Lake O'Hara, Canadian Rockies

Central Oregon's early September wildfires and attendant smoke motivated us to escape in the Starr van for 3 weeks the latter part of September. Our initial choice was to explore the Canadian Rockies north of Banff – to show Martha spots that I had visited without her, including the area's larch trees with autumn color. But wildfire smoke was reported there as well. So we pivoted to a jaunt up the coast – starting in Astoria and then exploring the Olympic Peninsula's Quinault Lake & Lodge, Hoa Rain Forest, and the Quileute/Mora/La Push area in warm, clear weather. It was then time to figure out how to spend our remaining two weeks. We again checked Canada's smoke situation and found that a cool, wet weather system had knocked down the BC fires and the region's air was now clear. So off to the Canadian Rockies we headed, without an itinerary.

We had visited the Canadian Rockies together briefly in 1986 when we camped at Lake O'Hara with our young children for a wonderful few days. We not only discovered that area's incredible alpine scenery with its multitude of unbelievable trails, but also the nearby unique Lake O'Hara Lodge. And we promised ourselves that someday we'd stay at the Lodge. Well, life intervened and many years passed without any effort toward fulfilling that promise. The desire was rekindled in 2003 when I cycled from Banff to Jasper (photo gallery) while Martha was hiking in Europe. I learned then that it was extremely difficult to book a stay at the Lodge – it was fully booked by repeat customers. That's when I started putting my name on their cancellation list, including for this trip's 3 weeks. But I never received notice of a cancellation opening. In 2003 I had stayed at three other wonderful Canadian Rockies lodges at Bow, Moraine, & Emerald Lakes and thought that any of them would be a wonderful stay on this trip. But they are also very popular and therefore short-notice availability at any of them would be a real long shot. Lo and behold, the Lodge at Bow Lake had 3 nights available, starting in a few days...booked! Next, Moraine Lake Lodge had only 1 night available before they closed for the winter – for the very next night after Bow Lake's...booked! Lastly, Emerald Lake Lodge also had one room available, for the 2 nights right after Moraine Lake's...booked! What unbelievable luck!!!

So, we head off toward Bow Lake, on the way visiting a couple of fine wineries in Kelowna/Okanagan and hiking Mount Revelstoke National Park's Meadows in the Sky area. The Lodge at Bow Lake is almost 100 years old and was showing its age in '03, but its location is unbelievable (panorama). However, it changed ownership in 2020 and was completely renovated during the pandemic. It is now beautiful and impeccably managed, and we had a fabulous 3 night stay. During the days we explored the beauty of Canada's Icefields Parkway. At breakfast & dinner we experienced the lodge's communal tables – giving us the opportunity to get to know many wonderful people from all over. We'll definitely be returning soon.

Next up was our one night stay at Moraine Lake Lodge. I had visited this lake three times on my own and it is on my short list of the most beautiful locations in the world. And Martha had never seen it. On my September 2003 visit (photo gallery) I pretty much had it to myself other than a small midday crowd. Since then it has been discovered via social media and is now overrun with tourists. On my September 2022 visit (photo gallery) I snagged one of a small handful of public parking spaces by driving in at 2:30 AM. Those are now completely gone, access is only via a Park bus advanced reservation, and there were no predawn seats available during our trip. So, we had to stay at the lodge in order to be there for the mandatory sunrise view and also to get an early start hiking up into Larch Valley.

We had met a couple at Bow Lake who were also moving on to Moraine Lake Lodge, followed by a 4 night stay at Lake O'Hara Lodge. We had told them how we had long been unsuccessful in landing a Lake O'Hara stay and were green with envy. Well, we ran into them at dinner at Moraine Lake and learned that one of them was experiencing a health issue, and they were going to have to head home in the morning. They asked if we wanted to try and substitute for them at Lake O'Hara. OF COURSE! So, we met in the morning, called Lake O'Hara, and successfully made the switch. This caused us to miss the Moraine Lake sunrise and a Larch Valley hike, but it was a no-brainer tradeoff (and it also turned out that there was low-level cloud cover and rain!).

So, we miraculously ended up staying at Lake O'Hara Lodge for four nights, in one of their incredible lake cabins. And to cap it all off: the larch trees were just a day or two past their peak color, and there was a new dusting of snow on the peaks. AND, as a result of our stay, we are now members in the lodge's "club" and put our request in for a stay next year!

Up to this point in the trip, my camera hadn't seen the light of day because I'd previously photographed most of the trip's stops under better conditions. But my new Canon R5 Mark II camera came out for Lake O'Hara and the results are shown below.

Panoramas – Tap/click on a pano's thumbnail to show an interactive, moving panorama; use the on-screen control bar or your finger/mouse to move around:

Lake O'Hara from Yukness Ledges Alpine Route:

McArthur Lake:

Image Gallery – Tap to view an individual image, then swipe to advance; use the top-right controls for auto play & other options (e.g, tap the curved arrow to open sharing options):