We have hiked up the trail to Garibaldi Lake a number of times, but not recently.    On our first time up the trail in 1969, there was no one around and we camped on the Battleships Islands, long before the current campground was built.    In 1970 I did a solo backpack and climbed Black Tusk, then over Panorama Ridge and Gentian Pass to Sphinx Bay and back.   On the final day, I hiked over the shoulder of Mt. Price to Table Mountain, then on game trails and a scramble down Culliton Creek to the highway.   In the next decade I backpacked up and day-hiked various routes, including successive climbs of Black Tusk.   After that I ran up to Panorama Ridge and back once, then day-hiked the same route another time.    I am due for a return trip.

The trail starts at a parking lot at the end of the Daisy Lake Road.    A day pass is now required to hike the Rubble Creek Trail.   It is a 9 km hike to Garibaldi Lake with 979 m elevation gain (3211 feet).   The route is steep with lots of switchbacks up to the Barrier, a volcanic dyke.   The route continues past Barrier Lake and Lesser Garibaldi Lake, then up the Creek to the lake.    The are three junctions to Taylor Meadows.    The campground is above the western shore of the lake with 50 tent sites.

When we get our first views of the lake, we are immediately struck with the color of the water and the backdrop of glaciated peaks.   Castle Towers Mountain looms above the other peaks at 8580 feet.

Encircling the lake are a number of impressive peaks – the Sphinx, the Bookworms, Mt. Carr, the Table, and the Garibaldi Peak.   We have used Garibaldi Lake as a basecamp to explore various routes to ridges, viewpoints, and peaks.    This was my home ground for early mountaineering.

A few images from an earlier outing to on the trail to Garibaldi Lake are included here as a Google Photos slideshow.

 

A separate post will feature a day hike from the parking lot to the top of Panorama Ridge and back in a day hike (28 – 30 km).

A very good video on the geology of this area explains a lot in a simple format – I am a Geologist – the Fire and Ice Origins of Garibaldi Lake (link).    Highly recommended.