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!

CR2015: Yukness Ledges and Sleeping Poets Pool

July 28th was overcast but not threatening to rain. Today was the last full day of our stay at Lake O'Hara, so our goal was Sleeping Poet's Pool, which we had been unable to visit the year before.

As we made our way around Lake O'Hara to the Lake Oesa trail, Joan and I were thrilled to get some good binocular views of a pair of varied thrushes, a bird not found in Ohio. Its unique ringing song always tells us we're in the Rockies.

We headed for Lake Oesa to pick up the Yukness Ledges trail. On our way, we look down on Lake O'Hara and a canoe (click to enlarge).

When we arrived at Oesa the weather was cold, but still no precipitation.

What's that? Out on the lake there are researchers in an inflatable rubber boat, no doubt sampling the water.

Another fun bird spotting at Oesa, a hermit thrush. These occur in isolated areas in Ohio, including the hemlock ravines at Clear Creek Metro Park.

But we're bound for the Yukness Ledges. Bye-bye, Oesa.

At first the trail drops down a short way from the level of Oesa.

We slowly gained altitude and distance along the Yukness Ledges Alpine Trail. Behind us both Lake Oesa and the lower, smaller Lake Lefroy were in view.

Using full zoom, my camera caught these hikers on their way up to Oesa. They're almost there.

After the Yukness trail drops and turns west in front of Mount Yukness, the view ahead is like this:

The first half of the ledge trail showed clear signs of maintenance work since last year; false trails and dangerous edges were blocked by a row of stones and the alpine trail markers, a blue square with two yellow vertical rectangles, appeared to be freshly painted.

This zoom photo from the ledge trail shows the Oesa trail winding through a boulder field.

The point where the trail passes the center of Lake O'Hara is an irresistible sight: no matter how many photos I have of it, I'm compelled to always take another. Note that the clouds are still low.

This deep gully is the last spot where the winter snow lingers on the Yukness Ledges trail, but after the hot June this year, there is none.

After turning another corner we're headed south, and the Opabin Plateau is below and ahead. Just when you think that the trail to Sleeping Poet's Pool must not exist any longer, it appears, close to the Opabin end of the Yukness Ledges. Here, Joan is making her way up the steep, unofficial and unmaintained trail. Because I'm looking up to take the picture, it's even steeper than it appears.

An expansive ledge well above the Yukness Ledge trail holds the pool. Note our daypacks just right and below the center of the image, offering scale. There's plenty of water this time; in some years there's hardly any.

The lip of this ledge begins as a series of rocky steps before turning into a sheer drop.

The view changes as you walk along the edge. The little knob far below in this image is Opabin Prospect!

During our restful lunch next to the pool a solo climber came down the scree slope from higher on Mt. Hungabee. Afterwards we carefully descended back to the Yukness Ledge trail, where light showers resumed, and thence down to the Opabin Plateau. After tromping along the Opabin Highline trail, I took this photo looking back towards the upper part of the Cascade Lakes.

A gray-crowned rosy finch was busy foraging amidst the running waters, hopping about so frequently it was difficult to grab an in-focus picture. This is the best of the lot.

We also saw a parent/child pair of dippers, and a marmot on a high rock.

Joan and I descended using the West Opabin trail, and shortly after the All Souls Prospect alpine route had split off, we saw a fisher, a secretive member of the weasel family. This was the first sighting for either one of us. Further along we were treated to yet another view of the mountain goats that have been visiting the slopes of Mt. Schäffer this week.

Near the bottom of the trail we came across a porcupine, capping an extremely critter-filled hike.

That evening we had another wonderful dinner at the lodge, and prepared to depart. But tomorrow we would leave on the afternoon bus, giving us most of the day for one last hike at Lake O'Hara.

CR2015: Wiwaxy Gap and Huber Ledges

As Joan and I started out on July 27th there were occasional peeks by the sun, but the foliage was still wet.

Today we headed for Wiwaxy Gap, a relentless climb that offers spectacular views and the Huber Ledges traverse to Lake Oesa. Few choose to go down from Wiwaxy; Joan and I have done it once, and are in no hurry to do it again.

After just a few minutes, we spied a gentleman enjoying the scenery from his cabin porch.

Lake O'Hara opens up early on this route. Click to enlarge this photo, and you'll see the Lake Oesa trail winding through the rock pile just left of the lake.

Early on the route climbs a gully via switchbacks, then moves through trees, including a grand specimen we call "grandfather tree." Then it crosses several rock faces.

The weather became chilly and overcast, but the assault on Wiwaxy warms you up fast. The Lake Oesa basin and chain of lakes come into view as your altitude rises.

Here I have zoomed in on Sleeping Poet's Pool, across the valley above the Yukness Ledges. It is our one must-do for this visit. We had hoped to get there last year, but events intervened.

At Wiwaxy Gap, the panorama stretches from Lake Oesa to McArthur Pass. Note the low clouds ...

At Wiwaxy Peak the clouds are rolling up the mountainside. It's not windy, which is highly unusual for the pass, but chilly, and the low ceiling gives it an eerie feeling.

Shortly before reaching the gap we caught up to and met Vlad, who was at Lake O'Hara for the first time. He's been in Vancouver for eight years, but is originally Russian from Riga, Latvia. Vlad loves the mountains but his family doesn't, so he was here by himself, having arrived for the day on the park bus. He was stopping frequently and taking many, many photos.

This panorama is taken from halfway along the Huber Ledges,

stretching from Lake Oesa at left, past the Yukness Ledges, Opabin Prospect, Lake O'Hara, McArthur Pass, and Wiwaxy Peak on the right. The small figure in front of Wiwaxy Peak is Vlad; he fell behind and then caught up to us several times along the way.

The weather continued cold and misty. Even up here the spring blooms were enjoying the damp week.

Joan and I lunched on the shores of Lake Oesa again, while Vlad continued on, calculating with some assistance from us that he could walk the Yukness Ledges and still be in time for the bus back down. He wasn't truly worried, as he said, "It's downhill all the way." We anticipated walking the Ledges tomorrow, and decided to return to our cabin via the Oesa trail.

At one of the smaller lakes below Oesa we saw an American Dipper and a couple of her babies. By the time I pulled my camera out they had paddled on.

Here, Joan poses for me on the Grassi Steps,

built by Lawrence Grassi.

In truth we were headed down the steps, but I thought up would look best for the photo.

I love this next image, which I took along the Oesa trail with zoom. Hikers on the Yukness Ledges stand in front of Mount Yukness. Note the light coating of snow at the higher altitude. Joan and I were caught in a shower down at Lake O'Hara before reaching our cabin, but not as wet as the day before.

After dinner the weather and lighting were begging us to take another stroll.

Mists lingered above.

Our traveling pigs, Knuckles and Pierre, were waiting for us at the cabin.

Tomorrow, tomorrow. Would we make it to Sleeping Poet's Pool?