Lake McArthur. Park Mt (2941 ) on the right, Mt Briddle (3319 m) in the distance.
August 3, 2022, Lake McArthur out and back, 10.1 km, 400 m elevation gain, 400 m elevation loss, 6 hrs 20 mins.
Day 2 hike in Yellow.
Elevation profile Day 2.
I was up early and had breakfast on the boil by 6:45 pm. We were feeling no rush in camp so after breakfast we spent some time finishing our coffee by a roaring fire. Having a fire in camp is something we are not used to when backcountry camping but it is simply glorious. Even with our relaxed start we on the trail by 8:30 am.
Looks like coffee and oatmeal for breakfast.
Raisins or dried blueberries in the oatmeal to add some flavour.
I would consider this to be backcountry glamping. Picnic tables and a fire. The fire was a pleasant way to warm up on a damp and chilly morning.
On our way, it is 8:30 am. The Le Relais Day Shelter. We would come here for a nature talk on flowers which was super interesting. At the day shelter they offer coffee, tea and snacks but cash is required!! We had no cash 🙁
The trail leaving the day use shelter. These are some of the best maintained trails in the Canadian Rockies.
We are headed to Lake McArthur today and will pass by the Elizabeth Parker Hut and Schaffer Lake.
Beautiful trails with Odaray Mt in the background.
We are not alone on the trail but we did not see any wildlife on the trip.
The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) Elizabeth Parker Hut.
It took us just 20 minutes covering 1.25 km from the campground to arrive at the Elizabeth Parker Hut. The hut is where I stayed on my trip to Lake O’Hara back in the 90’s of which I only have spotty memories. I though remember a lot of rain. On this day the hut was buzzing with activity with people preparing for an ACC trip. An ACC trip is a group hike lead by a member of the ACC which is one of the perks when staying at the hut. We would see them a couple times on the trail.
Another view of the Elizabeth Parker Hut.
The new and maybe improved Parks Canada signs. I personally like the older yellow signs. Does not mention our next destination, Schaffer Lake.
The trail flattens out as we approach Schaffer Lake.
Welcome to Schaffer Lake. We have covered just under 3 km with a 150 m of elevation gain.
Schaffer Lake with Mt Schaffer (2682 m) appropriately as the back drop. The true summit is the peak on the left just out of the frame.
Looking West to Little Odaray (2955 m).
Choices.
After leaving Schaffer lake we soon came to a junction for the High or Low Level Circuit to Lake McArthur. We randomly chose to take the High Level Circuit on the way to Lake McArthur and deciding to return via the Low Level Circuit. This turned out to be a good choice. The High Level Circuit involved some minor scrambling which is always easier going up than down. The Low Level Circuit involves no scrambling with hiking on decent trail and should be chosen by anyone wanting to avoid using their hands while hiking. Laura was happy that she did the High Level Circuit but would not have chosen it if she knew ahead of time it involved the scrambling.
A last view of Schaffer Lake. Looking north Mt Cathedral (3189 m) is on the left, the tall peak on the right is Mt Huber (3354 m).
Red Paintbrushes surrounding a Hippie on a Stick (Western Pasque Flower or Anemone Occidentalis).
There is a nice engineered trail up through the cliff.
The cliffs to our left belong to Mt McArthur which we must walk around. The peak in the far, far distance is Hanbury Peak (2911 m) located in the Ottertail Valley across from the McArthur Campground where I camped with Micah while hiking the Great Divide Trail Section C back in 2020.
So many choices.
A bit of a rocky traverse. The upper cliffs of Park Mountain coming into view. In the distance a lovely ridge leading to the snow capped peak of Mt Owen (3083 m).
Another junction. We will be back at this point in a little less than 2 hrs.
Laura making her way along the High Level Circuit. In the valley below the Low Level Circuit is evident slicing through the trees.
The first obstacle to overcome.
We are going up along the left. The Low Level Circuit can be seen cutting down green slope to the right. Mt Owen in the distance.
Very nice trail work. Not hopeful that Parks Canada would extend this level of care to other trails
Looking back from where we have come from we can see the trails for both the Low Level and High Level Circuits. Cathedral Mt in the distance.
After clearing the rock bands we had a steep but short section of sheltered trail.
As we popped out of the trees we had our first high altitude views. A short flat section leading to one last obstacle before arriving at Lake McArthur.
Up and over the small cliff face.
A rare outcropping of Gog Sandstone in the Canadian Rockies.
Our first view of Lake McArthur.
Panoroma view.
It took us 2.5 hours to hike the almost 5 kms to the lake. The weather was not over cooperative and our time at the lake was a little on the cool side. Lake McArthur is one of the larger high alpine lakes we have visited and is the deepest lake in Yoho NP.
Moss Campion. My favourite alpine flower. It is just so resilient and tough making a living in harsh environments all while adding a lovely splash of colour.
The waters almost look like the Mediterranean but I imagine that Lake McArthur is not quite as warm.
There are large cliffs ringing the edge of the lake. They provided a wonderful elevated view of the lake.
Lunch time. Looks a little windy.
Me playing with my camera. Note the almost smooth look to the water. The camera was on a 2 second exposure. Compare to the next photo where the water is clearly more chopping with a typical landscape shutter speed.
After lunch we popped down to the lake for a close up before heading on our way.
The junction with the Low Level Circuit. There is a trail along the south shore that leads to a scrambling route up Park Mountain, conveniently located in the background.
It was just a little chilly at the lake. Laura bundled up with her hood on to protect from the wind. We only spent 45 minutes at Lake McArthur and headed on our way at 12 noon.
