ZUSAMMENFASSUNG:
The hike can be continued on to a scramble up to Little Odaray (aka Little O), a minor summit on Odaray Mountain.
Note that this trail has a voluntary restriction on the number of *groups* that can go in each day to minimize the chance of detrimental wildlife encounters: no more than 4 groups per day. McArthur Pass is one of the major wildlife corridors in the area - mountain goats, grizzlies, lynx, wolverine and others have all been seen using the pass. There is a sign-in sheet at the point where it branches off from the trail to Lake McArthur. Please respect the limits and do not go in if four groups have already signed in.
From Aug 15 to Sep 15, there is a further voluntary restriction to *two* groups per day, and Parks Canada requests that you consider hiking somewhere else altogether.
See the following Parks Canada webpage for full details:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/yoho/natcul/ohara/c.aspxcreate
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ANSCHLAGBRETT
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Odaray Grandview
06.08.2013
Another superlative hike in the Lake O'Hara region, this one provides the opposite view to the Alpine Circuit where you can see Lakes O'Hara, Oesa and McArthur along with all the surrounding peaks.
This is another hike that looks impossible from a distance but is easy once you're on the trail winding its way up the flank of Odaray Mountain. Note that once above the treeline, the trail does have steep scree slopes above and below but for the most part, the trail has a solid bed of gravel and soil (even if it is sloping in a couple of places). Follow the usual markers and it's hard to go wrong, except at the point where you stop climbing and emerge onto the shoulder of Odaray. Suddenly the trail markers vanish and it was only by a bit of wandering in what felt like the right direction that we found them again. We ate lunch by a collection of cairn artwork, including a self-supporting stone arch.
The views from the plateau/grandview are superb - Odaray Mountain and its glacier are the obvious in-your-face views, but as I said above, the highlight is taking in a fantastic view of all the hikes you've done in the last couple of days :-) I recommend making this hike one of the last you do if you're staying for multiple days so you can appreciate what you're looking at.
This was our ptarmigan hike: we saw two lone birds (males?) including one that we could hear really close to the trail but couldn't see until it moved (it was less than 5 feet away!), and a hen with 4 growing chicks. We also saw a couple of marmots and heard plenty more. We were plagued by another golden-mantled ground squirrel at our lunch spot - sneaky little critters. No signs of grizzlies.
Note that this trail has a voluntary restriction on the number of *groups* that can go in each day to minimize the chance of detrimental wildlife encounters: no more than 4 groups of up to 6 people. The first day we tried to do this hike, four groups had already gone in - today we were group number 3.