Cirque or Cirque Lake

Cirque: a glacier-carved bowl or amphitheater in the mountains. To form, the glacier must be a combination of size, a certain slope and more unexpectedly, a certain angle away from the sun. In the northern hemisphere, this means the glacier must be on the northeast slope of the mountain, away from the suns rays and the prevailing winds. Thick snow, protected in this way, grows thicker into glacial ice, then a process of freeze-thaw called nivation, chews at the lower rocks, hollowing out a deep basin.

Whistler & Garibaldi Park

Ablation Zone Accumulation Zone Adit Lakes Aiguille Alpine Zone Arête ARRTI Armchair Glacier The Barrier Battleship Islands Bears Bench Bergschrund Bivouac Cairn/Inukshuk Carter Chimney Cirque Cloudraker Coast Mountains Cordilleran Cornice Corrie Lake Crevasse Dalgleish Deadfall Emerald Forest Erratic The Fissile Fitzsimmons Creek Fitzsimmons Range Fyles Garibaldi Ranges Garibaldi Volcanic Belt Gemel Glacier Window Green Lake Hoary Marmot Krummholz Lithophyte Moraine Mt Garibaldi Mt James Turner Northair Mine Nunatuk Overlord Peak 2 Peak Roundhouse Rubble Creek Scree Spearhead Range Tarn The Table Townsend Usnea Winram

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Eventually a magnificently circular lake is formed with steep sloping sides all around. Cirque Lake just south of Whistler in the Callaghan Valley is a wonderful example of one of these beautiful geological formations. Cirque Lake in Whistler is accessible by a short canoe route across Callaghan Lake, then a very steep and challenging two kilometre hike. The trailhead to Cirque Lake is found at the far end of Callaghan Lake. The Callaghan Lake turnoff is 20km south of Whistler Village. From Whistler drive 20km towards Vancouver, then turn right at the sign for Whistler Olympic Park. Drive up the beautiful, winding road for about 8 minutes. The sign for Callaghan Lake will be just before Whistler Olympic Park, you will turn left, cross a bridge and drive a bumpy logging road for 8km. Cirque Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes to visit in the Whistler area. The wild and hostile environment contained in a cirque valley create a staggeringly enchanting world high above Callaghan Lake. It is very remote feeling despite the short 2 kilometre hike to reach it. Getting to the trailhead requires paddling the length of Callaghan Lake to find the hardly visible beginning of the trail. To reach the very hidden trailhead to Cirque Lake, paddle your canoe towards the waterfall far off in the distance. Not until you are only 50 metres from the shore, nearest the sound of the now hidden waterfall, you will see a small clearing jutting out from the shore, this is the trailhead, despite it not looking like one. Pull your canoe up here and drag into the bushes. Only a few metres into shore you will notice an obvious trail. Callaghan Lake is a destination on its own. A beautiful alpine lake, well above the busy world around Whistler Village. Bring a canoe and paddle across the lake to find amazing rock cliffs and cute little islands.

The image above is an aerial view of Cirque Lake from the top of the valley near Sky Lakes. Sky Lakes is a beautiful, unmarked route that takes you along the edge of Cirque Lake, then veers to the right and up the green meadow higher into the alpine. After you reach the top of the valley, you will see a series of lakes called Sky Lakes. Their name comes from the mirror-like reflection of the sky you see when you first catch sight of them from the ridge above. The above image shows the glacier carved shape of Cirque Lake and Mount Callaghan above. The image below shows the steep, boulder section of the Cirque Lake hiking trail and Callaghan Lake in the background. Further in the far distance you can spot Black Tusk and Mount Garibaldi quite easily.

Hiking to Cirque Lake

Plenty of great views of Callaghan Lake from the Cirque Lake trail. The image below is shorty after climbing the big boulder section of the trail. There is a nice, huge flat area and this cliff overlooking the lake. From here, Cirque Lake is just a 4 minute, leisurely hike away.

Cirque Lake Trail View of Callaghan Lake

Finding an area flat enough to put up a tent is tough at Cirque Lake. The terrain around the lake is rocky and mostly sloping. There is this nice area overlooking the lake that you come to immediately when you arrive at the end of the Cirque Lake trail. The shore of the lake is just a 1 minute walk down the rocky scree slope on the right. The route to Sky Lakes is off to the right, following the scree slope as it ascends into the green meadow where the sun is shining.

Cirque Lake Camp

Cirque Lake is beautifully carved by glaciers into this round shape. The lake is very deep and the crystal clear water is emerald green coloured and brutally cold, even on a hot August day. Swimming in the lake is actually a bit spooky as you can see for several metres into the water below you until it becomes black with the depth.

Geology of Whistler: Cirque Lake

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