During our incredibly fortuitous and fantastic stay at Lake O’Hara Lodge in the Canadian Rockies last Fall (click for details), we requested a return stay anytime this year. And we were notified last December that a 5 night stay in a lake cabin in mid-August was available for us. We accepted even though August is a very busy month at home in Bend – once we landed a spot on this merry-go-round, we’re staying on it as long as we can!

So, we headed north by car on August 14th, spending a lovely night in Bonner’s Ferry, ID, and the next night at the wonderful Lodge at Bow Lake. We then rode Lake O’Hara Lodge’s bus over the 12 kilometer gated fire road to the lake, and settled into our lakeside cabin. Over the next four days, we hiked within three of the four surrounding mountainous basins. The area had experienced rain for the preceding 5+ weeks, but we had dry days. Probably due to that wetness, the wildflowers were not abundant and the teal-color of the upper lakes and streams was lighter than last year. Of course, we were also too early for golden larches, but all the vegetation was a lovely fresh green.

Overall, we had an utterly fantastic time and, even though the area wasn’t as photogenic as last year, it was still an “11 on scale of 10”!😊 Fingers crossed, we are looking forward to a return visit next year.

See the trip’s images here: Lake O’Hara 2025 Image Gallery.