{"id":400,"date":"2015-04-01T09:34:05","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T15:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=400"},"modified":"2019-04-09T21:41:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T03:41:14","slug":"cirque-peak-banff-national-park-canada-7-27-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=400","title":{"rendered":"Cirque Peak, Banff National Park, Canada (7-27-14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hike up to the summit of Cirque Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (9,820 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> in Banff National Park was recommended by a couple of friendly Canadians that Lupe and SPHP ran into on a different trail a\u00a0couple days before.\u00a0 Those Canadians really knew what they were talking about!\u00a0 <\/em>This is a fairly long day hike, but the scenery is absolutely wonderful.\u00a0 From the summit of Cirque Peak are splendid 360\u00b0 views.\u00a0 The most impressive of all is the view to the SW\u00a0of Bow Lake, Bow Glacier Falls<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, and another even higher little lake and falls all fed by the giant Wapta Icefield.<\/em><\/p>\n

The trailhead for this hike is the Helen Lake Trailhead along the E side of the Icefields Parkway Hwy 93.\u00a0 It is located\u00a0directly across the highway from the pullout for viewing the Crowfoot Glacier\u00a0at the\u00a0S end of Bow Lake.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lupe got off to an early start on this fabulous hike, leaving from the Helen Lake Trailhead at 6:45 AM.\u00a0 The skies were totally clear, the wind non-existent, and it was a crisp 39\u00a0\u00b0F out.<\/p>\n

The first part of the 14.5 km hike to Cirque Peak is the 6 km trek to Helen Lake, which basically consists of two parts.\u00a0 On the first part, the trail starts out climbing fairly steeply through the forest. \u00a0Pretty soon the rate of climb slackens and the trail gradually works its way SSE towards the S end of the high ridge to the E.\u00a0 Through occasional breaks in the forest, increasingly impressive views of the Crowfoot Glacier to the SSW, Bow Peak to the S, and Mt. Andromache and Mt. Hector to the SSE are seen as the trail gains elevation.<\/p>\n

\"Bow<\/a>
Mt. Andromache<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (9,829 ft.) <\/strong><\/span>(L), Mt. Hector<\/a><\/span> (11,135 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(Center L), and Bow Peak<\/a><\/span> (9,318 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> (R)\u00a0from the Helen Lake Trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About 1\/2 way to Helen Lake, the trail finally rounds the S end of the ridge to the E and the view changes.\u00a0 A large deep valley heads up towards Cirque Peak now visible to the N. \u00a0Dolomite Peak, which has somewhat the appearance of the spine of a Stegosaurus with the top of the N end of the spine snapped off, lies to the E of the valley.<\/p>\n

\"Dolomite<\/a>
Dolomite Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (9,383 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> to the E of the Helen Lake Trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cirque<\/a>
Cirque\u00a0Peak looms ahead\u00a0to the N shortly after the Helen Lake Trail rounds the S end of the ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trail is already pretty high up on the W side of the valley, near the tree line.\u00a0 It heads N towards Cirque Peak, now along the E side of the ridge the trail just rounded.\u00a0 The valley below to the E is heavily forested, but the trail ahead goes through stretches of open heather, stunted forests and scattered trees.\u00a0 The trail is now nearly level for a fairly long stretch, and even has a few occasional drops as well.\u00a0 Numerous hoary marmots whistle their alarms as one approaches, which greatly interested Lupe.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
The creek\u00a0below Helen Lake along the Helen Lake Trail, Banff National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe gets refreshed in the creek near Helen Lake, Banff National Park, Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eventually the trail resumes its climb and rises above tree line, crossing open heather while gaining elevation at a comfortable pace.\u00a0 Lupe came to a nice creek flowing through a small ravine where she was able to cool off and get a good drink.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the Helen Lake Trail.\u00a0 Mt. Andromache (Center L) and Mt. Hector (Center) to the S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soon after crossing the creek, the trail comes over a ridge from which Helen Lake can be seen just ahead.\u00a0 A headwall is visible not far to the N and E of Helen Lake.\u00a0 The long rocky S ridge coming down from the summit of Cirque Peak is seen above the headwall.\u00a0 Helen Lake itself seemed more like a pretty green pond than a lake.\u00a0 It just wasn’t terribly big.\u00a0 Something (small fish?) seemed to be hitting the surface of the still waters of Helen Lake while Lupe trotted by heading E on the trail above the S shore.<\/p>\n

