Home»All Photographs»2017 Hikes»Abbott Pass 07-31-17

I finally saw a wolverine!!! After David and I trudged up the Lake O'Hara road (a bus reservation is impossible to get), it was like we were grandly rewarded with this extremely rare sighting. Shortly before Lake Oesa, I saw a figure darting in and out of the rocky boulder field next to me...a wolverine! David and I watched him for a few seconds and then he disappeared around a bluff only to re-appear 10 meters in front of us! This made my week. 11 years, 331 Super-Saturdays and one wolverine sighting...wow. After the wolverine was long gone and the task at hand re-emerged, we focused on getting to Abbot Pass.
The Abbot Pass Hut is the second highest permanent structure in Canada at 2922 m (9585'). It is precisely on the continental divide on the border of Alberta and British Columbia. Rain that falls on one side of the roof drains to the Pacific Ocean while rain that falls on the other side drains to the Atlantic Ocean. It was built 95 years ago from stone that was quarried on site by extremely tough mountain badasses. Today, it is a National Historic Site of Canada, run by the Alpine Club of Canada. It is used as a basecamp for those wishing to attempt the alpine climbs of Mt. Victoria or Mt. Lefroy. For David and I, it served as a fine spot for lunch.
Once we returned to Lake O'Hara that afternoon, we decided not to wait for the stinkin' bus, and we combo jogged-hiked down the same 11 km road that we hiked up earlier that morning. It took us 11.5 hours car to car, but we had the freedom of our own movement. Besides, none of the people on the bus saw that wolverine!