Lake O'Hara

Sun 4th Sept. A few people have told us over the last few weeks, that if we have a chance we should go to Lake O'Hara, and since it wasn't far from Lake Louise we decided to do it today. However there is a catch to getting there - either you are lucky enough to get shuttle tickets which is a ballot system at the beginning of summer, or you walk the 11 km forestry road. Obviously we didn't have shuttle tickets, and there was already a long wait list of people hoping for no-shows, so off we headed down the road. There was more people walking than I thought there would be, we passed about 12 who had started before us. It took us 1 hr 40, to cover the 10.81 kms with elevation gain 451 m - Lake O'Hara altitude is 2035m . Once we got there it was then try and decide what hike to do. One of those who recommended O'Hara, had mentioned the ledgers walk, however that looked a bit much after already walking 11 kms and the possibility of having to walk the 11 kms out again (if there is room on the shuttle for $10 each you can get a ride out). So we decided on the 5.9 km Opabin circuit. This trail started about half way around the lakeshore. However about quarter of the way around another track, the Lake Oesa trail headed up so we took that. I'm so pleased that we did, it was such a picturesque walk, past lakes of varying blues and waterfalls. After reaching Lake Oesa, took the Yukness Ledges Alpine Route, which walked high above Lake O'Hara, and connected with the East Opabin track - the one we originally was going to do. This took us to Opabin Lake, and then we headed back along the west Opabin track, about half way back we must have missed a junction and ended back on the east track which took us down to Lake O'Hara lakeshore trail which we continued on back to the start, stopping of for a quick dip at the jetty near the end - this was probably the coldest lake we have swam in. Hike stats: 10.2 kms, active time 3hrs 16, elevation 510 m. We were also recommended the carrot cake they sell at the little shop, however when we got there they were all sold out of it - Doug was extremely disappointed. With an hour before the 16:30 shuttle was due to leave, and no guarantee of a seat, we decided to walk the road back, it was easier because it was mainly downhill, but by halfway we were getting quite sore and tired, but we got back in similar time as what we did walking there. Overall, we really enjoyed Lake O'Hara, whether it was because less people, and definitely less haze to what we had yesterday at Moraine Lake, but also the whole hike had really great scenery - it was definitely worth the road walking to see. After that it was the drive back to Banff, a quick grocery shop and then to the Tunnel Mountain Campground, where we have got four nights booked. Steps D 45831 / V 47418.Read more