It was a busy morning today. My family and I went to the beach to pick up garbage in the morning. We got two 4 gallon paint buckets full of garbage within an hour. It seems the most common item were cigarette buds, ranked number one by far, then followed by beer bottle caps in a distant second place. I guess smokers and beer drinkers really love to littler on the beach. We then spent some time to play at the beach and went to the library afterwards. I finally home and have time to type up my weekly hiking post.
I decided to write about our family hike to Garabaldi Lake back in September 2020. My kids were 9, 7, and 2. It was a good year for family hikes, because the older kids were old enough for longer hikes and the little one could still be carried around in the baby carrier. As a result, we were not as limited by the length or difficulty of different hikes.
Map and info board at the trailhead.
Garabaldi Lake is an out and back trail in Garabaldi Provincial Park, BC. The trail is approximately 18km long round trip (9km each way), with about 980m elevation gain. There is also a back country campground next to the lake, so we saw numerous back country campers hiking on the trail with their camping gear during our hike. The lake shown in first hiking post is Garabaldi Lake, but the pictures were taken way up high on Panorama Ridge, which is approximately 630m above Garabaldi Lake.
Small stream to the side of the trail.
Early section of the trail with numerous switch backs.
Me and my kids.
The beginning sections of the hike shares the same trail as our Panorama Ridge hike, through a series of switch backs, gradually gaining elevation and distance. At the 6km mark, however, there is a junction, where taking the left fork takes you to Taylor Meadows (there is also another campground at Taylor Meadows), Black Tusk, and a shorter way to Panorama Ridge; while taking the right fork brings you to Garabaldi Lake. We continued on the right fork for another 3km from the junction and would eventually reach Garabaldi Lake after crossing a small metal bridge. The views at the lake were very pretty, with the turquoise water being the foreground, and the Sphinx Glacier and surrounding mountains as the backdrop. We had lunch next to the lake. My kids enjoyed playing with the water. Then we slowly made our way back to the parking lot taking the same route as we got to the lake.
Fork between Taylor Meadows and Garabaldi Lake.
Lots of loose rock.
7km mark, two more kilometers to go.
Another small stream next to the trail.
Crossing the small metal bridge to reach the lake.
Bear proof food cache for campers. Keeping food away from the campground is a must when camping in bear country.
Garabaldi Lake.
My daughter dipping her feet in water while enjoying the view.
Check out my previous hikes:
- The Panoramic Views of Panorama Ridge
- The Golden Larches of Frosty Mountain
- The Winter Snow of Pump Peak at Mount Seymour
- Sapphire Waters and Azure Skies of Battle Bluff
- It Isn't Always Sunshine and Blue Skies
- The Frozen River and Waterfalls of Maligne Canyon
- The Amazing Arches of Arches National Park
- The Bizarre Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park
- The Magnificent Stones of Zion National Park
- The Flowing Walls of Lower Antelope Canyon
- A Glimpse of Hope at the Hope Lookout Trail
- Turquoise Waters viewed from Sea to Summit Trail
- The Three Peaks of Mount Seymour
- The Serene Winter Scene at Dog Mountain
- Murrin Loop and Jurassic Ridge
- Yosemite National Park
- The Bear's Hump at Waterton National Park
- Views of Okanagan from Pincushion Mountain Trail
- The Half Frozen Waterfalls at Franklin Falls
- Hole in the Wall of Vancouver Island
- Sometimes You Just Get Lucky
- Winter Wonderland at Alexander Falls
- Eagle Bluffs
- Smuggler Cove Marine Provincial Park
- Admiralty Point
- Myra Canyon Trail