O Canada! Lake O'Hara/Yoho National Park, 8.6.19 - 8.9.19, Part 2 of 8
We woke up for our first full day at Lake O’Hara to crystal clear sunny skies. This was to be a full day of hiking and I was almost trembling with anticipation. We had an ambitious plan to hike the entirety of what is known as the Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit. In looking at the attached map, it involves taking the high trail up to Wiwaxy Gap, over the Huber Ledges to Lake Oesa, around Yukness Mountain via the Yukness Ledges, up through and around the Opabin Plateau, climbing to the All Souls Prospect and returning to the campsite on the Big Larches Trail. We expected it to be a long day but where else would we rather be?
Area map showing our route
After the short hike up the road we began the same clockwise path around the lake as we had done the previous afternoon. The sun was now bathing part of the lake in light and the impressive Schaffer Ridge wall was just lit up rising above the lake.
Lake O’Hara and Schaffer Ridge
Not far from the lake outlet we came to a junction. The route I wanted to take involved the notorious Huber Ledges in which the trail crosses a very exposed, cliffy section on an extremely narrow trail. Bridgit wasn’t too keen on that idea so she and Sandy opted for a different route at this point. They would continue around the lake to another trail junction, taking the Lake Oesa trail up the middle of the cirque and meet us at Lake Oesa. Mike and I started up the trail towards Wiwaxy Gap and it wasted no time gaining altitude. Soon we were high above Lake O’Hara and the scenery got better with each step. The color of the water in O’Hara was remarkable and jagged peaks poked up in every direction.
Looking down to Lake O’Hara
I felt strong after all the hiking and exercise I’ve been doing leading up to this so the steep trail didn’t bother me at all. How could it with new peaks popping up every few feet we climbed? We made it to Wiwaxy Gap in good time and took a short break there, soaking up the views. From here we could see almost our entire planned route. Looking at the photo below, we would leave Wiwaxy gap and head left over the Huber Ledges to the lake at the left of the photo called Lake Oesa where we would reconnect with our spouses. From there another ledge system called the Yukness Ledges would take us in front and around Yukness Mountain overlooking Lake O’Hara to the Opabin Plateau. After hiking up and around through the plateau we would ascend the right shoulder of Schaffer Ridge to the All Souls Prospect. Dropping off the back side of the prospect we would descend to Schaffer Lake before returning to our camp.
The view from Wiwaxy Gap
Me and my mountain mentor at Wiwaxy Gap
After a quick break and some photos we started along the Huber Ledges towards Lake Oesa. Essentially the route runs along a huge area of cliff bands on the side of Mount Huber. There is an amazing history of how the trails were built here and we were blown away by the incredible amount of work that must have gone into the planning and building of these trails. In places there were rock steps and ledge ramps with tall rock faces rising next to your left shoulder and long drop offs falling away from your right shoulder. It looked scary and dangerous but in actuality it wasn’t bad at all and we both thoroughly enjoyed this section.
The trail heading to the Huber Ledges from Wiwaxy Gap
Yours truly just below Wiwaxy Gap. Am I happy or what?
Pano from Lake Oesa to Wiwaxy Gap (Lake O’Hara in center)
As I kind’ve already expected, the sun was behind Lake Oesa making photography in that direction a challenge. As we approached this high alpine lake the route slowly descended into a rocky scree field before coming right down to Lake Oesa.
Lake Oesa
Near the end of the Huber Ledges section we came across a family of ptarmigan. I never saw the mama but there were four or five little ones hopping over the rocks.
Baby ptarmigan. And you know what baby ptarmigans say? Ptune in to Part 3!