Monday, September 5, 2011

Hiking: C-Level Cirque

Just because running isn’t that easy right now doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to get my fitness back, right?  The Husband and I were out in Banff for part of the long weekend for a friend’s wedding and we figured this would be a great opportunity to get in a hike or two.  We didn’t have much time so we couldn’t venture too far so we opted to revisit a hike we had done before – C-Level Cirque.

We first hiked this in September 2007.  It was actually the first hike we ever went on together.

C-Level Cirque 09-07 010Us, way back in 2007DSCN6021Us, in 2011

Back then the trail was covered in snow, today it was beautiful and clear.  It was also a lot steeper than I remembered it.  Funny how those things tend to happen?  When did this trail get harder??

As you hike up you pass these old abandoned mine shafts, plus the old building you can see in the picture above.  Just past the old building there is a short trail off to the side that gets you to an amazing lookout.DSCN6024

You are otherwise in the trees the entire way up and it isn’t until you reach the very end of the trail that you get another glimpse of some amazing views.  Here is the actual cirque (an amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion – courtesy of Wikipedia).DSCN6029DSCN6031The views were so different this time, compared to when we were there in 2007.C-Level Cirque 09-07 025It felt so much bigger and impressive since we could actually see the top of it this time.  DSCN6032All in all, a great hike!

C-Level Cirque in Banff National Park, AB
2.28 mi trail (~4.6 mi round trip)
1937 feet elevation gain
2 hours, 15 minC-Level Cirque Hike 02-09-2011, Elevation - DistanceC-Level Cirque Hike 02-09-2011

2 comments:

kristen said...

I've done that hike before and I remember it being quite tough with all that uphill!

(and your pictures just made me miss "home")

Jen said...

We were there on Sunday too! I've never done it before and was pleasantly surprised! Of course the great weather helped!