In the picture above Laura is heading up and away from the lake. Lake McArthur has no visible drainage stream and is located in a limestone bowl which is why to leave the leave Laura had to hike uphill. The water from the lake seeps out through cracks in the limestone that form the basin of the lake making Lake McArthur an example of a karst lake.
Small outlet pond formed from water seeping through the rock from Lake McArthur. Similar to its bigger cousin this small pond has no visible outlet.
A vivid example of Moss Campion. Moss Campion can grow where other plants cannot because it secretes an acid from its roots that break down the rock into usable soil.
Time to head down the steep drop that we saw earlier from the High Level Circuit.
Across the bottom of the cliff and into the forest. There would a small climb back up to McArthur Pass.
Junction for a seldom used trail that connects Lake O’Hara to the Rockwall in Kootenay NP.
After August 15th you need a permit to use the trail via McArthur Creek to respect the needs of grizzly bears.
Very pleasant section of trail.
Never seen as many signs on a trail as we did at Lake O’Hara. We are headed back to Lake O’Hara but will be going to head to Schaffer Lake then take a side trip on the Big Larches Trail to Mary Lake.
Have to sign a log book to hike the Odaray Highline. Only two or four groups allowed per day depending on the time of year. I would like to hike the Odaray Highline but it was not to be on this trip.
Now these are some throwback vintage signs.
Just after leaving McArthur Pass. Laura has warmed up after our stay at the lake. A lovely field dotted with red paintbrushes, hippies on a stick and yellow daisies.
That looks distinctively like a grizzly bear claw mark.
Head left to join the Big Larches Trail.
This trail is not as well traveled or as maintained as other trails in the park.
A view of Mary Lake in the foreground and Lake O’Hara just behind. Beyond Lake O’Hara up through the break in the cliffs is where we went yesterday to Lake Oesa.
This was a particularly rough downhill section.
Heading right to Mary Lake.
Mary Lake. Heading up over the headwall in the distance leads to the Opabin Plateau and another half dozen or so lakes. I could not verify the origin of the name Opabin, but the two definitions I could find were either the name Opabin is Nakoda for rocky or is Cree for little lake.
Panorama of Mary Lake with Mt Schaffer (2692 m) dominating the background.
Laura putting her chair to use taking the view of the very pretty Mary Lake with the tower cliffs of Mt Schaffer acting as the backdrop.
So bit of a silly story. After following a couple hike the Great Divide Trail on Youtube who frequently stopped for a midday coffee, I was inspired to treat myself and others to a little extra while on the trail. For this hike I had promised Laura that we would have a mid afternoon coffee break when we arrived at Mary Lake.. After getting the stove all set up at Mary Lake for the coffee I discovered I had forgotten the coffee >:( Sometimes I worry about myself in my forgetfulness. This time though I think I will chalk it up to a lack of attention to detail. A known shortcoming of mine. After about 30 minutes at Mary Lake we packed up and headed on our way. The serenity of the scene at Mary Lake made up for the coffee fiasco so Laura was not disappointed in me. At least she did not let on if she was.
Short path leading away from Mary Lake back to Lake O’Hara.
We are headed right to Lake O’Hara.
Small creek draining Mary Lake and emptying into Lake O’Hara.
A long exposure photo of the stream.
Another funny story arose while I was photographing the stream. Lucky for me Laura is patient when I set about to take photos of cascading water. I love photographing the tumbling water and will take the time to photograph a long exposure photo which gives the water a smooth silky appearance. In this instance I was trying to be quick about taking the photo and as a result I was taking a few shortcuts. I set my camera not on the tripod I was carrying but on a small bridge. As a result I really had to lean over a long way to press the the shutter button. What I should have done was taken my pack off but to save time I left it on. As I leaned over my water bottle slid out of its pouch and landed in the creek proceeding to bounce its way merrily away from me. I quickly ran after my bottle slipping and sliding on the wet rocks in the narrow creek flirting with disaster numerous times before finally catching my bottle as it swirled in a small eddy. After all the excitement I was quite happy with how my photo turned out. Laura did point out my chase of the water bottle could have ended badly for me and had I stopped and taken the time to take the photo correctly it would have been a lot safer. Words I will remember next time I am tempted to rush a photo.
Junction with the Lake O’Hara circuit. It is 2:30 pm and we have hike 9 km in a comfortable 6 hours with numerous breaks.
Looking across Lake O’Hara to Seven Veil Falls which we visited yesterday.
No cell service but a landline works nicely. Anyone know how to make a collect call?
We arrived back at the campground just before 3 pm. It was starting to drizzle out so I made the coffee we suppose to have at Mary Lake inside one of the cooking shelters. Not really quite the same view but the coffee was warm and comforting on what was to be a wet afternoon.
In one of the shelters having a an afternoon coffee.
It drizzled for much of the afternoon but we were still able to enjoy the fire and took part in multiple lengthy conversations with the other campers.
I really loved having the fire in the campground. It was a great meeting place and we really got to know some of our fellow campers while enjoying the community offered up by a welcoming fire.
Cannot really tell what is for dinner. I think the little spots on the surface is probably rain adding to our meal.
After dinner we headed to the La Relais Day Use Hut for the Speaker Series hosted by the Lake O’Hara Trails Club. The speaker series covers a range of topics related to the area and on this evening the presentation was by Mike Potter on wildflowers. The presentation was very informative and Mike was an engaging speaker. We loved the presentation so much upon our return to Canmore we bought his book. I have used the book many times to identify various flowers in my photos. When I was stuck once I emailed Mike and he replied promptly answering my question. I was very impressed.
After the presentation we headed back an enjoyed some more time around the fire before heading to bed.
Classy marshmallow sticks.
It did rain on this day but that was not enough to dampen our enjoyment of of another wonderful day exploring the area surrounding Lake O’Hara.
