Wade Christiansen and I took an overnight trip to Cirque Lake last weekend. We wanted to check out conditions in Cottonwood Lakes area, and we included an option to climb Cirque Peak.
On the hike in we took as direct a route as possible. We looped around the south side of Peak 10600+ instead of following the main trail to the South Fork trail. After crossing over the saddle we followed the South Fork of Cottonwood Creek and then hiked directly up the outlet creek from Cirque Lake. There was very little snow on our route. I'd estimate that I took no more the 3 dozen steps in snow during the entire hike in and out.
We reached Cirque Lake at about noon, and as you can see in the photo below the clouds were starting to look ominous.
- Cirque Peak on approach to Cirque Lake
After setting up camp and having lunch we discussed continuing to Cirque Peak. The sky was getting pretty dark, and then we heard a few thunder claps. We didn't relish the idea of getting caught on the ridge in a thunderstorm so decided to stay put for a bit.
We took a short hike to the top of the ridge separating Cirque Lake from the South Fork Lakes. Here's a photo of New Army Pass taken from the ridge.
- New Army Pass
When we returned to our camp site precipitation finally arrived. It seemed to be a combination of snow/hail and had a very grainy appearance. It continued long enough to give the ground a white frosting.
- View across lake after snow fall
In our wanderings around the lake we came across an epic battle between a boulder and a tree. Not sure how long they've been going at it, but I'm sure this battle will continue long after we're long gone.
- Rock vs. Tree
Other than birds there wasn't a lot of wildlife around, I'm sure the weather had something to do with it.
- Got any spare bugs?
By the end of the afternoon the snow had completely disappeared. The winds calmed down so that the lake turned into a nice mirror.
- Late afternoon view east across Cirque Lake
Over night the temperature dropped down to about 27 F, but good old down made for a restful night. On Sunday morning we hiked out via the trail to South Fork Lakes and then followed the South Fork trail back to the trailhead. A good time was had by all.
