Lake O’Hara 2024

Steve from New Zealand is in town, and we managed to get reservations in to Lake O’Hara. We haven’t manage to get anything booked in to Lake O’Hara since 2017, seven years ago so this was something of a miracle. Our original reservations were not great ones (2 nights, split apart by a day, and 4 people crammed into a single tent), but with the rainy, cold weather, there were cancelations, and Sandy and Karin got us another booking in the middle. We had prepared for the possibility of getting 3 nights in a row by bring some tins of soup for the extra dinner.

Sandy and Karin would be staying a Takakkaw Falls, and the boys would be crammed into a single, 4 man tent. Still thrilled to be back at Lake O’Hara.

Clouds and rain were pretty much continual. Sometimes we would get a glimpse of blue sky, but that was rare. The final day was sunny, but we only had a half day to enjoy it.

Because of the really late summer, pretty much all of the hiking routes were semi-closed:

  • Alpine Circuit: Closed everywhere, deep snow and avalanches
  • Lake McArthur: Closed. “Impassable snow” above Schaffer lake. We verified this. Some hikers made it through, but we failed.
  • Lake Oesa: Deep snow past the waterfall. Not a problem for us, and many others. The lake itself was still frozen over
  • Lake Opabin: Deep wet snow, although Opabin Prospect from the east route was okay. We made it across from west to east without any real problems other than wet feet and some deep, wet snow covering up water. We didn’t bother heading up the the lake itself.
  • Lake O’Hara loop, easy and open, although parts of the trail were a little flooded by the high water levels.
  • Linda Lake and Cathedral Lakes: bits of snow, but mostly clear. Lots of wet and muddy trails. First time we have done this hike, usually preferring to go up high rather than retreat down in to a valley. It was still excellent.
  • Odaray is iffy at the best of times. And required making it through the first half of McArthur. Not an option because of the deep snow.
  • Wiwaxy was closed at the top due to ice and snow, but by the time I went up, it was perfectly safe.

Highlight Photos

Day-by-Day

There are links to photo albums in this list.

  • Sunday, 2024-06-30 Drive to Calgary
  • Monday, 2024-07-01 Lake O’Hara and Takakkaw Falls
    • Drive from 2 hours from Calgary to Lake O’Hara
    • Lake O’Hara Group:
      • Get on the 10:30 am shuttle
      • Set up camp. The big 4 man tent fit on the pad, and it would be snug. But the Lake O’Hara Campground is a great base camp.
      • Hike up to Lake Oesa. Rangers advised just going to the waterfall because of deep snow. We (and many others) ignored this. It was wintery and wet, but not a problem.
      • Dinner was pasta and sauce by Sandy.
    • Takakkaw Falls Group:
      • Booked another night for the Lake O’Hara group. This was only possible because the rain had caused many cancelations, AND Tegan had a Garmin inReach, which enabled us to communicate, even though we were out of cell phone coverage.
      • ??
  • Tuesday 2024-07-02
    • Lake O’Hara Group:
      • Breakfast
      • Attempt Lake McArthur
      • We dipped into our resevoir of soups, and ate some of our dinner reserves for lunch. Accidentally mixed cream of chicken with wicked thai. It was okay, just unusual.
      • Opabin Prospect Hike, from the west trail, across and down the east trail. Wet snow and rain but a great adventure.
      • Dinner was keema and rice by Karin.
      • Takakkaw Falls Group:
        • ??
  • Wednesday 2024-07-03
    • Lake O’Hara Group:
      • Breakfast
      • Linda Lake and Cathedral Lakes. First time for us to hike down into another valley. This was a good hike, but lacks the huge views.
      • Do a hike (MacArthur? Oesa? Opabin? Odaray?)
      • Dinner was an adventure. A VERY expired packet of dehydrated backpackersThai Peanut curry for the adventurous, and the cream of chicken with wicked thai soup for Kim and Steve.
    • Takakkaw Falls Group:
      • ??
  • Thursday 2024-07-04
    • Lake O’Hara Group:
      • Breakast
      • Pack up and leave gear in shed
      • Warren did a quick scrable up Wiwaxy
      • The others prepared for a Swim in Lake O’Hara which is always an adeventure when the water temp is 3c or so.
      • Take the 14:30 shuttle down the mountian and then drove off to join the girls at Two Jack Lake.
    • Takakkaw Falls Group:
      • Take down campsite
      • Drive Two Jack Lake
    • Set up campsites. The Two Jack Lake Campground is a nice car camping location.
    • Dinner tacos by Sandy. In this case, we didn’t bother dehydrating it, just froze it in a big container, and left it in a cooler. Easy and excellent
  • Friday 2024-07-05
  • Friday 2024-07-05
    • Warren, Sandy and Tegen Drive to Saskatoon
    • Kim, Karin and Steve drive to Jasper, then Edmonton