A New Direction (Day 3)

A new day means a new direction!  Instead of following that same path that leads to Lake O'Hara, we headed off in the opposite direction towards Lake McArthur.  The trail sign for this Lake is literally right outside the entrance to the little Hut.  Right away, the landscape looks different. The sun is not fully above the mountains so still casts a shadow over us.

The trail is well defined!  

Even though we are headed in a new direction and the landscape looks different, there are still colorful lakes.  Schaffer Lake still had some snow to one side.  It was such a pretty, peaceful, place to be early in the morning.

But McArthur Lake was even much more so!  We owned it for quite some time!  For the best photo opportunities of McArthur, well into the afternoon would have been better but I'm pretty sure you would have to share the space and my testament to that is from the number of folks we passed heading up when we were heading down.  This was actually our long, late breakfast spot.  Sights and sounds of avalanches kept us entertained.

The sun dancing on the Lake monopolized our photography time.  

After our late breakfast, and after the sun's dancing performance, we took the low route for our return trek.  We passed by this protected area and wondered what was down there.  One Warden did tell us, it's not the greatest place to be as it is not maintained, there are lots of trees and it is closed in with no views.  I still wondered though!

We took the Big Larch Trail down to Mary Lake which is one of the little colorful lakes we saw beside Lake O'Hara from high above yesterday.  This was the last lake to see this weekend but it wasn't enough for me.

I took one last stroll along Lake O'Hara, for one last view, for one last photo from a new direction.  

The only thing left to do now was to go back to LeRelais and wait for the bus to take us the 11km back to my car.  No more searching for those elevens like yesterday but on my way to the bus, I still did happen to find an eleven.  At $700 to $800 per night, staying in a Cabin here is out of my league.

I took a few minutes to reflect on how much I have been enjoying the new direction my hiking and mountain experiences have taken me.  Right now I feel this new direction in adventuring shines brighter then all others!

Thank you to Happy Hiker for this photo!