Opabin Lake
With everything in order at camp, we headed up the trail towards Lake O'Hara. The whole time I had my eye on Wiwaxy Peak which dominates the view to the east just above the trail. I tried hard to recollect what I had read, but couldn't quite decided where the climb started. We hiked past a clearing (most likely an avalanche chute) and noticed a cairn built a little ways off the trail we were hiking on. Could that have marked the beginning of the approach to Wiwaxy? We had no way to verify.
We decided to stop at the Day Use Shelter just below Lake O'hara to see if they might have any climbing guidebooks for sale. They didn't have anything like that. I mentioned our dilemma to one of the young guys working there and asked if there was any info available. He said there wasn't but that one of his co-workers might have climbed the route we were interested in. He summoned his buddy who was busy painting the windows on the outside of the shelter. His buddy had indeed been up to the Grassi Ridge but had only done the first couple of pitches. I could tell he really wanted to help us out but his knowledge was limited. We looked for a spot where we could see the base of the route through the trees and he assured us that we simply needed to head to the highest tree at the base of the ridge to start the route. Well, at least we might be able to find the start of the climb!
Still not convinced that we ought to attempt the climb with such limited information, we tried to put it out of our minds and simply enjoy our surroundings. As advertised, the scenery around Lake O'Hara is purely astounding! We were equally impressed by the quality of the trails. The Lake O'Hara Trails Club does an outstanding job maintaining the trails. Every junction had a sign and mileage making it really easy to get around.
Pictures from our hike to Opabin Lake: |
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When we returned to camp we were still mulling over what to do the next day. Should we try and climb Wiwaxy with the limited knowledge we had or should we just do some more day hiking? Still undecided, we claimed one of the unused tables in the eating area and began cooking up some dinner. It was then that something extraordinary happened.
An older couple (probably in their 60's) approached us and asked if they
could share our table. We didn't need that much space so we consolidated
our crap to make room for them. Oddly enough, looking at this older couple
was like looking at ourselves thirty years in the future. While everyone
else around was busy making some sort of extravagant meal, this couple broke out
a small backpacking stove and a dehydrated meal to share. This is exactly
what Angela and I were doing! As we chatted with them over our boiling
water, we mentioned our dilemma over what to do the next day. As it turned
out, this man had climbed Grassi
Ridge three years before! Finally someone with firsthand knowledge! While
his memory was a little fuzzy after three years, talking with him made success
sound like a possibility even with out the comfort of having a topo with us.
Finally we were convinced that we ought to just go for it and give it a shot.
Besides, it would be a great test of our alpine route finding and decision
making skills which we had been nurturing for the past couple years. So we
headed off to bed early to be well rested for our most adventurous climb to
date.
