Back in August of 2018, itching for some backcountry camping, my girlfriend Maren and I set out to see what we could see at Garibaldi Provincial Park in British Columbia. We were still living on opposite sides of the continent, and whenever we got together, it meant squeezing in few epic trips. This time around we had 3 days to explore. Let the impromptu adventures begin.
Made it to the trailhead at Rubble Creek around 3:00 PM, (I never said we were early risers or organized).
Possibly related to that lack of organization we couldn’t book a site at Garibaldi Lake for that night so we hiked around 9K in a surprisingly steep set of switchbacks to Taylor Meadows. Rain was coming down pretty good by the time we made it in, so I can’t tell you much about the campground. There are some nice dry huts to cook in, fresh water in a river nearby, and lots of blueberries along the paths to munch on.
Had a good sleep-in, trying to wait out the rain. Figured it was only 3K to Garibaldi Lake, so what was the rush? By the time we set out it was probably mid morning. We bumped into a couple of Rangers on the trail who checked our permits, and warned us about a few bears who were active in the area. Supposedly they had gotten bold enough to try and steal food out of hiker’s backpacks while they were moving down the trail. I have my doubts about that but I guess better safe than sorry.
Once we made it to Garibaldi, it was pretty overcast, but nothing to be worried about. Grabbed a really nice campsite near the lake, but secluded enough that other campers weren’t stomping through our living room. Seemed like a good time to head out on the Panorama Ridge Trail. Quick 9K each way, no problemo right?
It was actually a beautiful hike up, leading us through fields of flowers, foggy views, and over glacial streams.
At a point it turned to rock scrambles, and as we kept going, visibility was less and less. We ran into a father and son duo who said the summit was about another half hour or so away, so we decided to keep plugging.
We stopped to catch our (my) breath, and heard a rockslide somewhere off in the distance, but we couldn’t see it through the fog. Knowing that we were so close, we pushed on, and made it to the top. It was a totally bizarre feeling knowing that we were over 2,000 meters up, but all we could see was white clouds surrounding us. Supposedly that peak gives you an amazing view in all directions of Garibaldi. To us, it was more just a celebration of making the peak, and getting back down before the weather really turned.
The way down was much faster, and we got back to the hut by Garibaldi to cook our packet noodle dinner, chucking in some avocado, salami, everything else we had on us. We earned it right?
The next day was a totally different world. The water of Lake Garibaldi went from grey to deep blue. The peaks we climbed the day before showed themselves. We were bummed we didn’t have one more day to hike back up and actually see the views. You won’t have to twist my arm much to get me to go back and try again.
That’s life. Hiking a fog socked Panorama Ridge is a different experience, and waking up to the amazing views of those glaciers is something I will never forget.