Last week, I got a call from Holly and invited her to come hiking with Yuki and I. We were planning on tackling Garibaldi Lake and this seemed like a good way to catch up. Holly accepted so on Saturday we picked her and her boyfriend, Joe, up with the Modo car we had for the day and headed out on the Sea to Sky highway.
It was pretty clear on the roads that it was going to be a pretty busy day. With blue skies and warm temperatures, a lot of Vancouverites were looking to get out of town. Fortunately, the parking lot at Garibaldi Lake is generous and we had no problems.
The trail itself is a steady incline over the most of the 9 kilometres. We had some good discussions and enjoyed each other’s company. The lake though, was spectacular. It’s a really neat trail because it’s wide enough for people to walk side by side and talk and is covered entirely by the shade of the trees. The lake isn’t revealed until the last moment, when you suddenly turn before crossing bridge and realize that you’ve arrived.
I’ve been here before a few years ago, but for the rest, this was their first time. It didn’t disappoint. Turquoise glacial water rippled quietly in the cooling breeze as we found ourselves a bench to eat lunch.
Holly wandered off and dozed and we decided after lunch that we should all do the same. It was a relaxing way to celebrate our accomplished hike and a good way to enjoy the scenery. Afterwards, we set about taking photos and getting some panoramas.
These panoramas turned out quite nice. As Yuki said, the lake looked super saturated.
The return trip was pretty uneventful as we walked our way back down the same trail and then drove back to Vancouver. We dropped Holly and Joe off so that they could water their community garden plot and seeing the Laksa King Restaurant, Yuki suggested we get dinner. We were waiting for dinner when Joe and Holly walked in and joined us. Funny how that happens! But it was good, because then Joe remembered that he left had hidden his wallet in the car before the hike and holly had left a jacket in the back. I gave him the keys to fetch the stuff and when he came back I remembered that he had my compass. In the end it all worked out great!
We were thinking of doing a weekend camp in a few weeks to Joffery Lakes, but maybe we’ll have to come back to Garibaldi Lake. There’s a lot of territory yet to explore…
