Another fantastic trip into the mountains for a little adventure into Lake O'Hara before the girls head off to Estonia on Monday for most of the summer. Lake O'Hara is undoubtedly one of the jewels of the Canadian Rockies and boasts an amazing concentration of lakes, trails, mountains, and hanging valleys to climb, hike, fish, and just enjoy nature. It is by far my favourite place to spend time in the Eastern Rockies.
This area is very ecologically fragile, so Parks Canada mandated a quota system by the early 1980's to minimize the number of users at any given time. This has worked exceptionally well in maintaining and recovering damage to the ecosystem caused by large groups and clubs entering the valley to recreate back in the early 1900's (via foot and horseback) and more recently the 50's, 60's and 70's. The Lake O'Hara Lodge has been running a bus system in to their lodge to accommodate their guests since the late 1950's and Parks Canada started the bus system to coincide with their quota system by the late 1970's. Up until then there was no user limit restricting the number of visitors to the area which was the major contributor to the over use and damage to the ecosystem.
In 1949 a non-profit organization called the Lake O'Hara Trails Club formed and began working with Parks Canada to maintain the pristine beauty of the Lake O'Hara area and its trail systems. It has been a remarkable success, and it's 'promotion through it's actions' seems to be echoed by the hundreds of users that come to this area each year. You would be hard pressed to find a piece of garbage laying around and everyone we encountered seemed to echo the same values of stewardship in keeping this place beautiful. Really nice to be apart of!
The campground is a great place for families with ample area to roam without the worry of getting lost or the dangers of constant vehicle traffic. Annika made many friends young and old, and was in her glories every waking second of each day. Kärolin and I met some really nice folk whom we swapped stories with while enjoying their company, and there was a constant turnover of guests with people coming and going each day from the campground which made for an interestingly weird experience as you felt like the campground host whenever the new faces arrived with their questions and inquiries about the campground that their awe struck minds had missed from the Parks Canada campground host.
Ben Gadd, a well known Naturalist and Geologist who authored the book, 'Handbook of the Canadian Rockies', came to speak on the Friday about the geology of the region. Along with his wife Syl, and their granddaughter Marie (daughter of their son Will Gadd, famous ice climber/paraglider from Canmore) they gave a fantastic talk in a small amphitheatre by the Lake and educated a sold out crowd (it was actually free) about the unique geology of the Lake O'Hara area. The Gadd's also stayed in the campground so it was quite interesting conversing with them the following day and learning a little more from the incredible amount of knowledge and experience.
Anyway, a must do trip if you're an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking and/or camping in the mountains. We're already thinking about our next trip in!
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Grizzly bear along highway 1A on route to Lake O'Hara staging area
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| She was quite focused. Paid very little attention to us |
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| Just arrived at the Lake O'Hara campground |
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| Anni checking out here new home for the next couple of days |
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| The girls are ready to hike. I love Anni's smile! |
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| Lake side trail around Lake O'Hara on our way to the Lake Oesa trail |
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| Lake O'Hara. Beautiful scenery, especially with my two lovely girls in the foreground! |
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| More lakeside trail |
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| Just leaving the Lake O'Hara trail and heading up to Lake Oesa |
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| All smiles being in THIS amazing place! |
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| And some big smiles from Anni! She really enjoyed her ride in the carrier. |
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| Great view of Lake O'Hara looking back from the Oesa trail |
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| Some fantastic rock steps and features on this trail compliments of Lawrence Grassi who many years ago spent countless hours establishing a non-destructive trail system to protect this fragile alpine environment |
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| One of many stream crossings |
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| Kalmia polifolia (Bog Laurel) |
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| Green False-Hellebore (Veratrum viride) Produces a yellow-green, tall flower 30-70cm's in height |
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| The girls on a rock staircase that was built to allow easier passage for hikers of all abilities through this band of rock |
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| Kärolin is thankfully very sure footed! |
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| Coming up to the falls from Lake Victoria |
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| Refreshing! A nice cooling mist coming off of the waterfall. |
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| A shaky lady took this photo of our family. Well shot just unfortunate that it's a little blurry. |
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| Nearing Lake Victoria |
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| Lefroy Lake just before arriving at Lake Oesa |
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| Were in the mountains nearing the alpine! Snow stays all summer long in a lot of places higher up. |
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| Alpine Buttercup alongside the quartzite walkway |
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| Western Anemone. Flowers from June to July |
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| Final steps before reaching Lake Oesa |
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| So amazing to be in shorts, and warm, while arriving to an ice covered lake! Glacier Peak towers above |
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| Anni enjoying her own legs again |
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| Barefeet were a little tricky in this environment! |
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| Kärolin soaking it all in |
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| Big Cumulus clouds building behind Ringrose peak (3,281m/10,762ft) |
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| Kärolin on her way down from Oesa along the amazing quartzite trail! |
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| This waterfall out of Lake Victoria takes an almost 90 degree turn right here! |
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| Head on coming down the steps. These quartzite blocks must have been quite heavy to get into situ! |
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| Taking a quick photo op on the shores of Lake O'Hara |
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| Such a calm day |
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| Anni copying dad with his hiking pole |
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| "I can do this dad!" |
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| Anni made friends with this little 8 month old. There A LOT of young kids at the campground. |
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| Kärolin make some oatmeal old school style! It was cooked to delicious perfection :) |
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| Female; Pine Grosbeak |
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| 'I LOVE my backpack!' |
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| Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja integra) |
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| On route to Linda Lake. Odaray Mountain (3,159m/10,362ft) in the background |
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| Wood Anemone (Anemone nemerosa) |
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| Bear track. Thankfully a few days old. |
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| Alpine Clubmoss |
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| The peaks of Mount Huber (3,368m/11,047ft) and Mount Victoria (3,464m/11,362ft) tower in the background behind Linda Lake. Yukness Mountain (2,847m/9,338ft) lies in front of Hungabee Mountain (3,497m/11,457ft) in the right of photo. |
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| Lunch stop along the shores of Linda Lake |
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| Anni and Kim assessing our route. We ended up doing an 8km circuit via Morning Glory Lakes. |
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| Anni was pleased with our decision |
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| Happy times at Linda Lake |
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| Linda Lake |
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| Bridge across Morning Glory Creek just before Anni tossed her hat into the water! |
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| Great trail systems up at O'Hara |
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| Kärolin having a quick snack below the first Morning Glory Lake. This lake is actually called a tarn and lies in basin carved out by the Odaray Glacier at the base of Odaray Mountain. We didn't hike up to it mainly for reasons of safety from ice and rock fall off of Odaray. The common trail actually doesn't even go up to it for that reason. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarn_(lake) |
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| Anni topping up the tank |
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| Arriving at the meadows by the Elizabeth Parker Hut. This hut, which you can just see the roof of, is operated by the Alpine Club of Canada. It is available to anyone who wishes to 'pay and stay'! |
