Hike to Lake Garibaldi

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Saturday July 13

Garibaldi Lake

Region: Whistler. Difficulty: Intermediate. Time: 5 hours. Distance: 18km. Elevation Gain: 820 meters. Season: July - October. Camping: Yes. Dog Friendly: No. Public Transit: No. Approx. 1 hour 45 minutes from Vancouver

Garibaldi Lake is a turquoise-coloured alpine lake in British Columbia, Canada, located 37 km (23 mi) north of Squamish and 19 km (12 mi) south of Whistler. The lake lies within Garibaldi Provincial Park, which features mountains, glaciers, trails, forests, flowers, meadows, waterfalls. The park is a wildlife protected area. The trails in the area are promoted as being among the most beautiful on earth. All recreational activities in the area are governed by the regulations of Garibaldi Provincial Park. Primary access to the lake is via the 9 km (5.5 mi) long Garibaldi Lake Trail, which gains approximately 920 m (3,020 ft) of elevation from the Rubble Creek Trailhead. There are campgrounds and day-use shelters on the west shore of Garibaldi Lake, and also farther northwest at Taylor Meadows. During the summer, access to the eastern end of the lake is severely limited, since no trails have been constructed along the steep and unstable slopes which plunge directly into the lake. During winter, the lake is typically frozen from late December to late April, allowing backcountry skiers and snowshoers to easily reach the far shore. A pair of small alpine huts are located in Sphinx Bay on the eastern shore and Sentinel Bay at the southeastern tip of the lake. ( www.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garibaldi_Lake)

With turquoise-coloured water nestled between alpine mountains and a spectacular glacier as the backdrop, Garibaldi Lake is one of the most scenic destinations in British Columbia.


Accessible from the Rubble Creek parking lot just south of Whistler, the hike begins at the wooden steps along the top section of the parking lot. The first 6km of the trail is a gradual uphill climb through dense forests of Douglas Fir trees. At times, the trail can seem like it goes on forever, however keep moving as the reward will be well worth the effort.
Shortly after the 6km mark, you reach a junction with a map of the surrounding area. Going right takes you directly to Garibaldi Lake, the perfect option for those who may be short on time or want a shorter hike. However, going left and adding a few kilometers onto the hike takes you up through Taylor Meadows, a magnificent area filled with colours from alpine flowers that cover the sides of the trail during the late summer and early fall. At the junction, go left and head towards Taylor Meadows.



After another 20 minutes of gradual uphill, the trail begins to level and you arrive at the Taylor Meadows campsite. Looking up to the left between the trees reveals the towering peak of Black Tusk.



Continue along the trail through the meadows occasionally stopping to check out the view behind you. The meadows are very sensitive to any sort of foot traffic, so it is important that hikers stay on the marked trails in order to protect and promote the growth of this ecologically sensitive environment.



Eventually, you arrive at another main junction where you have the choice of continuing to Black Tusk or Panorama Ridge. We will save these long and difficult hikes for another day and head off to the right towards Garibaldi Lake.



The trail continues it's meandering path through the meadows for the next 20 minutes. The trail eventually begins to head downhill through a series of switchbacks offering the occasional views of the turquoise-coloured lake through the trees.



Once you reach the bottom of the switchbacks, watch for a sign and a trail that goes down a steep dirt slope. Take this path as it heads down towards the river draining from Garibaldi Lake and a wooden bridge crossing. Cross the bridge and continue to the left towards the lake. As you continue walking, the lake becomes more and more visible until you reach a wooden structure where the trees open up completely revealing a panoramic view of the entire lake and glacier off in the distance. From this point on, there are several places that offer scenic views. Pick one that is less busy and stop to take a break and soak up the view.



Once you are satisfied you have taken enough photos and are ready to head back to the parking lot, walk back alongside the lake where you came towards the wooden bridge that crosses the river. Head up the steep path to the junction but this time, go left. This trail will go directly to the first junction, bypassing Taylor Meadows.



Continue along the trail as it passes two other smaller lakes that Garibaldi Lake drains into. These lakes also offer beautiful scenery but they are not quite as spectacular as their mother lake.



After passing the second lake, continue into the forest and a short distance later the first junction appears that you passed earlier in the day. Continue straight back downhill towards the Rubble Creek parking lot. The next 6km are long but keep in mind the accomplishment and reward of getting to enjoy one of the most beautiful places in British Columbia.

