Black Tusk

This particular trip is especially memorable as it was my first overnight hike in BC. This trip got me hooked on overnight hikes and made me fall in love with Garibaldi Park.

We started the hike on Friday afternoon of a hot July day. I borrowed a friend's 90L pack and packed it full. It didn't quite fit my back so I was in pain most of the way up, but it didn't matter too much as I was enjoying the hike. I wasn't too in shape for hiking at the time as most of my time was spent biking before that so it was a bit of a struggle at the start. The hike up the many switchbacks was slow but steady.

We stopped at the crossroads at the end of the switchbacks and took a little break. Next was a stop at the first viewpoint off the trail. An impressive field of rocks falling off this reddish mountain.

As we continued on the trail we passed by Barrier Lake and lesser garibaldi lake and I was in awe at their beauty. I was getting pretty tired by this point and was really eager to reach our destination. The trail had finally started to descend and I could already see the turquoise colours of Garibaldi Lake. As we crossed the small bridge over the water we could see fish everywhere in the water...got me pretty hungry...

Finally, we were at our destination for the day. After a quick search, we each found a camping spot. Mine was near a patch of snow. Once all the members of our group arrived we were 10.

Not being used to overnight hikes and not knowing what to bring at the time I only had power bars and granola bars. Enough to last a week...but not the most enjoyable of foods when you're so famished. We had our dinner by the lake, watching the glaciers, the sunset, the many fish jumping out of the water catching their insects. One of the most relaxing things you can do.

As nightfall came we gathered in one of the shelters and played some cards until our eyes couldn't stay open anymore and we headed to bed. I slept well.

Morning came. We got up to a magnificent view of the lake. The turquoise colour of the lake was especially striking. We had breakfast and headed up to our next destination. Six of us went to the Tusk and the other four decided to go up to Panorama Ridge.

The trail to the Tusk wasn't too difficult. There were lots of big patches of snow near to the Tusk but they only made things simpler. Easier to walk on snow than up loose rocks. What struck me the most was how the terrain had changed. Suddenly all the rocks were completely black on the ground. There was almost a line between the terrain we passed and the one we reached.

The views from the base of the tusk were quite magnificent. You could see multiple lakes, each with a different colour and look to it. First, black tusk lake with icebergs flowing on the top, then Mimulus lake with a greenish shade and the majestic blue of Garibaldi Lake.

As I reached the base my heart started to quicken. We had to walk on a ridge with nothing but loose rocks and steep terrain to either side. That year I had an incident while snowboarding at Blackcomb that put a bad fear of heights in me so it all came back as I was near the edge of a drop again. I kept going however and we got to the base of the chimney we were supposed to climb.

Looking up the chimney we had to scale I got very uneasy. Everyone started climbing without issues so I followed along. The climb wasn't difficult as there are holds everywhere...except 3 out of 4 holds crumble and fall apart as you pull...so you have to be quite gentle and spread your weight. Aside from the danger of the crumbling holds, there was also the issue of all the loose rocks falling from the climbers above. I dodged a bunch of rocks as I was climbing. My fear of heights came back with a vengeance during this climb. I was shaking the whole way up. There were a couple of places where you are so exposed that when you look down you see drops of hundreds of meters. In retrospect, it was probably not the wisest decision to go up so scared...but then again, it just made it so much more memorable.

We finally reached the top and after taking a few minutes to calm myself I proceeded to put some band-aids on my fingers that were cut in a bunch of places from that sharp volcanic rock we climbed on. We had lunch and enjoyed a breath taking view the likes I haven’t seen until then. There were mountains everywhere...as far as the eye can see...and so many with huge glaciers and snow. Only the east part wasn't visible since the actual peak, which is 4 meters higher, wasn't reachable from where we were. But to the south I could see as far as the Lions... You have to be up there to truly appreciate it as it is.

After gawking at the view and relaxing for a bit we started the descent. It was quite smoothly. Was quite a bit easier than the ascent. Most likely because I had calmed down a bit and knew what to expect. Near the bottom part of the tusk we had to stop and wait for some climbers to go back down to allow us to descend. There wasn't enough room for us to go down while they were going up.

And we were off the tusk. I was pumped full of adrenaline and feeling an amazing high for being out of danger again. I ran ahead of everyone and quickly reached our base camp. The night was uneventful. Our other friends that went to Panorama Ridge didn't reach the peak. They turned back because there was too much snow.

The next morning we packed our stuff and headed down. I didn't want to leave...and promised I would return. We stopped at Squamish for some Greek food that I devoured like someone who has eaten nothing but granola bars for 3 days...