On the trail to Schaffer lake. Conor and Jen's first time at Lake OHara
We crossed through a patch of yellow larches.
Conor on the trail.
Jen skipping on rocks at Schaffer Lake.
More rock skipping. She had gone out a little ways to pose for a photo. I continued to make photos as she made her way back.
The trail meanders through open meadows as it encircles Schaffer Lake.
Jen and Conor stop to take a photo. I'm hiding out behind a larch.. photo-inception.. photo of a photo..
Ascending on the trail past Schaffer lake.
It sure is pretty here..
High up in the gully above Schaffer Lake. Odaray in the background.
Climbing up the gully. There is a boot beaten path that we're following.
We make the col and can see McArthur lake on the other side.. well, we can kind of see it. high winds and driving rain were blowing over the saddle and it was hard to see.
McArthur Lake glows blue. The saddle we climbed to on the right in yellow..
From the col there was a cairned trail that we followed... for the most part it was easy scrambling as we got higher the trail became steeper. With the wet weather it became trickier. Park Mountain in the background. Some friends had climbed it the day before under beautiful blue fall skies.
Following cairns and scrambling up the ridge. Jen wasn't comfortable with the terrain and decided to wait for us..
We are just entering the bottom of the gully that will take us to the summit ridge. The rocks are loose.
Gaining a bit of elevation in the gully that will take us to the summit ridge. There is a pretty obvious path.
Peaking over the edge of the gully on climbers left I can make out Lake OHara in the gloom. The ACC Elizabeth Parker hut is in the clearing seen left of center.
Topping out of the gully and reaching the ridge. Silly that we would expect this to be the summit.. it never is. Once we gained the ridge the summit was still a little ways back above a couple steps that we had to scramble up.
Once we gained the ridge there was a bit of blocky moss covered terrain to cross. The moss got pretty slippery in the rain/sleet. On the step in the background there is a chimney for us to scramble up.
Conor at the bottom of the chimney. We took off our backpacks for this section because it was a tight squeeze and we were almost at the top.
Conor topping out of the chimney seen in the previous photo. There were a couple steps on the ridge before we got to the summit. Lake OHara below.
The final step on our journey and the top of the mountain.
With the rain and the sleet, the moss covered rocks where pretty slippery.. Conor is making his way to the summit. Lake McArthur on the left.