This day has the two parts of the trip that give me the most trepidation: ascending to Cecile Lake up the steep, less than stable slope, and the class 3 section descending from Cecile Lake to Minaret Lake.

We planned an early start – we knew others camped at Iceberg Lake would be on our same route, and we didn’t want to be caught in a dicey place if the weather shifted. I was up at dawn to try to catch the morning glow on the Minarets, but the broken clouds dampened the colors.

There seems to be several routes marked by cairns on the slope, and several times we found ourselves in between routes, and other times we were on the routes. The climb was not as difficult as anticipated, especially with the snowfields gone for the season. We were soon enjoying the reflection of Clyde Minaret in Cecile Lake.