Cirque and Ledge Peaks

July 15, 2024

Early start with a half hour drive to the Helen Lake trailhead along the Icefields Parkway on a beautiful morning. The well graded trail climbed steadily up through the forest, giving us many glimpses of Crowfoot Mountain, the Wapta Icefield and some of our objectives for the next few days. We broke out above the trees and strolled across some lovely alpine meadows, finally arriving at the pretty lake of Helen after about two hours of walking.

A view of the Crowfoot glacier, which seems to be missing a toe

A bit of frittering as we stroll across the meadows

Helen Lake

It was tempting to fritter the day away in this beautiful spot, but Cirque peak loomed above us and just begged to be climbed. We travelled a well worn path up a long scree slope, littered with lots of scampering marmots that provided entertainment for us. One was standing on top of a huge boulder and as we approached a second marmot jumped up and started fighting, eventually booting the poor sop off its perch and becoming the new king of the castle. Given how fat these critters were, I suspect they were just trying to show off and get some handouts from passing mountaineers.

A marmot trying get some food out of us

The scree slope steepened as it neared the top, and a bit of third class scrambling over the rocky double summit had us on top of the mountain. Lunch was enjoyed here with fantastic 360 degree views.

Ascending Cirque

Damien and I enjoying the views from the top

After descending, we decided on a quick side trip to a bump known as Ledge Peak which overlooks Helen Lake. Mike and I scouted over the summit for a bit to see if we could find an alternate way down to make the hike a loop, but nothing looked too appealing so we simply returned back to the trail and hiked back to the lake via the same ascent route. From Helen Lake onward it was very crowded with other day hikers as we made the relentless descent, including a huge group of young folk who were on some sort of bus tour of hiking and staying in fancy hotels. We took a bit of a rest on the grass around the parking lot as we waited for everyone in our group to arrive as we had gotten a bit strung out at the end.

Traversing back across the summit ridge with a backdrop of the Wapta

Exploring the summit of Ledge Peak

Hike time: 8 hours

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