Garibaldi
Third time up, first time back with pictures
Garibaldi is a massive park - roughly the size of the
Greater Vancouver Regional District and completely dwarfing adjacent
Whistler. There are several hikes within day hiking range of
Vancouver, but much of the park is days away from the road.
Garibaldi lake is one of the most popular hiking destinations in the
park (
Elfin Lakes is also quite
popular) and this is actually my third time up. The first time I
took very few pictures and the second time my camera died only an hour
into the hike.
The hike starts in lush forest - some areas are
practically carpeted with moss. The usual west coast species
(cedar, hemlock) are in abundance
The
hike up is softened by switchbacks but is pretty
consistently up. There isn't much water on the way up - the trail
doesn't follow next to a stream so you spend a fair amount of time in
dense trees.
About 2/3rds of the distance to the lake you find an access to the
bluffs overlooking a giant rock slide. This location is a very
popular lunch spot and the local wildlife knows it. By the
time you break open your lunch bag, the squirrels are looking around
and
the Jays are on the lookout for anything they can steal.
Thankfully nothing larger has figured it out.
Next come two
small lakes - Barrier Lake and Lesser
Garibaldi lake.
These small lakes are a prelude to the main event - Garibaldi lake.
Eventually you round the bend are are immediately struck by the beauty
of
the Garibaldi Lake. The lake is a emerald colored and reflects the
mountains and trees that enclose it. It looks stolen out of the
rockies except for the lack of tour buses and Japanese tourists.
The lake rewards you for your long hike up.
The Glacier behind seems in retreat. On a previous trip up, I was
sure the glacier (Sphinx) reached all the way down to the water
line. I really wonder how much longer it will be here at all.
We were somewhat ambitious and decided to go see Taylor meadows before
we returned back down to the car. (I've walked through the
meadows when they were still buried in snow - path finding it a bit
more challenging.)
It's a bit more of
a hike up and the bugs are
certainly well represented, but it doesn't take long until the trees
start to thin our and you reach the meadows. You clear a bit of
ridge and discover black tusk on the horizon - standing out on a
hillside like a lighthouse.
It's too much of a
day to trying and hike up to the
tusk - there is a shorter access road if you want to just see the
tusk. It's time to turn around, see the beautiful Tantalus range
and start you journey back to the car.
On this trip, Jin brought some of her friends from high school
including a two physio therapists. They had the best advice I've
ever head while hike - take an aspirin or Tylenol when you are
done. The Tylenol somehow helps your body break up the lactic
acid in your mussels and the day after is much, much easier (I was
almost unaffected by 23km of hiking). A bottle of Advil is going
into the car.
Thanks everyone!
Tags: lake(4), hiking(4), alpine(3), trail(2), flowers(1), plant(1)
People: Kat(2), Jesse(1), Jin(1), Helen(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Hiking > Garibaldi Lake
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Hiking > Garibaldi Lake, Panorama Ridge > Garibaldi Lake
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Camping > Garibaldi Lake, Panorama Ridge > Garibaldi Lake
From: John Harvey Photo > Garibaldi Lake, Panorama Ridge > Garibaldi Lake
Are the mussels canned or pickled? I am so relieved that you reject comments with painfully poor spelling.
kevin
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 12:45:44
Last Modified Saturday, January 21st, 2023 at 23:42:37 Edit
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