\"Helen<\/a>
Lupe reaches\u00a0Helen Lake\u00a0below Cirque Peak.\u00a0 Dolomite Pass is beyond the headwall at the right side of the photo.\u00a0 Banff National Park, Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe met the first other hiker of the day at Helen Lake.\u00a0 A fisherman looking to catch a few cutthroat trout was heading for considerably larger Katherine Lake on the other side of Dolomite Pass.\u00a0 He overtook SPHP, but stopped briefly to chat and pat Lupe before continuing on. \u00a0Lupe continued on as well and followed the trail up over the headwall to the E of Helen Lake\u00a0reaching the start of the Dolomite Pass area.<\/p>\n

\"Cirque<\/a>
Cirque Peak from Dolomite Pass, Banff National Park, Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Dolomite Pass, it was time to leave the trail.\u00a0 The trail continued over the pass to the E, but Cirque Peak was now almost due N.\u00a0 A broad rocky plain with little vegetation stretched off to the N gradually losing elevation until it got close to the S ridge coming down from Cirque Peak.\u00a0 SPHP did not\u00a0notice any clear trail or cairns suggesting which way to go.\u00a0\u00a0So SPHP\u00a0was uncertain whether to try to go up the toe of the S ridge or up the side of it a bit to the NE of the toe, but decided to head N and try the side of the ridge.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a>
Now N of Dolomite Pass, Lupe cools off in “Gnat Pond” at the base of Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a pleasant easy stroll across the rocky plain, Lupe and SPHP arrived at a very shallow pond at the base of the S ridge a bit NE of the toe. \u00a0There was water in the cracks between the rocks around the pond from which clouds of gnats swarmed up.\u00a0\u00a0SPHP led Lupe around the E side of the pond and over to the S ridge.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe E of “Gnat Pond” at the base of Cirque Peak. This photo looks SW and shows a portion of the Crowfoot Glacier beneath the distant ridge at the right side of the photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rocks forming the side of the S ridge looked a lot bigger than they had from a distance.\u00a0 In fact, they were boulders of various sizes.\u00a0 It didn’t look like too hard a climb to get up on the ridge though, so Lupe and SPHP started scrambling up the side of the ridge.\u00a0 The ridge had several little false summits and near the real top there were rock walls.\u00a0 However, after some false starts and various explorations, the top of the ridge was gained.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The\u00a0S ridge leading up to Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once on top of the S ridge, the way up Cirque Peak was obvious – just follow the ridge right on up.\u00a0 The ridge was pretty broad, there were several unmaintained trails, and the rocks on top of the ridge were nearly all small – not boulders –\u00a0so it was easy to just keep trudging on up the mountain.\u00a0 Lung capacity was the only limiting factor.\u00a0 However, lung capacity quickly came into play, as the long climb up the ridge became progressively steeper.<\/p>\n

The small loose rocks and mud forming the ridge started to give way beneath every step.\u00a0 Even Lupe was sending showers of small rocks sliding as she climbed.\u00a0 SPHP felt guilty about greatly increasing the erosion rate just by struggling up the mountain.\u00a0 The slope of the mountain near the top seemed to be the maximum slope that the laws of physics would allow for such a loose pile of dirt and rock to even support itself.<\/p>\n

