Cirque of the Unclimbables Trip > Logans Mountains: Wilderness Area
The Logan Mountains are a true wilderness gem, having some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in all of Canada. The range straddles the Yukon and North West Territories and is roughly aligned in a southeast to northwest direction. In the northern half of the Logans towers the Cirque of the Unclimbables, a world-class destination for big wall rock climbers, who challenge themselves on its immense vertical granite faces. The Cirque faces rise, almost vertically, 700 m (2300 ft) above the valley floor.
The southern Logans, although not quite as vertical, are still imposing. The entire Logan Range is a granite intrusion into the surrounding peaks of the Mackenzie and Selwyn Mountains, which are comprised of folded sedimentary rocks. The Logans are tall enough to form glaciers along their western edge, as air crossing the Yukon from the west rises and sheds its moisture as snow during the long winter of the Canadian north. The highest peak in the North West Territories is Mt. Sir James MacBrien at 2759 m (9052 ft) of elevation. This peak is part of the Cirque of the Unclimbables formation. These large glacial fields in the upper elevations of the Logans melt each summer flowing into spectacular glacial lakes of an almost unbelievable shade of blue. Out of these glaciers flow the headwaters of the famous Nahanni River. The famous Virginia Falls is just a mere 106 km (66 miles) away from the Cirque of the Unclimbables.
Our route around the Cirque will take us from our landing site on the stunning Glacier Lake, up into the alpine surrounding the Cirques. Here at a series of high alpine lakes we will set a base-camp to explore the high country and the back-side of the Cirques. After spending a few days in the high alpine we will descend to Glacier Lake for a night before making our way west and then up to the very base of these mammoth granite spires. We will camp at the “fairy-meadows”. The meadows were named for their quaint, fairytale-like appearance amongst an army of monolithic giants. If you ever imagined standing in a scene from “The Lord of the Rings”, well this is as close as reality can get you. After spending a few days at the Cirques we will descend once again to Glacier Lake and our rendezvous with the float-plane.
Please utilize the links below to see some images of the Cirque of the Unclimbables.
