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.

CR2011: A Lake Trio: Linda, Cathedral, and Monica Lake

This day began with full sunshine and stayed that way. Our goal today, our top-of-the-list for this stay at Lake O'Hara, was Monica Lake. Monica lies in a small bowl between Cathedral Prospect and Cathedral Mountain, and although we'd been to the prospect once before, and the lakes along the route more than once, we'd never made it all the way to Monica, just under 5 miles one way.

The first stretch, whether you take the Morning Glory Lakes trail or the campground trail, isn't interesting after the first visit. It's a walk in the woods that chews up time before you reach the good stuff. We took advantage of the morning bus option: join the guests departing that morning on the lodge bus, informing the management the evening before of your plans. Remind the bus driver to drop you off at the Linda Lake junction, and you've saved a tedious mile.

Here's a picture of the trail heading up from the Linda Lake junction.

The air was frosty and patches of snow had survived the night, more so as we gained altitude. Here Joan crosses the footbridge across Morning Glory Creek, partway to Linda Lake. The sun is just starting to spill over into the basin, while Odaray Mountain (about 10,300') is brilliant.

Once you arrive at Linda Lake, there appear to be a swarm of choices, although many begin by heading the same way.

We passed by the north shore of Linda Lake. There's more to Linda than is apparent in this picture.

Our trail wound on to Cathedral Lake. In this photo we have almost reached it -- click to enlarge.

The near side of the lake still has a thin skin of ice on it. The peaks that rim this valley have nosed up over the trees.

The trail passes by the north end of the lake, and after a while the trail to Duchesney Basin and Last Larch Prospect splits off to the left as the Cathedral trail veers to the right and begins to climb. Shortly you are going directly uphill between a rock field and the trees.

As you climb higher there are more rocks and fewer trees, and the mountains grow closer.

At the edge of the tree line the route turns sharply to the right and rises more gently. You are traversing the platform that lies before Consummation Peak, Goat Peak, and Cathedral Mountain.

The view towards Cathedral Mountain opens up.

There are many stopping places with astonishing vistas along this stretch, but we continued on until Monica Lake popped into view.

Here we sat in the sunshine and ate our lunch. We had occasional company.

After lunch we strolled along the prospect, binoculars in hand, taking many pictures.

The lake in the far distance, at the foot of the mountains, is Lake O'Hara. You can see we have traveled some distance from the lodge! The next image looks into both the O'Hara and Duchesnay valleys. Ordaray Mountain is a shadowed sentinel at the corner of the two.

We retraced our steps and began to descend. The sunlight now reflected off the Cathedral Lakes, left, and one of the Odaray Lakes, right, just under the mountain. We saw many mini-avalanches on the face of Odaray as pockets of snow would loosen and fall with a soft rumble.

Now the rock field must be negotiated downhill. Thank goodness for walking sticks!

Our return leg followed Linda Lake's south, not north, shore.

The rock pile you see above held at least one guardian pika.

With the afternoon light the view north was spectacular.

From Linda Lake we descended a moraine, through woods and along widely spaced switchbacks, reaching the Morning Glory Lakes. I have no photo of Morning Glory, but here is an overview of Cathedral, Linda, and Morning Glory lakes on the edge of Odaray's shadow.

View Larger Map
Then we began the long final two miles to Lake O'Hara. The first section of the trail gained about 500 feet, and then it set to wiggling through the forest.

With some relief we reached the near end of the Alpine Meadow, and its small pool. At the far side are the buildings of the Elizabeth Parker Hut, administered by the Alpine Club of Canada.

Now we were less than half a mile from our cabin. We were pleased to have added Monica Lake to our tally on such a fine day.