Near the very top of Cirque Peak, the loose rock finally met up with a 30 to 50 foot layer of dark gray solid rock.\u00a0 Fortunately, the solid rock was not just a wall, and was climbable without any great difficulty.\u00a0 When Lupe reached the summit, there were two people there ahead of her.\u00a0 They had passed Lupe and\u00a0SPHP on the steepest part of the loose rock not far from the summit a short time before, and were the first to arrive at the summit of Cirque Peak this day.\u00a0 They said they\u00a0were originally from Hungary, but were now living in Canada.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe checks out the view to the SSW towards\u00a0the Crowfoot Glacier and the S\u00a0end of Bow Lake\u00a0from the false summit of Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hungarians\u00a0quickly pointed out that technically Lupe and SPHP were still only at a false summit.\u00a0 The true summit of Cirque Peak was a slightly higher rocky crag just a short distance to the E. \u00a0The Hungarians had already been there.\u00a0 Lupe and\u00a0SPHP rested and had some water at the false summit while the Hungarians were still there.<\/p>\n

The false summit area\u00a0wasn’t terribly big and was almost completely surrounded by cliffs or very long steep slopes.\u00a0 Fortunately, there were some good solid rocks providing relatively comfortable and secure perches.\u00a0 It\u00a0felt like being up in a small plane with so much air around in every direction.<\/p>\n

\"Dolomite<\/a>
Dolomite Peak, Mt. Andromache & Mt. Hector (progressively more distant near the center of the photo)\u00a0to the SSE from Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The views from Cirque Peak were spectacular in every direction.\u00a0 To the S were Dolomite Peak, Mt. Andromache, Mt. Hector, and way off in the distance was a glimpse of\u00a0Mt. Assiniboine<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(11,864 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Far below was “Gnat Pond” at the base of the S ridge of Cirque Peak, and even farther below was Helen Lake.\u00a0 Portions of Katherine Lake were visible beyond Dolomite Pass.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
View to the N from Cirque Peak.\u00a0 A portion of Peyto Lake is visible at the left side of this photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To the E was a broad expanse of air before reaching jagged mountains beyond a deep valley.\u00a0 To the N, a snowfield or small glacier lay far, far below Lupe and SPHP\u00a0at the base of the towering N cliffs of Cirque Peak.\u00a0 A thin, treacherous ridge extended NW from Cirque Peak just to the W of the snowfield.\u00a0 Beyond were more mountains and Peyto Lake in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"Bow<\/a>
Bow Lake, Bow Glacier Falls & the Wapta Icefield from Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most magnificent view of all though lay to the SW.\u00a0 Most of Bow Lake was in sight and beyond it Bow Glacier Falls.\u00a0 A lake Lupe and SPHP\u00a0had never seen before was above Bow Glacier Falls, and another waterfall plunged into it from the Bow Glacier extending out from the vast expanse of the Wapta Icefield.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the true summit of Cirque Peak and the view to the E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the Hungarians started down, Lupe and\u00a0SPHP worked their way over to the true summit of Cirque Peak.\u00a0 This involved a climb down of maybe 20 to 30 feet, traversing a fairly narrow saddle with dizzying drops on either side, and an easy climb up a craggy knob slightly higher than the false summit to the W.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The rocky E crag that is the true summit of Cirque Peak. NOT a good place to race around chasing squirrels!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Incredibly, after reaching the true summit, Lupe found a squirrel way up here and about gave\u00a0SPHP a heart attack by chasing it around the rocks oblivious to the cliffs all around her.\u00a0 Lupe was quickly brought under control again and taken back to the false summit for a more secure vantage point from which to appreciate the stupendous scenery.<\/p>\n

