Burns Lake via Arethusa Cirque & Pass Off-Trail hike on 18-Jul-2025

With an uncertain forecast, a hike seemed a better plan than a scramble today and luckily three hardy Ramblers agreed to join me somewhat last minute: Gary, Jane and Krystyna. While the skies alternated from sunny, to cloudy (sometimes of the dark variety) we ended up only feeling a few drops once back in Arethusa Cirque.

Arriving in the cirque, we had to navigate around the creeks which were running much higher than usual due to heavy rain the night prior, but we managed to weave our way through with only slightly wet feet. The trudge up to the pass was more pleasant than on my last trip, as I remembered a much gentler route that Bill Leach had found. The large valley was absolutely gorgeous with multiple cascading waterfalls and 3 lakes (Krystyna found a third one as we explored a little farther past Burns Lake to view the route backpackers follow from Elbow Lake.)

Thanks to Gary for the stats: 10.1 km, 928 m, 7 hours

Pam

Thank you to Krystyna for taking and sharing photos: