Lake O’Hara is a paradise for flower lovers and photographers

Hello, this is Chris from Yamnuska Guides. I had the pleasure of leading the Yamagata’s to one of my favourite spots. I was also happy to be one part of their amazing travels from Alaska through the Canadian Rockies.

After a one hour drive from Canmore and a special ticket for the Parks Canada bus we arrive at 2023m elevation of Lake O'hara.

Some of the peaks in the area such as Mt. Lefroy 3,439m (in this picture) and Mt, Victoria 3,464m are well know from their view on the Lake Louise side. It’s very interesting to view them from the opposite side.

We enjoyed looking at dozens of different flowers and laughed as we shared the English and Japanese names of the flowers with each other. This is Alpine Speedwell 鍬形草

We were impressed and thankful for the work of Lawrence Grassi and others who built these trails and staircases out of their love of the mountains and desire to make them accessible for others. Lawrence Grassi was a retired coal miner from Canmore who also built many trails in the Canmore area, there is even a mountain and a school named after him!

Well built and maintained trails.

I don’t know what this little one is do you? Little mysteries keep life interesting.

We look small compared to the scale of these mountains and cliffs.

Spotted Saxifrage

So many different views as we walked along Lake O’hara and Lake Oesa. We had perfect weather to enjoy the day!