I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday than frolicking among the vast meadows, alpine lakes and massive peaks near Banff – especially when I know I won’t be in the mountains as regularly as I have been these past few months.
I convinced Barry to join me (and drive) to summit Cirque Peak and to explore Dolomite Pass. I have wanted to come back since Karen and I failed to reach the summit last summer.
It takes about two hours and a half from my place to reach the e Helen Lake trailhead so it was nice to have someone else drive. I get a bit cranky after a few hours in the Qashqai. The parking lot is about one kilometres south of Bow Lake, and about 35 kilometres north of Lake Louise.
The trail through a forested to Helen Lake is about five kilometres. Straight from the parking lot, it’s a steady climb until it opens up to lovely meadows with the first looks of the impressive Dolomite Peak and surrounding mountains.
It wasn’t long before we reached Helen Lake. We didn’t see anyone ahead us until we over took a group of four who had stopped to rest and refuel near the lake.
What took us a minute was to realize that there was absolutely no sign of smoke. It’s been weeks since I have seen blue skies so it made the day even more special. Perfect weather for running and hiking.
We headed past the lake to the headwall on a fairly well-defined trail. The higher we climbed, the better the views. At the top of the ridge, we headed left toward Cirque Peak. We decided to summit first then explore Dolomite Pass.
Last year I was short 300ish metres from the peak so I knew it wasn’t a technical climb. However, we reached a section with two paths going in two directions. My gut told me we should go right. Barry wanted to go left. To avoid an argument, I said, ‘sure I will follow you’. Of course we bypassed the proper route to the summit and spent 30 minutes crawling over loose rock and shale. (Note to self: Always second guess someone who is known for getting lost and relies on memories from 30 years ago)
I can laugh about it now but at the time I was bordering on being annoyed. I dropped my bear spray while on all fours. Thankfully someone followed us up the scree and found my spray. We took the most-travelled path down the mountain.
Dolomite Pass was absolutely stunning. We were surprised not to see a single person hanging out by Katherine Lake or at the pass. The conga line of people suggested most people were going for the big pay day – Cirque Peak summit.
But I have to tell you the pass was so vivid in colour and magical. The wind had picked up a bit throughout the day so it wasn’t ideal to jump in the lake – maybe earlier in the summer.
A handful of rocks were strangely positioned in a line at the base of Dolomite Peak. They were perfect for climbing. We managed to climb all but one that was a little too sketchy for grip.
It was a fun day. We hiked mostly but ran on the way down to the parking lot. My hips have been locked up for a couple of weeks now so I wanted to take it easy. In case you are wondering, I wore a bandage on my right knee because I felt it needed a little more stability than usual.
How was your summer? Have you been to Dolomite Pass or Cirque Peak? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.