Gina and I decided to spend our Sunday afternoon with a gentle hike through Arethusa Cirque – famed for its larches in the fall season. Ptarmigan Cirque will be packed with people, this Cirque, right next door, should be less busy.
You can find the trailhead for this hike about 1 km south of the Highwood Pass Day Use Area. On the east side of the road, you will see a small bumpy road lead to a small parking area. The trail meanders its way up into Arethusa Cirque. It’s a short hike to the base of the cirque (about 40 meters elevation gain in just less than 1km). We had planned on exploring the cirque and making our way up the rocky ridge on the far side, however, we decided to take the trail up to Little Arethusa instead. This trail is steep! No joke, you pretty much hike up to the summit in one go. In total, we climbed just over 475 meters to get to the summit (in about 2.5 km’s). It was steep, but short and only took us an hour and a half to reach the summit. The views from the top were breathtaking. It had just snowed a couple days before, so all the peaks were brushed in white. Storm Mountain, to the South, looked amazing, and looking down on Ptamagin Cirque was also pretty cool. I would recommend this hike if you are looking for a short, steep challenge. We didn’t have much time to explore the cirque itself, but from up high we could tell it was packed with larches. Happy Trails!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Of all the paths you take in life make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir Archives
September 2017
|