Outdoor Video Magazine

Length: 12km round-trip to Helen Lake. 14km round trip including Cirque Peak.
Elevation Gain: 455m to Helen Lake. 1050m to Cirque Peak.
Time: 3-5 hours round trip for Helen Lake. 6-8 hours for Cirque Peak.
Difficulty: Helen Lake - Easy hike, Cirque Peak - Easy Scramble
Effort: Helen Lake - moderate, Cirque Peak - high.
Rating: 9.5/10 (including Cirque Peak).

This is a fantastic summer hike, especially if you include the ’scramble’ up to the of Cirque Peak, which sits just under the 3000m mark. It is one of the most easily attainable peaks of this height in the Canadian Rockies, with absolutely spectacular views.

The trail starts across the road from the Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint, 33km North of the Lake Louise junction on the Icefields Parkway. This is right by Bow Lake, at around 1900m elevation…which means you have a nice high start.

The trail starts off through some fairly open pine forest, giving you some nice views of the Icefields Parkway valley (is this still called Bow Valley this far up?) as you climb steadily. After 45mins or so the trail steepens as you start to climb out of the trees, and you soon break into the Helen Lake valley. This area is beautiful if you catch the alpine flowers in june/july. From here the trail heads easily onwards to Helen Lake. Awesome views of the Dolomite Range and Cirque Peak surround you. Watch for bears…this is prime grizzly country. The trail is sometimes closed if a bear is known to be in the area.

In no time at all you make it to Helen Lake, a really gorgeous little place that reminds me a lot of some tarns I know in the Lake District, England. There is some good fishing to be had here…I saw a bunch of beautiful ones while I was sat eating lunch.

For Cirque Peak, follow the obvious trail anti-clockwise round the lake, and begin to ascend the high ridge over looking the lake. This is still all on a fairly easy trail, so even if you don’t fancy ascending Cirque Peak, it is worth to top out on this ridge for a view Eastwards over Katherine Lake to Dolomite Pass.

Once you reach the ridge, you can see the easy route up talus slopes to the top of Cirque Peak. It’s steep, monotonous hiking…but I assure you it’s worth every second. Near the top, the talus changes to some real rock where you may use your hands on a few occasions. But there is no exposure at all to worry about. When you reach the top (the first obvious top)…you can be amazed by the tinyness of the summit you just ascended with ease. It’s extremely precipitous on the backside, but you can keep well away from that if you want. If you want to obtain the true summit, there is a little bit more exposed (but still very easy) scrambling to do as you head right. If you don’t have a head for heights, don’t worry. The view is much the same from the both summits.

Looking out across the Icefields Parkway, you can see Bow Glacier, and the gorgeous looking hanging lake right above Bow Falls which I now HAVE to visit one day. If you like spotting peaks, I’m sure you could name about 20 of the tops you can see from this vantage point.

Now you just have to descend the way you came back to the car (the only bad part of this hike). However if you’re feeling adventurous, you can come down the talus on SW side of Cirque peak, then up a short gully onto the ridge that separates Helen Creek valley from Bow Lake. Follow this ridge S, enjoying views of Bow Lake and the Dolomites all the way, then angle down through talus slopes and open areas to meet the trail only a short ways from the parking lot. I have not done this particular descent, sounds nice though!

You are almost guaranteed to see ground squirrels and hoary marmots on this hike. They were EVERYWHERE. And very friendly.