2006-08-27 Garibaldi Lake Hike 021, originally uploaded by Turtlepace.
Ever since abandoning a hike up from Cheakamus Lake to Helm Creek BC (before children) for reasons I no longer remember, I have wanted to hike in Garibaldi Provincial Park. On the last weekend in August I got a “Out of Jail Free Pass” and the weather and friends schedules lined up perfectly to attempt an overnight hike. In fact, this would be the first overnight hike for me in a number of years.
My suggestion to hike to Garibaldi Lake was accepted by my partners in crime, Pat and Michele. Nobody objected when I favoured the Helm Creek approach over the much shorter climb up Rubble Creek. I had read that the Rubble Creek ascent was one of the most popular hikes in southern BC and attracted hordes of hikers on weekends. That was enough for me to push for the 18km hike from Cheakamus Lake. 18km didn’t sound to bad. After all, we run this routinely (well maybe less routinely this past summer) before breakfast. Little did I remember that carrying your overnight gear puts a damper on your speed and endurance, especially, when I (not my husband) was the one carrying the tent and other heavy gear.
I volunteered to organize the food for everybody, to avoid doubling up. Well, we did end up doubling up a bit, I guess neither Michele and Pat wanted to get stuck without chocolate and I didn’t want to be the one to blame for not bringing enough nourishments. Needless to say, that we carried way to many supplies.
The morning dawned clear and mild and the weekend promised to be all sunshine. We left Vancouver shortly after 6:00am. Pat volunteered to drive the Sea to Sky Highway and the 9km of gravel road to the trailhead.
It took us a while to get our ducks in a row, food distributed, bug spray and sun tan lotion applied, shoes tied and retied, outhouse break… but finally we were off on the well groomed trail that meandered to the first junction before heading steeply down to the Cheakamus River. Pat had a rough time with her pack. She had never carried an overnight pack before and to make matters worse, the pack she had lent from a friend was a large frame. Pat is petite. We stopped a few times to adjust her pack, but Pat continued to be in pain and uncomfortable. Not that Michele and me were comfortable. I had not carried a big pack in years and even back then, my husband carried the tent and other heavy stuff.
After crossing the Cheakamus River on a nice bridge (there used to be a rickety cable car) the trail started to ascend. The grade was not very steep and I kept hoping it would remain that way. Progress was slow. We waited for Pat who took it one step at a time and stopped frequently to eat and drink.
I was starting to get worried that we would not reach Garibaldi Lake before nightfall.
