Swimming & Climbing in Smoke
1 Day After Backpacking Trip
After Andy and I got out of the wilderness from our backpacking trip we had a little case of decision fatigue so weren’t certain what our plans would be the next few days. We were battling some negative feelings from not finishing what we had originally intended to do and were hoping we wouldn’t one day regret making the decision to abandon finishing the rest of our hike. These feelings subsided the next day as smoke from a nearby fire blew into town. The smoke was thick and completely hid the mountains you could see with great detail just 8 hours earlier. At first we were feeling a little irritated with mother nature for bringing in the smoke but we shifted our perspective to being thankful we weren’t still out in the wilderness hiking with poor air quality and less than desirable visibility. We spent the day at a nearby park where we set out all of our camping gear to dry off and we discussed our plans for the next few days. Andy really wanted to see Bow Lake at sunrise and I was interested in hiking Cirque Peak so we planned to camp near Bow Lake and after sunrise we would attack the hike.
We drove to Bow Lake that night to check it out and ended up driving down a little path that lead to a picnic area with bathrooms. We walked along the shoreline and were enjoying the peacefulness of the area so we grabbed our books and a blanket to sit on to enjoy it a little longer. At some point while we were reading and enjoying the company of the mountains, the idea was floated to go swimming and I remember feeling a frisson of both fear and excitement. I was entertaining the idea but was anxious I would get too cold and wouldn’t be able to warm up if I jumped in. I dismissed this thought and reminded myself it was summer and we had plenty of blankets I could wrap myself up in if I got cold. I was definitely feeling very “we’ll see”-y and wasn’t totally convinced I would be able to mentally tough it out and swim; however, I put on my swimsuit, just in case. We were standing next to the shoreline looking at the crystal clear water and the sandy bottom while my body was reacting as if I was preparing to jump out of a moving plane. Being with Andy gave me the power to at least walk in and “test the waters”, as they say. These they people forgot to mention what to do if you walk in and the water is so cold that your feet cramp a little bit. I was already in up to my waist so what was a little further at this point? I know this sounds like I am making a big deal about such a simple task but there is something about swimming in the evening that adds an extra thrill for me. Maybe it’s because I know fish become more active at night and I worry they will touch me, which again, I can rationalize in my head is absurd but it’s the way my mind is currently wired. I don’t even know how to really best describe the feeling I experience because it’s not quite fear, it’s more excitement than fear. I am excited to do something new and I can imagine how it will feel and the anticipation builds up so great that I almost am not even present because I am living in the anticipation? I don’t know.. Either way, now that I have lived through the experience without any fish touching me I feel like I have evolved into a stronger human. I feel like I have developed a trust with Bow Lake now and I could go back there and swim with much more ease.
After our evening swim, we drove to Mosquito Campground, a first come first serve campground about 10 minutes from Bow Lake. There weren’t any spots left in the actual campsites but we saw plenty of vehicles parking in the center area on the sides which is what we decided to do as well. Thankfully, Mosquito Campground did not live up to it’s name and it was not only a nice spot for us to park and sleep for the night but it also had running water to fill up with and clean bathrooms; these are the small things that bring me happiness while we are on the road. The next day I convinced Andy to do the Cirque Peak hike, despite having limited visibility due to a smokey haze still lingering in the mountains.
Cirque Peak Hike - 11.34 miles - 7 hours and 41 minutes
We left the trailhead around 11 am and I was relieved to see the trail was popular that day because more people on a trail means a lower likelihood of us running into a bear or other wildlife we wouldn’t want to see with dogs. The first 3 ish miles or so is a decent climb through a forested trail but it leads you to a more open ridgeline where you can see glimpses of Cirque Peak as well as views of Bow Lake. Eventually, you cross a cute little bridge and you’re magically teleported to a beautiful valley within the Dolomites in Italy. Don’t ask me how it works but trust the process and you’ll be blown away by how cheap your flight tickets were.
You can expect your return flight to be a bit turbulent if you’re not ready to be teleported back.
This trail leads to Helen Lake and then some hikers choose to continue on to hike Cirque Peak or other nearby mountains like Watermelon Peak or Dolomite Peak. We had a quick snack break at Lake Helen but chose to keep it short because the marmots were terrorizing Owen.
Calling out to his friend Alan
To keep things short, basically, you have two small hills to climb up and then you’re at the top and it’s time to hike down. There were only a few things I remember about our climb up: (1) there was a big boulder we identified as a good shelter in the event of a storm, (2) the big boulder has a hidden path behind it, (3) we chose the other, worse, path, (4) we passed a few people who were coming down which meant we would have the top to ourselves, (5) the scree field toward the top on the path we chose wasn’t fun to hike up, and (6) our watches told us the remaining elevation we needed to climb up which was a helpful reminder that I was almost there.
We reached the summit after 5 miles and 3,600 ft of elevation and we were fortunate to have the entire peak to ourselves. At the top there is a true summit and a false summit with the true summit being a tad more exposed. Andy stayed back at the false summit while Owen and I climbed over to the true summit to take in the views. The views were still pretty incredible even with all the smokey haze choking out some of surrounding peaks you’d normally be able to see on a clear day. We didn’t hang out up top for too long because we were slightly worried about being so exposed in case a storm did blow in and we still had to swim in Lake Helen and hike back to the truck. Going down the peak was a lot easier once we realized we didn’t take the more defined path without all the scree to hike through. Opal needed to be assisted down off of one rock and Owen evaded death after climbing down into a steep couloir for unknown reasons.
Opal has learned to trust us in getting her off of higher cliffs like this.
The couloir Owen ran down. We were above him when he went in so we could only see he disappeared over a sharp edge.
I was mentally preparing for the swim in Lake Helen throughout the hike and while standing on the top of Cirque Peak I was envisioning myself just jumping straight in because I was feeling triumphant, not in just the hike to the top but in doing anything I could do that day. That feeling was fleeting as I started to walking into the lake. It was probably a similar temperature to Bow Lake but the bottom was filled with big, slightly slimy rocks. I guess I also have a fear associated with bodies of water that have murky, rocky, squishy, or slimy bottoms. Apparently, my feet are pretty sensitive to certain textures and walking on textures other than soft sand gives me the heebie jeebies. Even though the situation was less than ideal for swimming in Lake Helen, Andy once again was a major help in getting into the water. Lake Helen was the second alpine lake I swam in and I think the cold water helped rejuvenate my tired legs from all the hiking. After our swim, we had an uneventful hike back to the truck, a short drive back to the campground, and I was snoozin’ shortly after eating dinner because I was D-E-D.
Lake Helen was my second alpine lake swim.
