3. Ptarmigan Cirque (a), (b)

Distance: 4.5 k return
Elevation gain: 225 m

On July 9, 2011, we hiked up Ptarmigan Cirque which begins at Highwood Pass in Kananaskis. Emmy and Arny Meetsma and Philip, a Korean homestay student, went with Herm and me.

 

 
It was still early for flowers since the spring was so late and so the most spectacular was the glacier lily.Whole meadows were covered with the flowers.

 

There were patches of snow all along the hike. At one point I suggested to Philip that he try skiing. He truly enjoyed              " playing ski" in July.

This view with the water running through will always be Ptarmigan Cirque for me. It looks extra barren and cold today because it was. The rocks were very gray, the greens weren’t very green yet. 

 We looked for a spot out of the wind to eat lunch.

Bouquets of western anemone greeted us and said good-bye.

Ptarmigan Cirque B

July 29, 2015 I hiked here again with Rachel, Naylis, Skyler, Allie and Lisa Monroe. The lilies and anemones were gone, replaced by fireweed, fleabane, etc and many gophers as well as a marmot.

The kids walked very well receiving a variety of twizzler at every third Trail Stop marker to encourage them.
It was a dark, cloudy, cool day again with very few moments of sunshine, but we all hiked on up the scree to the snow over the lip of the first ridge.

Skyler started making a staircase but we got too cold to finish so we went down to find a sheltered spot for lunch. I believe we chose the same rock as the previous time. Skyler had fun trying to approach a whistling marmot and actually got pretty close.

Pose for a picture.

 Beautiful views and hike in spite of the weather.