria Cutoff trail, which took us down through boulder fields to Victoria Lake and the Oesa trail.

At the end, I turned around and photographed the formation we'd just scrambled down, following trail blazes (two vertical yellow bars on a blue field, which we nicknamed "route 11" signs.)

A few minutes down the trail, Yukness Lake, Lake O'Hara, and Odaray Mountain came into view.

In the evening, I caught this panoramic view from Lake O'Hara, with the Oesa basin in the center but hidden.

After a hearty dinner at the lodge, it was time to hit the sack.

Day 7
The forecasts we'd seen for July 17th called for a strong chance of showers, but in the mountains, who knows if, where, or when? Joan and I packed for any eventuality and took the West Opabin trail.

Clouds darkened to the north, but to the southwest, the direction of the wind, the sky remained sunny with occasional white clouds. On Lake O'Hara, a flotilla of diving ducks swam by.

After passing Mary Lake, the trail begins a steep climb up the side of the plateau, with many switchbacks. A fat, fuzzy pika was undisturbed by our presence.

Within a stone's throw of where the trail leveled out, Joan and I turned right, onto the trail to All Souls Prospect. It started with a daunting but manageable rock and boulder hop-fest that led us to the stony tabletop that separates Opabin and All Souls. There we took a sit-down and drank in the view. (Alas, no photo.) But the sky had grown more ominous, so we decided to descend back to O'Hara and then take an add-on hike if the weather held.

It didn't. Thunder began to boom. Sprinkles began to fall, and the sky grew darker. We stopped and donned our rain gear: jackets, pants, gloves, pack covers. It took a few minutes. Light rain grew heavier. Therefore, we bee-lined back to our cabin and ate lunch there as waves of rain and soft bits of graupel (raindrops that freeze on falling snowflakes) passed through. The afternoon became a rest period; however, the forecast for tomorrow was promising, and with a good rest under our belts, we figured it might be a good day to tackle Wiwaxy Gap, a notoriously steep climb to 8,300'.