Pocaterra Cirque September 22, 2026

"Was I asking for too much?" was the question I posed to myself! I wanted to frame a day filled with blue in the sky, some unique clouds, mountain views, warm weather and most of all lots of Larch Trees that were in the prime of their end of summer lifecycle. Summer would last until 6:00pm today then bring on amazing autumn!  This framed photo tells it all before I even get to tell you my story, I received everything I wished for!

The Pocaterra Cirque Trail only opened on Friday after being closed all summer for a total make over, revamp, re-route.  The trailhead is located at Highwood Pass in Kananaskis and is the highest paved pass road in Canada.  It sits at 2206 meters (7238 feet) above sea level. I arrived early, four other vehicles were ahead of me, yet only the hikers in one vehicle had already hit the trail. That was another wish, to hike a trail that was not busy.

The new trail was a joy to follow, the only thing was I noticed how much descending I did very early on, that meant ascending at the end of the hike, not my favourite thing. As I exited the forest, this was the view.  From this point forward, it was a very slow go, the views took my breath away!  

My attire was chosen to celebrate the seasonal shades! 

view to the north

The trail followed to the right of the tarn and you can see it wind around the back side of the tarn and ascend at the left of the trees.  That's Mount Tyrwhitt on the left and Pocaterra Ridge on the right.   

By now the Larch Trees lined the trail and they were in all their glory.  

The needles are surprisingly so soft! 

I tell you that with full knowledge! 

Oh my!  WOW!  Holy! Aaahhh!  

These were positive expletives I used lovingly on a regular basis.

The trail passes through a very large boulder field.  These blue squares mark the way.

This was my lunch spot amongst the boulders.  

 

From my lunch spot I could see up to the window on Mount Tyrwhitt.  

The window is that very tiny white spot underneath the star. 

a zoomed in shot of the window

This photograph was taken on September 29, 2012.  You can see four hikers up there.  I took the photo coming from the other direction and just flipped it to show it in comparison to the view I had today.  

With lunch complete, it was time to carry on along the new route.  Once I completed hiking the cirque, the trail joined up with where I veered off some time ago.  It was now that I started to meet many other hikers just working their way up.  I was thankfully to have started early. I took one last look back.

The trail leads back to the tarn which you can see in the middle of the photo.

a Chipmunk

I arrived back at the parking lot and began to delayer. While doing so, I already began thinking about everything I saw then came to the realization I was gifted it all and then some! I certainly did not ask for too much! I got to frame this day exactly the way I wanted to! 

As I began the drive north leaving Highwood Pass behind, I met a Rocky Mountain Sheep strolling south to the Pass area. I admired it for a few seconds then carried on with a wide smile on my face, sipping my water, snacking on carrots, apple slices and fig cookies, enjoying the scenery with no traffic heading in my direction.