BOU AVENUE
Cirque Peak

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Kelly Wood and I headed out somewhat late on 22 August 1999 to scramble up Cirque Peak.  It was about noon when we started hiking up the trail to Helen Lake.  The weather was gorgeous on this day which meant that there were a lot of people on the trail.  Continuing beyond the lake, we left most of the crowd behind and scrambled up through a snow cornice onto the broad south-facing slope.  A long but easy plod eventually put us both on the summit.  Interestingly, we came across a couple of tourists having a discussion in the gap between the two summit knobs.  The husband was apparently having a hard time convincing his wife to scramble up the last few metres to the top!  Kelly and I couldn't believe that she had made it that far up the mountain only to wimp out on some easy boulders below the summit.  In the end, she stayed put while her husband came up and greeted Kelly and me.  Helen Lake was deserted by the time we descended to it, and we enjoyed some solitude on the hike out.  Our round-trip time was 8 hours.

	Rounding a shoulder on the trail to Helen Lake, Kelly is greeted with this view of Dolomite Peak.
	Cirque Peak
	Kelly turns to take a photograph of the wild landscape.  Mount Hector is the snowy peak at left while Bow Peak is at right.
	Kelly ascends the south slope of Cirque Peak.  Helen Lake is visible below.  At upper far left on the horizon is Mount Assiniboine which is 70 km away.
	As Kelly approaches the summit, Bow Lake and Bow Glacier are revealed to the west.
	Sonny stands on the 2993-metre summit of Cirque Peak.