Day 1:
Lauren and I met at the Rubble Creek entrance to Garibaldi Park. We started hiking at around 1000 and headed up the slow, but steady 10km climb to Garibaldi Lake. We passed many over-night and day hikers heading up and down the trail. We kept a steady pace with only one break so that I could inhale a delicious breakfast burrito from Mount Currie Coffee. I felt my right heel searing off, but stupidly kept hiking without stopping to do much about it. There was patchy snow starting at around kilometre 6, but nothing to write home about. We arrived at the beautiful lake and emerged from the shady trees into about 2-4 ft of snow under bright blue skies at 1235.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon catching up on nursing shop talk, sipping some ice cold beer I lugged up, sunbathing by the lake, snacking, and playing crib. Only the best way to pass the time… We watched flocks of day-hikers come and go. Some of which were in very questionable footwear… We also made note of the many overnight hikers coming in and setting up camp on every square inch of the beach it seemed. It was quite a shame to watch the beautiful backdrop of a massive alpine lake, mountains, and glaciers get slowly crowded by tents popping up. We watched quite a few unprepared hikers set up camp. Two boys didn't even have a tent… Just sleeping bags on the snow with no warm clothes… But hey, who am I to judge...
Eventually the sun went down over the trees and as Lauren said "shit got real." It was pretty darn cold with all of the snow around. We both piled on all of our layers and began the nightly routine of caching food, brushing teeth, stashing bags, etc… I kept thinking about the boys with no tent… We settled in to an early night. I slept in my down coat, a fleece sweater, two shirts, long johns, and smart wool socks. I ended up being a bit too warm, but better too hot than too cold. |
We awoke quite late in the morning, which we agreed was fine because I did not think the day trip up Panorama Ridge would take us too long. The sun was already beating down at 0830 in the morning and the snow was mush by the time we headed out at around 1050. We both realized that copious amounts of sunscreen would have been helpful… But not much you can do when you are in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, we marched our way up through the forest to Taylor Meadows following footprints in the snow, flagging, and eyeing my GPS.
A little while later we skirted the edge of Black Tusk Lake and then began the final push for the top of the ridge. It had been about 2 hours. It was slow going, but we kept a steady pace. Just under an hour later we reached the top and it was a sight to behold. Garibaldi Lake below and the mountains and glaciers of Garibaldi Park surrounding us.
It was still smoking hot so we headed straight for the dock and jumped in the lake. DAMN was it COLD, but ever so refreshing! We spent the rest of the evening drying gear, making food, drinking our last beers, listening to music, and playing crib. Unfortunately Lauren beat me at both the games we played, rats! We could see the ridge we were on earlier in the day and it felt satisfying. The lake was much less busy and again we tucked in early. I was quite warm again despite being in a now damp tent on the snow.
The next day we both woke up before our alarm at 0515. I almost cried when I put on my right boot for the final time over my now heinous blister. We packed up and made breakfast so that we could hit the trail early. We left the lake at about 0700, just after being distracted by a sad salamander on the snow. We ran/hiked our way out in usual fashion and arrived at the parking lot minutes before 0900. We gave a sweaty hug and parted ways until the next adventure. Another one for the books. I feel that due to the busyness of the park I would prefer to day trip in the area from now on. Next time a run up Panorama Ridge with my wife! Otherwise an overnighter at Wedgemount Lake. The list gets ever longer…