Garibaldi Lake

I spent the past few days in Vancouver and decided to take advantage of a free day to do a backcountry run. I got the idea from the course for the Rubble Creek Classic race which is held at the end of September and looks like a very cool event. The race is an approximately 24 km point to point run from Cheakamus Lake to Garibaldi Lake. Since I needed a longer workout and didn't have a car shuttle, I decided to start at the trailhead for Garibaldi Lake and do an out and back run. The trails were incredibly well marked and although I had printed out a map from the park website, I never looked at it during the run. Water was plentiful and I took 2 water bottles which I refilled at a stream a little past the halfway point of my run. I did not make it quite all the way to the trailhead at Cheakamus Lake. If I were to do a similar run in the future, I would turn around at Helm Creek Campground before descending down into the trees towards Cheakamus Lake, and add on the trail to the top of Panorama Ridge. Another option is to climb Black Tusk, but it sounds too technical for me. There is pretty incredible scenery in the middle of the route once you have climbed above treeline. The views were somewhat limited by swirling clouds and fog but I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Route map-I stopped a mile or two short of the entire route used in the race.

The route starts off with a long and fairly intense climb.

Helm Lake

Crossing a field of volcanic rock

Helm Creek meadow

Stream crossing beneath the Cinder Cone

Black Tusk appears briefly when the clouds clear

Panorama Ridge

Garibaldi Lake