Corrie Lake is the surreal looking lake that can be seen across the valley from Whistler Mountain. While hiking the High Note trail along Whistler Mountain it slowly comes into view, seemingly hanging in the forest on an otherwise steep sided, broad mountain. The broad mountain that Corrie Lake sits within is called Corrie Ridge, which extend from Corrie Peak to Gentian Ridge. The ridge is named Corrie Ridge because Corrie Peak is the highest peak along the ridge.
Corrie Lake, Corrie Peak, Corrie Ridge, Corrie Glacier and Corrie Creek all derive their name from the observation in 1916 by provincial botanist John Davidson who compared the lake to the corries of Lochnagar and Braeriach in the Cairngorms of Scotland. Corries are glacier carved lakes usually found on the north facing slopes of mountains in the northern hemisphere. Corries in the western world are more commonly called cirques, though corrie is generally used in the United Kingdom. A corrie or cirque results from a north-facing glacier repeatedly gouging out a hollow where a lake forms. Every year as more rock is gouged out, the deeper, thicker and heavier the glacier gets and therefore the gouging force progressively increases. Interestingly, this process tends to confine itself to a somewhat standard size. Generally corries/cirques settle into a circumference of just under one kilometre. The back wall of the corrie/cirque gets steeper due to freeze-thaw weathering and plucking and the base becomes deeper due to erosion. The glacier is heavier as it moves downhill causing it to move in a circular motion known as rotational slip as it moves out of the hollow it created. The lake produced by this geologic process is circular in shape. Cirque is derived by the French from the Latin word for circus, which translates to English as circle. Corrie Lake has a somewhat circular shape and Cirque Lake in Callaghan Valley has an even more symmetrical shape to it.
Cirque Lake is a wild and beautiful lake that hides high above and beyond Callaghan Lake in Callaghan Lake Provincial Park. What makes Cirque Lake special among the other sensationally beautiful lakes in the Whistler area is both its location and geologically formed shape. It sits high above Callaghan Lake, which itself is a gorgeous, mountain lake. The remoteness of Callaghan Lake is a bit of a mirage due to the fact that you can drive right to it!
More Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking A to Z!
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Arête: a thin ridge of rock formed by two glaciers parallel to each other. Sometimes formed from two cirques meeting. From the French for edge or ridge. Around ...
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April in Whistler is a wonderful time of year. The winter deep freeze ends and T-shirt weather erupts. The village comes alive with overflowing patios and ...
May is an extraordinarily beautiful time of year in Whistler. The days are longer and warmer and a great lull in between seasons happens. Whistler is fairly quiet ...
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Hiking in Whistler is spectacular and wonderfully varied. Looking at a map of Whistler you see an extraordinary spider web of hiking trails that are unbelievably numerous. Easy trails, moderate trails and challenging hiking trails are all available. Another marvellous ...
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The West Coast Trail was created after decades of brutal and costly shipwrecks occurred along the West Coast of Vancouver Island. One shipwreck in particular was so horrific, tragic and unbelievable that it forced the creation of a trail along the coast, which ...