O Canada! Lake O'Hara/Yoho National Park, 8.6.19 -8.9.19, Part 6 of 8
Lying in my sleeping bag the night we hiked the Alpine Circuit my head was spinning. The sheer beauty of all we had seen that day was so overwhelming I hadn’t even fully processed it yet. And yet we woke up to another gorgeous morning with a perfect forecast. Our plan for this day was to hike up the next valley over from Lake O’Hara to the second largest lake in Yoho called Lake MacArthur. Walking up the road to the Le Relais Shelter we took the trail heading up to a pair of reservable huts called the Elizabeth Parker Huts.
Sandy and Bridgit
The huts aren’t too far from the main lodge and they are in the middle of a very large and lovely meadow with great views. Apparently long ago they allowed camping in this meadow and I could just envision fifty Model T’s and scores of people camped all over the meadow. Well the meadows did get destroyed but it has been closed for revegetation for many years and looks beautiful now.
From the meadow we had a really close look at 10,364’ Odaray Mountain. There is a trail that heads across the valley and up onto the high shoulder left of center in the photo below. That route is prime grizzly country and they only allow four parties per day to hike back in there. We talked to one woman who not only went to the Odaray Prospect but scrambled the pointy sub peak above the prospect. She said the views from that spot were stellar and who was I to doubt her?
Meadow near Elizabeth Parker Hut. Mt. Odaray in the background.
The trail climbed a little steep stretch before mellowing out and coming to Schaffer Lake. The previous evening Mike and I had passed by this lake on our way down from the All Souls Prospect.
Schaffer Lake. Wiwaxy Peaks and Mt. Huber in the background.
Schaffer Lake
A lot of our hiking the previous day had been on rock but the alpine wildflowers were really plentiful on this hike.
Western Anemone with Indian Paintbrush
Western Anemone. I’ve heard them called Cousin Itt flowers or Dr. Seuss flowers.
Our trail led us up the valley between Mount Schaffer and Odaray Mountain before curving around and climbing to a saddle. We passed through a beautiful meadow along the way before topping out above Lake MacArthur.
Bridgit in the meadow. Mt. Duchesnay and Odaray Mountain in the background.
Once we climbed over the rise we were greeted with our first views of beautiful Lake MacArthur. At the head of the lake, 10,889’ Mt. Biddle rose over the lake.
First view of Lake MacArthur
As we got nearer we could see that the water was an incredibly deep blue color. The closer we got, the bluer the water seemed.
Lake MacArthur
Lake MacArthur
The trail dropping down to Lake MacArthur
Next up is part 7.