Lake O'Hara
3 Years in the Making
I’d been wanting to go to Lake O’Hara for 3 years but it’s insanely hard to get a reservation out there. They have 30 sites, you can book up to 3 months in advance, and they recommend you start trying 3 months to the day. They only take phone reservations and it’s very hard to get through. Even if you do it’s typical for all of the sites to be booked within the first hour.
Hoping to Strike Gold
To make things even more difficult I wanted to go when the larch trees were turning yellow. Although a conifer, the larch is a deciduous tree and loses its leaves in the autumn. Nature photographers think of these trees like beer; They look good, they smell good, and you'd crawl over your own mother to photograph one! Unfortunately the lighting wasn't great so now I have a reason to go back next year.
Everywhere You Want To Be
The camp is located about 10 minutes away from Lake O'Hara itself. The lake is glacier fed and looks amazing. That's not all though! There are lots of hiking trails that start near the lake and lead to magical places filled with waterfalls, more lakes, fantastic views, and unicorns (probably). Some of the trails are very restricted and only 4 groups are allowed to hike them per day.
Community Camps
The campground is community based with a shared fire pit. At night everyone would gather around and share stories about where they've been. I ended up meeting two awesome people: Dani Lefrancois and Callum Snape; both of which are incredible photographers. Even though I thought I might die of hypothermia at times it was an amazing trip. I will definitely be heading back.