I guess I just vastly overestimated my aerobic capacity. My takeaway from this experience was quite mixed. Reflecting on what I accomplished, and what I wish I had accomplished We had lunch together at the start of the alpine meadow, and the teens went off on a 30 minute adventure around the cirque. I was looking forward to that part, but realized I needed to stay put so I could make the walk down. There is a small lake, a trickling waterfall and snow, even in August. Once at the top, the trail goes around the back of cirque. We realized we nearly at the end of the rise and I steeled myself for the final ascent, which was fine. We waited probably 10 minutes that time and a teenager appeared to check on us. We went up a little more, I got dizzy enough that I sat down on the ground and put up my knees. Martin gave my my puffer (it didn’t help!) and insisted we wait a little longer than I wanted. It came back and I found a proper resting spot and stayed put until Martin was back. After about 5 minutes it passed again so I went up the trail a bit. I realized I was not being terribly wise and found a semi-stable place to sit.
It passed, I kept going and it came back. It was also hot, about 26 Celsius, which is fairly rare in the mountains.Īt a certain point I stopped for a rest and realized I was a bit dizzy, not a great thing when I was on my own on a steep path. The trail is fairly steep and there was not much space for stopping, especially with other hikers going by. That’s what I did for a few dozens of metres, but I was having to stop frequently. I thought I’d continue to mosey up the hill and would catch my breath. Martin, loving a mountain challenge, agreed to run the 2km back to the van (and then back up) with the puffer. About halfway up I got significantly out of breath and suddenly remembered my asthma doctor encouraged me to try using a ventolin puffer to see if it helps. I took some breaks but pushed forward, as I didn’t want to miss out. As the ascent came, I slowed down and we eventually let the teens power up the hill, while my husband Martin kindly stayed with me. The trail ascends a total of 258 metres (700 feet). We set off in high spirits and I took this photo of myself at the bottom, thinking of this blog and how I’d like to post that I hiked to the back of the cirque here. The first kilometre was flat and I was excited. I expected I could make the hike and have an alpine experience with my kids, a first for me. I was also excited because the access point is from the aptly named Highwood Pass, Canada’s highest paved road, at 2,206 metres. I was excited to try it again, with newly repaired hips (20) and a newfound love of hiking. I didn’t love doing it, but I had done it. The walk is relatively short at 4.5km and I had been there once before a few decades ago.
At the start – that’s Ptarmigan Cirque behind me
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