It was a fine sunny day in the mountains with nary a cloud in the sky. We made brisk time up the busy Helen Lake trail with a brief stop for a view of Crowfoot Glacier across the valley:

The meadows were still somewhat in bloom, providing a colourful carpet to walk through. There were quite a few marmots whistling from the scree slopes, perhaps to warn of a couple of falcons that flew by. At Helen Lake, one brave participant took a brief plunge in the frigid waters:

We continued up the ridge and then down towards the flats below, which had more marmots running about and a few Columbian ground squirrels to keep them company. Views of the surrounding peaks were great:

We lunched along the shore of the lake and, not to be outdone by the ladies, one of our male participants also took a short swim in chilly waters:

Then it was on to the more remote part of the loop, where a few flowers were noted:

Having left the crowds behind we had this area to ourselves and successfully negotiated the remnant snow in a gully:

After another leisurely rest in the sun, we negotiated the rocky section and the forest before arriving at the cars at about 5 pm. While the drivers undertook the car shuttle we were able to spot a black bear near the parking lot while we waited. Five finished the day by dining in Canmore on the way home.

Thanks to Carl, Paul, Eva, Zorica, Cornelis, Barbara, Karen, Wally (guest), Jim, Norman, Yoko and Ivan for joining me, Ron (C/S/P) for a fine day in the Rockies.

Trip Stats by Cornelis: Started 9:50AM from Helen Lake Trail Head ~1988m elevation. Effective ascent to pass above Helen Lake 550m above trail-head. Then descending to Catherine Lake (~400m above trailhead), climbing to the pass behind Dolomite Mountain ~580m above trail-head, followed by a 725m descent to the shuttle cars at Mosquito Creek, back at 5PM. Total Climb 880m, total distance 18.4km.