We hiked Ptarmigan Cirque

Saturdays are the days we’re trying to set aside for day hikes until the weather turns cold. We don’t get a lot of time to enjoy the heat in Alberta so we’re not going to miss any opportunity to take the kids to the mountains. Another hike from the Rockies with Kids book is the Ptarmigan Cirque trail. It’s 5 km and takes about 3 hours. We carried Laurelyn in a backpack but David hiked the whole way! It is very high so it was a little harder on the kids, to start with, because the air was thinner. Once everyone got use to it we hauled up the mountain and were amazed by the view. The wildflowers are in bloom and they covered the hills. The gophers were very social and kept poking their heads out to watch us hike the trail. They didn’t come near us but they were very curious, especially when I would hand out some trail mix to the kids. They perked up at the smell of almonds and raisins.

Ptarmigan Cirque is a very popular hike to see not only amazing views of the mountains but mountain sheep, elk and grizzly bears. We looked forward to seeing mountain sheep and elk but we were grateful to not run into any bears. The kids got to talk with one of the park rangers about bear collars, what they’re used for and how they deter bears from going into the cities.

Ptarmigan Cirque is a trail loop. You start at the parking lot, make a bathroom break, head along the trail, cross the highway and then hike up the side of the mountain winding along a well worn path. When we reached the small waterfall we headed back down the trail because we were on a time crunch but there are areas to slide down the loose shale or you can carry your skis in and ski down the snow that hasn’t melted yet. We ran into a group of 10 guys of all ages who had just finished a ski run. They were very excited to point out their lone ski tracks in the snow. I am not much of a skier but I could see the adrenaline rush from skiing such a deserted and isolated area. No one to bump into or worry about. As long as there was snow on the ground they could ski anywhere, undisturbed.

Chuck and I took as many pictures of the flowers as we could. We’re going to print out the pictures and let the kids create a poster of Alberta wildflowers and identify the flowers we saw on the trail.

I can’t wait to go back out there. It was breathtaking!