Cirque Mountain 13,692' (CO Rank #154)

Date Hiked: 07/20/2025

Distance: ~ 4 Miles

Elevation Gained: ~ 2000 ft

Rocks: A LOT!!!

Hi, It’s me Kaiah… yes, the dog... you are probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. Well, funny you should ask. Do I have a story to tell you.

It started at 5:00 AM this Sunday morning, I was awakened rudely by mom’s phone alarm going off. Don’t these people know I sleep till 8-9 AM regularly? Unacceptable. I didn’t even lift my head or show any interest; however, they STILL got up and started getting ready to leave the house. It was so early I wouldn’t even eat my breakfast and barely looked at dad while he put my harness on. They said we were going for a walk, but last I checked, I go for walks at 8 every morning with mom before she works. AGAIN, 8 AM is a much more reasonable hour for us dogs.

Next, they made me get in the truck. The backseat isn’t as big as the car, and there is less room to hop onto the center console to beg for pets. I was starting to wake up now, and I started to get excited to go for a walk, but I didn’t know where we were going yet. Dad drove us to somewhere called Ouray, and we turned up a dirty road, which honestly started out ok, but then after we passed a BUNCH of parked cars it got EXTREMELY BUMPY. Just where was this walk? So far all I had was a bumpy ride. Finally, Dad parked the truck, and we got out, it must be time for my walk now.

I have to tell you the walk started out just fine. We walked up what looked like a dirt road, but it sure was rocky, and it was steep too. The road didn’t last long though before we turned right and we were walking on GLORIOUS TUNDRA. I LOVE tundra. It makes for the best rolls. We slowly descended, crossed a couple of narrow streams and then headed up more amazing tundra. So far this has been turning out to be a pretty darn good day. Maybe it was good I woke up early… I even got pets from a man named Bob who was headed up something called “Kismet”. That’s a weird word, but the scratches were nice.

Mom and Dad stopped for a snack and Mom said something about only being at 12,500 feet. Dad seemed let down by that, whatever that means, I guess he thought we were higher. But then… all of a sudden… the rolling grass just disappeared. Mom put my booties on. I really don’t mind them, but I thought it would be fun to make her struggle a bit, so I kept squirming away from her. The best part was every time we stopped, I got SO many treats, and they kept telling me what a good girl I was. Of course, I know this. I am PERFECT.

After our break in the amazing grass, something absolutely terrible happened. The grass disappeared. All of a sudden, I was on a trail through rocks… rocks everywhere. Rocks are the WORST. I HATE ROCKS. Rocks are PAWSITIVELY PAWFUL. But at least there was a trail, and guess what?? It had ROCKS. Did I mention I HATE ROCKS?? I trotted up the trail following my dad like a shadow. I also kept looking back at mom to make sure she was keeping up. Soon we were on something mom called a “ridge”, and the humans seemed impressed with the views. Something about a “teakettle” and a “coffeepot” were mentioned, which I thought was odd as there wasn’t a kitchen anywhere nearby.

They mentioned something about a party on something called “Sneffels” and also about “Emma”, they must be crazy… we were the only humans up here. There was no Emma. Since they were marveling at the views, I thought the hike must be over. YAY it was time to go back to rolling in the lovely grass. But then we kept going, we were still on ROCKS. At least there was still a trail to follow, and I figured we wouldn’t have much further to go.

Soon we got to this steeper area. Mom went first, and she had to use her hands to get up. Silly mom, it was so easy for me. I just hopped right up like it was nothing. Dad said I have four-wheel drive so it’s easier. Doesn’t he know I am not a truck? Her name is Imogene. Dad joined us moments later, and then this thing they call “Cirque” became a real jerk. Now the rock was looser, and the humans used their hands more to steady themselves. Shortly after dad finally stopped. Mom wouldn’t let me get any closer to him though, something about cliffs and a sketchy summit. Mom only stood on the true summit for a few seconds even.

I thought for sure, now it was time for more treats, but instead we turned around and left. Don’t they know I am starving?? Mom said we would stop soon after we were past the DARNED ROCKS.

On the steepest rocky area on the way down something PAWFUL happened. Mom went first again, and then dad went next. But then, guess what he did??? HE PICKED ME UP. I flailed my feet out trying to touch the rocks and barely could reach. What was happening??? He turned around and put me down. I made sure to shoot him some severe side eye and then booked it to mom for comfort after the horrible torture of being picked up. Seriously, WHO DOES THAT??? The next steep rock section… dad let me walk down it myself. I made sure to side eye him again. I told you I could do it.

After that we were back on a trail. FINALLY… but then something else awful happened. Dad left me. Mom and I would have to contend with those ROCKS on our own. He was going up that “Kismet” thing and would meet us at the truck. I kept stopping to look for dad. I was wondering why he would abandon us like that. Mom had to pick up my leash, so I’d keep going and soon enough we were back down the rocky trail, and back to the PAWESOME tundra. Mom sat down in the grass with me and I rolled and rolled and rolled. Then she gave me almost all of her jerky in her backpack and MORE treats. This was turning out to be a pretty nice day after all. There was still no sign of dad, but mom didn’t seem concerned. After a nice long break with lots of yummy jerky, mom said we needed to keep hiking down to the road. I thought this was exciting! I could roll in all the tundra on the way to the road, and I sure did!

Once we got to the road some other weird things happened. We took another break, and mom said she could see dad on the “Kismet” thing, and she even took some pictures.

She gave me MORE treats, and some water, and I laid down and rested in the sunshine. There were lots of loud and weird vehicles going by. Some of them even offered us water, which mom thought was very nice of them. I was so happy to be resting, but I still didn’t know where we were or where dad was. We sat there for about half an hour enjoying the views, but then mom said she was getting cold so we should walk down the road to the truck. Silly humans don’t have fur to keep them warm.

On the way to the truck there were a lot more loud vehicles coming by, it seemed to make it take forever to get there but we made it. Mom opened the tailgate and laid out a blanket on the ground for us, and we settled in to wait for dad. I am the best girl, because I saw him first. I even barked at him twice, but mom thought there was no way he was down already, so she didn’t even look up. Can you believe her? She should trust me more, because he WAS down and he said the “Kismet” thing was pretty sketchy, it’s a good thing I went down with mom. I think he is going to tell you all about it later.

Unfortunately, my ordeal wasn’t over yet. Just when I thought it was safe we had to drive down that horribly bumpy road again, and we kept having to stop. I didn’t understand why but mom said something about other vehicles needing to come by. Whatever. I just wanted to go home… and then they stopped AGAIN. When I got out of the car this time, I remembered this place. It was the place with the popcorn and the cool concrete floors. They even have dog bowls for me to have fresh water. Mom and Dad said it’s called Floating Lotus, and they seemed to enjoy relaxing there, I know I did.

I guess I had a pretty doggone good day, but they’d better let me sleep in tomorrow.