Garibaldi Lake

The hike to Garibaldi Lake was amazing.

Looking up from the trail, I could see the clouds and how high we had to climb, but I really had no idea how much climbing we were about to do.

db and I went with my brother and his girlfriend, C. It was a damp day with a light rain and it was the first cooler day we had as well. We had planned this hike and we weren't going to miss it for anything.
Fortunately, on the drive to the park my brother had the idea to stop had the Crappy Tire in Squamish and get some two dollar rain ponchos. The ran ponchos saved the day because everyone would have been even more soaked than we were.

It was switchbacks the whole way up. It does get a bit tedious after a few kilometers. At about the 5 k mark I started to wonder if this type of hike would ever change. Don't misunderstand, I loved the trail on the way up because it is beautiful forest all around. The coastal forest has to be one of my favorites with its big trees and thick moss growing on everything.
There were lots of flowers. The wild tiger lily that grows in the damp forest was something I've never seen before. I was surprised at how tiny it is compared to the garden variety. It really special to see it alongside the trail.
Pink Mountain Heather was abundant.

There were markers just about every kilometer along with the elevation we had climbed. At first it was exciting to see how far we had gone and how long it had taken us, but by the end I think we would have preferred not to know. I think my brother started to call it the "spirit breaker" trail. We were just kidding around though.

Taylor Meadows is at the top of this particular hike. There are markings here to go on to Black Tusk if you like, but our destination was the lake.
It was quite cold at that elevation, definitely below 10 degrees, and we were damp so it was tough trying to keep warm. We didn't take gloves and I now know that was a mistake because we could have really used them.
Taylor Meadows also houses a campground. We didn't see any campers, but it did have all the amenities.
I've never had to go up stairs to get to an outhouse before.

The creeks all along the trail were clear and cold.
One little bird I've yet to identify. The birds seemed interested in what we were up to, but they may just associate us with food/camper scraps.
Our first glimpse of Garibaldi Lake.
The closer we got, the more we all realized how worth the trek it was.
The colour is absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't stop looking at the lake itself.

Looking across the lake, you can see (I believe) Helm Glacier.

We found a sheltered nook to have our lunch and then hiked along the lake to an area that had a shelter for campers to store their food and cook in. Oh well. We discovered it too late, but next time we'll know.
The hike back down took a slightly different route for a few kilometers. It passed by two smaller lakes and a viewpoint.
Lupines were abundant.

This is one of the viewpoints. On a clear day I'm sure you would see the peaks all around, but we were in the clouds.

This is quite a drop and I'm sure the view is spectacular, but again it was nothing but cloud. Actually it was a little eerie looking into this white nothingness.

Our rewards. db made us pizza when we got home. My brother and c. had one pizza with cheese.

And db made a vegan pizza for us vegans.



One last look at the lake and glacier.