Heather in and around Helm Creek:
“Tyler, Ted, Bob and Heather did an overnight trip in Garibaldi park. We took Saturday to hike into Cheakamus Lake, have lunch and a quick dip, and then start the ascent up the slopes toward Helm Valley. As we had some extra time, we decided it might be nice to try and find Corrie Lake, which was estimated at 1/2 km off the trail (a beautiful blue lake that can be seen from the peak of Whistler). We made it, but the hour and a half of bushwhacking and the unbelievable mosquito clouds would not convince us to do it again! (We decided we were training for Chris Nott’s call-outs…) Camping at Helm Creek was beautiful but another incredible battle with mosquitos – full-on Goretex and mosquito nets only slightly delayed our escape into the safety of the tents. Sunday was a scenic 25 km hike up the scenic Helm Valley to Panorama Ridge – incredible views of Black Tusk, interesting cinder cones & valley floor, stunning colours of Garibaldi Lake and all the surrounding glaciers and mountains, and the most vibrant wildflowers blooming everywhere. A quick dip in Helm Lake was a refreshing stop on the long hike back to the car.”
Tag Archives: Garibaldi
Panorama Ridge 11/07/09
Pablo on Panorama Ridge:
“Last weekend 6 of us did Panorama Ridge in one shot. It’s a long hike (30 km) with a lot of elevation gain, but it can be done starting early and keeping a good pace. This is a hike to do on a not-too-hot clear day, as we had; the view from the ridge is impressive. Not recommended for people with fear of heights. The trail is in good condition, but we had to do a little light scrambling at the top, because there are still snow patches covering the trail. The flowers are starting to appear at the meadows. I would say that probably in the next few weeks will be the best time for flowers.”
Garibaldi Lake 01/07/09
Pablo at Garibaldi Lake:
“What a better place to celebrate Canada day than Garibaldi Lake. It was a perfect day for this hike, perfectly clear sky, not too hot, and a holiday on a Wednesday, so not many people. After hiking most of the time on snow last weekend on Elfin Lakes in the same park, I was expecting at least patches, but the trial is completely clear. We did the hike in less than 3 hours one way, including pictures, and we took a long time on the lake. A couple of us even had a swim on the lake. The level of the water is very low. After the hike we changed the dinner place in Squamish, and we even got 50% Wednesday Special with a great view of Shannon Falls (also with not much water).”
Garibaldi Lake 29/03/09
Rob M. on (yes, on) Garibaldi Lake:
“We drove up the Sea-to-Sky enjoying the remarkable vistas surrounding us on a day that easily exceeded our expectations. A flagon of caffeine in Squamish and we were on our merry way. A 2k walk to the trailhead and we were met by the forceful rushing sound of Rubble Creek and the Barrier standing majestic and articulated in the bright sun. Myself and Jamie quickly made our way up the Barrier in hikers while Mel, Sarah-Jane and Dan were strapped into pace-setting snowshoes. With a chorus of oohs and aahs, we perched ourselves for lunch on the Barrier enjoying the shenanigans of Whisky Jacks. Fully sated, and after hours of single track hiking, we descended through a few feet of fresh powder onto the wide expanse of Barrier Lake. A few minutes later we entered and exited another creek to be met by the larger Lesser Garibaldi Lake surreally covered in large puffs of pristine snow broken by rivulets of streaming water. Just before the canyon, we engaged the summer trail and were soon rewarded by the sight of Garibaldi Lake – we descended onto miles of flat searing white snow surrounded by Panorama Ridge, Gentian Peak, Garibaldi Mountain, Mount Price and Clinker Peak. Small pixels in the distance gained substance over time to become a couple of hiking/skiing clubs. We sucked in the grandeur of it all in and let it burn into our retinas and eventually returned. Boot-skiing our way down the trail as much as possible, we made excellent time – enough to enjoy a hardy meal and a brew in Squamish. Total elapsed time – just under 9 hours.”
Panorama Ridge 07/12/08
Ahmad on Panorama Ridge:
“Our small group of Ian and I had plenty of luck. The luck of 2 weeks was squeezed into one day. The weather turned clear in the afternoon. The snow was fairly packed. There was a sort of track that we could follow most of the way. So we extended our initial plan and got to the official viewpoint of Panorama Ridge. We estimated the snow to be 0.4-0.5 m in Taylor Meadows, where we started to use snowshoes, and just over 1 m on the Ridge. The snowline started at 1100 m. The park was almost empty except for several students doing their research on the Barrier. Our whole trip took about 10 hours.”
Elfin Lakes 21/03/08
Michelle at Elfin Lakes:
“Five of us headed to Elfin Lakes on Good Friday with beautiful weather all the way up from Vancouver to Squamish. With all the recent snow, the final portion of the service road had definite winter driving conditions in the morning and required chains – we had to wait for a car with just snow tires to finish “trying” and get themselves safely off the road. Funny observation: all cars parked at the lower pull out lot, us and all the other trucks/4x4s at the upper pull out lot and nothing but jeeps in the actual parking lot.
We were among the early crowd on the trail so it was fairly powdery conditions requiring a little more effort and time (lots of fresh powder up there!). The sun played peek-a-boo all day. We had periods of fine snow mixed with windows of amaaaazing blue sky and sun with great views along the lower trail. However, the view from the ridge was a wall of immovable white. We had beat the throngs to the warming hut but had voted to return early (we only ventured a half hour past the hut up to Paul Ridge), given the hidden view, time and unknown road conditions. We all enjoyed a leisurely return bathed in sun with harder packed conditions from all the traffic now on the trail. Fortunately upon return, road conditions had immensely improved. All in all, beautiful scenery, pleasant weather and great company with a lot of laughs. A great day and the first of many call outs to organize for me I think.”