Journey to Cirque Peak — August 27, 2006
Cirque Peak is another one of my favourite peaks from this season; not really because the mountain itself is an increadible scramble, but more because the view from the top is just blatently spectacular! This peak really worked out well for timing, I was in Lake Louise on the 26th for the wedding reception for a friend of mine that grew-up two-doors-down from us and what else is there to do on the day after a wedding but go scrambling?
I met David and Alvin in the parking lot of the shopping center in Lake Louise and we headed out and up the Icefield’s Parkway towards Cirque Peak. I had ridden my motorcycle up to Lake Louise the day before and so now I rode behind the guys up one of the most amazing highways I have been on to date. Cirque Peak isn’t far up the road, but every kilometer of that drive is jaw-droppingly beautiful; this would stay in my memory and we would return here later in the season for Caldron Lake. The path to Cirque is fairly straightforward, right out of the parking lot and following the winding path to Helen Lake.
Helen Lake
From Helen Lake it is a fairly straightforward grunt up to the summit of Cirque, there are a few tricky areas, but nothing that is really earth shatteringly difficult… just a lot of scree!
Cirque has a neat sort of double-summit thing going on, and at the first one we met three ladies who were coming down from the peak just as we were heading up. They told us all about the Bow Glacier across the valley and Num-ti-jah lodge which was started by Jimmy Simpson in 1940. We ascended to the true-summit and enjoyed the spectacular views:
This next picture is one of my favourite pictures in the history of pictures, and all the credit goes to my friend Alvin.
After summiting Cirque Peak we skiied back down the scree and stopped by the tranquil Helen Lake to rest and relax before heading home again. Sitting there in the sunshine surround by an amazing panorama I was overwhelmed with a tremendous serenity which stayed with me as I drifted off to sleep for nearly a half hour. I think if I had to choose a way to die that would probably be it, just doze off beside a mountain lake and not wake up again… not that I’m feeling the need to choose of course. The feeling of serenity stayed with me long after I left the lake and the mountains.