Headed up to Whistler, BC for a long birthday weekend. I hadn't been to Whistler in almost ten years, during which I forgot that weekends are not the best time to visit if you don't intend on being part of the rowdier underage collegiate crowd.
Sunday was marked as mandatory hiking day. We decided upon Garibaldi Lake (in Garibaldi Provincial Park) for our destination, and were not disappointed. Although the trail appeared to be BC's version of Mt. Si (as far as popularity goes), it was a relatively pleasant trail. The trail switchbacks up through the forest for roughly 4 mi before leveling out. We took a quick side trail to a viewpoint for The Barrier, a lava formation that apparently acts as a dam for the Garibaldi Lakes.
The Barrier
forest past The Barrier
Ten minutes past The Barrier is Barrier Lake:
Barrier Lake
Shortly after leaving Barrier Lake, the trail treks along the shores of Lesser Garibaldi Lake:
turquoise Lesser Garibaldi Lake
bridge above Lesser Garibaldi
Before long, the trail reaches Garibaldi Lake - pictures do not do justice.
boardwalk to Garbaldi
Garibaldi Lake
Battleship Islands
view of the Black Tusk from Garibaldi Lake
The lake itself was crowded. Is there a secret tour bus road? We followed the shore for roughly a mile until we lost the crowd and had a nice lunch.
The clouds started to roll in as we left the lake, so we opted out of hiking another couple of hours up to Panorama Ridge, where the infamous Garibaldi Lake photos are taken. It sure was nice hiking in kilometers - made the 11 miles go by quicker
Didn't see any wildlife until later in the day when we took the gondola up Whistler Mountain and found this fellow leaving the Peak2Peak building:
Love that photo of the bear!
We went up to Panorama Ridge a couple of weeks ago, and it's high on my list of favorites (we actually did meet a tour bus full of hikers from Japan ). The colors of the lakes look absolutely ridiculous from above.
As one of the few maintained trail in the area it certainly sees its share of traffic however the scenery - especially if you go all the way to Panorama Ridge is well worth it.
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