Conditions\u00a0on Cirque Peak\u00a0were near perfect.\u00a0 The sky was now partly cloudy, but mostly sunny and non-threatening.\u00a0 Amazingly, there was no wind at all most of the time, just a gentle breeze that came up now and then.\u00a0 Temperatures were in the upper 50’s or low 60’s.\u00a0 Visibility was wonderful.\u00a0 Lupe remained on top of Cirque Peak as long as she and SPHP were the only ones up there, which was quite some time.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The S ridge, the way back down Cirque Peak, as seen from just below the solid rock layer at the top. “Gnat Pond” (L) and Helen Lake (Center L) far below.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Visible below, however, were lots of hikers strung out all along the SW ridge making their way steadily up.\u00a0 When the next hikers finally got close, Lupe started down Cirque Peak just in time to get off the layer of solid rock before meeting up with the next\u00a0party and their dog, Ella, at the very top of the steep slope of loose rocks.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe meets Ella and her humans at the base of the solid rock layer which forms the summit of Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even more loose rocks showered down the steep upper slopes of Cirque Peak on the way down than on the way up.\u00a0 Lupe had to lose a lot of elevation before reaching firm footing again.\u00a0 On the way back down,\u00a0SPHP learned that the proper route onto the S ridge was NOT the climb over the boulders above the shallow pond, but via an unmaintained trail heading N along the top of the headwall E of Helen Lake.<\/p>\n

This trail eventually winds its way up onto the rocky toe of the S ridge. \u00a0There were cairns along the headwall marking the path, but\u00a0SPHP had gone too far E to have noticed them on the way up.\u00a0 Lupe and\u00a0SPHP followed other hikers down off the S ridge via this route and saw that it was much superior to the way they’d come up in the morning.<\/p>\n

\"Dolomite<\/a>
Dolomite Peak (which SPHP thinks looks like a Stegosaurus with the N end of the spine snapped off) and Mt. Hector from the S ridge of Cirque Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rest of the hike back to the Helen Lake Trailhead was just retracing the hike up earlier in the day.\u00a0 There were lots of people around on the way back, compared to virtually none on the way up. \u00a0Lupe arrived back at the trailhead at 4:54 PM.\u00a0 It was 68\u00a0\u00b0F, partly cloudy and calm.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP headed to the picnic ground near the S end of Bow Lake for a shared\u00a0evening meal of sardines.\u00a0 Then it was time for a bit of relaxation\u00a0soaking tired paws and feet in the cold lake while watching sunlight sparkle brilliantly on the\u00a0waves.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This photo of Bow Lake showing the Crowfoot Glacier was taken on 7-25-13 on Lupe’s 2013 Dingo Vacation to Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"P1050127\"<\/a>
The Crowfoot Glacier above the S end of Bow Lake on 7-25-13. This photo was taken not far from the picnic ground near the S end of Bow Lake on Lupe’s prior 2013 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP strongly recommend the hike up Cirque Peak if conditions are good.\u00a0 The\u00a0fantastic views are well worth the effort.\u00a0 However, under wet conditions, the hike up the S\u00a0ridge of Cirque Peak is probably a horrible muddy slog to be avoided, even if visibility is acceptable.<\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Adventure<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mount Jimmy Simpson, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada (8-6-18)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s 2014 Canadian Rockies & Beartooths Adventure Index<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hike up to the summit of Cirque Peak (9,820 ft.) in Banff National Park was recommended by a couple of friendly Canadians that Lupe and SPHP ran into on a different trail a\u00a0couple days before.\u00a0 Those Canadians really knew what they were talking about!\u00a0 This is a fairly long day hike, but the scenery … Continue reading Cirque Peak, Banff National Park, Canada (7-27-14)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[105,32,74,73,30,31,106,65,72,69,70,104,66,11,75],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2014-canadian-rockiesbeartooths","tag-american-dingo","tag-banff-national-park","tag-bow-glacier-falls","tag-bow-lake","tag-canada","tag-canadian-rockies","tag-carolina-dog","tag-cirque-peak","tag-crowfoot-glacier","tag-dolomite-pass","tag-helen-lake","tag-lupe","tag-mount-hector","tag-peakbagging","tag-wapta-icefield"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SDC11771.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21766,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions\/21766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}