(http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/garibaldi-lake/)

Hike to lake Garibaldi

Saturday we woke at 6 AM to the beautiful song of the little birds . We dressed in our hiking gear and headed out to pick Kyle´s mom at her house. We were heading towards ….. to hike a mountain up to a glacier lake called Garibaldi. On our way there we stopped for breakfast at a diner. We had our carbs and proteins for the day eating waffles, pancakes, bacon and a delicious berry smoothie. We headed out on the highway all the way to the mountain. It was a very wide freeway and a beautiful scenery of tall green snow capped mountains embellished by a gorgeous blue sky and a warm yellow sun surrounded it. Indeed it was a perfect day for a hike!

We soon reached a small town and stopped to get SUBWAY for lunch and then continued our drive to the parking lot. The place was full of people, families, couples, groups of friends, tourists, etc. We parked along the curve road and walked up.

The hiked up started and it looked like a dirt trail with tall trees around it. Learning from Kyle´s Science lessons, I now know that Vancouver is a temperate rainforest and it has a large abundance of vegetation. We hiked up Kyle and me and Tom and Linda first and then we kind of swapped a few times around, chatting along the way. Taking about my country, China, Canada and how Kyle and I had met. I had my new water bag so I was pretty hydrated and Kyle had packed a few cookies and granola bars so I stayed with energy. We reached a point were we could see and hear a small creek and we looked through the trees and saw the river and a small waterfall filling it. It felt so peaceful and at bliss to be there. Continuing our hike we then reached a camping area and viewpoint where we took a very nice photo and rested while enjoying a beautiful scene. We hiked up through trees, logs, dirt and a very well maintained trail and reached a small lake where a few kids were fishing. It was really pretty with greenish water, but I was told not too get too excited , that Garibaldi lake was stunning. So continuing through a steep part with rock on ¡e side and kind of like a cliff on the other, from where we could see snow capped mountains and Lake Garibaldi we hiked up. Along the way many people passed us, with camping gear, little kids, teenagers, college students and families. We reached a small wood bridge and crossed it to go towards Lake Garibaldi and then walked around a rock to see the stunning turquois water lake. It was beautiful! We set up at one of the picnic tables to eat our lunch, it was already a little past noon and we were all hungry. While we were eating we noticed some people were feeding the birds on their hands. Kyle´s mom started putting some cookie crumbs on our table and on her hand and soon we were among the most popular tables for birds. Kyle asked me if I wanted to do it because I like those things but I am also kind of a chicken and get scared easily. So accepted and put some cookies on my hand and soon I had 2 or even 3 birds eating from me. When we were about to leave Kyle decided to play a trick on e and sprinkle crumbs on my head, well I had a bird land on my head LOL!

We walked through the rocks and trees down to a little path where we found some rocks and walked on them to see the most majestic scene I had ever seen. The lake´s water was a deep and clear turquoise, the blue deep sky with fluffily white clouds and a warm yellow sun and on the horizon we could see the mountains all dressed in green with a white snowy cap on the top. It was like a paradise, a watercolor painting. Absolutely stunning!!!

The park was so well maintained there was even a rangers cabin and some public toilets. We started to head down chatting along the way and stopping to see the beautiful views. We had to stop a few minutes because Kyle´s dad´s show broke and he had to tape it and tie it with a rope. Of course we all laughed and memories of Russia and my broken shoe came. We all had a great laugh. We continued the downhill chatting , but I grew quiet as I thought I had ran out of water and had a headache so I was basically concentrating on getting down fast and trying not to think about the headache. We finally reached down and I went to check my backpack and realized my water was stuck and was almost all full! Well no wonder I had a headache I barely drank water and was showing signs of dehydration. We rode back to the house and Kyle and I slept most of the way, me waking up to ask if we could stop at a gas station because of course I had to pee, luckily for me it was on the way.

We dropped off Linda at her place and we went to the house to get a shower then put the bikes on the car and Kyle´s dad drove us to Linda´s house and we ate dinner. It was a homemade non-spice butter chicken, veggies and rice and it was delicious. Although it was a Non spicy Indian meal for Kyle, for me it was perfect ☺
We chatted for a few hours, had dessert and then headed out on the bikes to the house. It was the perfect ending to the perfect trip ☺ I was one happy girl!!! ☺

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