The Call of the Mountains
Garibaldi Lake is a haven in the mountains, a glacial lake high in the mountains. It is renown for having turquoise clear water that is ever enticing for an afternoon swim after hiking 820 meters in elevation over nine kilometers. It was, as our hiking group would discover, mind blowingly awesome.
About a month ago, our friend Frances and I made plans to camp on a weekend. It began a month ago because she’s a busy girl and so I had to reserve time on one of her 7 synchronized calendars. Last weekend at the dragon boat event, I met Yuki’s rowing partner Kate and we invited her along for a fourth member. We were originally thinking of driving up to Joffery lakes or doing the Howe Sound Crescent Trail but after Yuki saw Garibaldi Lake earlier in the month, we became set on going back.
Garibaldi Lake is about an hour and a half from Vancouver and midway between Squamish and Whistler. The lake is within the Garibaldi Provincial Park, named after a 19th century Italian patriot and soldier, Giuseppe Garibaldi (how cool of a name is that?). The surrounding mountains and glaciers that feed the lake and give it such colourful depth, combined with relative accessibility, make for a well-known and busy hiking trail.
The planning began a week in advance when we wrote down a gear list and organized food. On Thursday and Friday we collected gear, organized packs, and pre cooked. Frances stayed over on Friday night so that we’d be ready for Kate to pick us up in the morning after her dentist appointment.
We left a little late. Before getting to the trail, we made a stop in Squamish for lunch where we met another Stantec friend, Jackie, with her two kids. They were coming for a day hike. We had a quick bite to eat for lunch and then headed to the trailhead. The weather being in the high twenties seemed to encourage more people to get outside and we found that the parking lot was full. Even the access road was car lined for what looked like a kilometre.
The trail is one of the easiest and most well maintained hiking trail in the area. It is wide enough for two people to walk side by side and it is pretty smooth void of roots and rocks that could roll an ankle. Time up with heavy packs proved slower than normal and we took many water breaks sweating in the heat.
A park ranger at the trail head told us that Garibaldi Lake campground was already full and to head for Taylor Meadows, a second nearby campground. This campground was also full and we had a short internal rage at another group of campers who used their pack to take two spots in the overflow field while they decided which of two spots was best. Jackie’s son came along with us while Jackie and her daughter headed straight for Garibaldi Lake to have more time there.
When that mess was sorted out Yuki and Frances set up the tent while Kate and I went in search of water. There’s a stream that goes by the campsite and we filled up our water bottles and hydration packs using a membrane filter I’d bought. Even though the water was quite clean to begin with, the filter worked excellent and I’m very happy with the purchase. Yuki and I are beginning to invest in better camping gear as we prepare for more camping and more challenging camping, such as Cape Scott in August. Equipment like this, though not essential, gives nice peace of mind and also makes life a lot easier.
By the time we got back the tent was set up. To have an epic dinner, we packed our dinner and hiked down to the lake.
Garibaldi Lake in the late afternoon is very nice. The sun shines golden and the water is warm from the day’s radiation. The girls waded in and Frances sat down on a submerged rock without realizing she still had her phone in her pocket. Jackie’s son was disappointed he couldn’t stay with us overnight so we left them by the lake so that he wasn’t the one “leaving” first and continued on to an island for dinner. The lake was pretty busy but we found the same spot as before empty so we stopped there.
The view couldn’t be beat. It was amazing and both Frances and Kate were in awe. Mind blown. We all took a lot of photos and some video too. A bunch of photos were panoramas with someone on one side of the photo and then running over to the other side to be in the photo twice.
Then, to the sound of classic rock, we heated up curry chicken and rice I’d prepared the night before. Juice boxes we’d frozen to help keep it cool during the day made for dessert slushies. Sitting by the water, it was a moment when I wished for time to stop.
After dinner, we took a few more photos and made our way leisurely back to the camp. Most of the day hikers had already left and those who remained were camping by the lake.
Back at Taylor Meadows Campground, we had some tea and hot chocolate. I thought that it would be a good place to go stargazing because we were in a meadow and there wasn’t any light pollution but the sky didn’t really get dark because the ¾ moon was too bright and made a light blue halo around the horizon so we could only see a few constellations.
Sleep came fast for some of us. For others, we lay awake listening to the nearby campers chatting, and then a girl and guy doing some light painting right beside our tent. Then our own camp light wouldn’t turn off so I had to take the batteries out of it. Eventually though, we got to sleep and had a good rest, ready for the next day.
