This week I want to bring us to my Black Tusk hike with the Garabaldi Lake detour. I went on this hike way back, almost 10 years ago, in the summer of 2015. The hike itself is about 26km long with approximately 1760m elevation gain. The beginning part and large portions of the trail is mostly shared with the trail to Panorama Ridge #340024. But at a certain point, there is a fork at Taylor Meadows campsite that brings you to Black Tusk. The trail ends before reaching the actual Tusk, and there was a big sign at the end of trail saying that continuing onwards is not recommended due to loose rocks and steep terrain. But when have I or other hikers ever listened to posted signs? So, like many other hikers, I pushed on towards Black Tusk to summit the Tusk. Since there was no longer any trail or signs, I had to find my own way up. According to information online, when you reach the base of the Tusk, you go left until you reach a steep chimney. Ascending the chimney allows you to summit the Tusk. I followed the online resources, because information from the Internet is always reliable, right? When I reached the top, I found two couples, a younger couple and an older couple, all enjoying the view. The younger couple was from Germany and told me they ran into a black bear on their way up and was wondering if I can any bear encounters. I told them no. The husband of the older couple helped me take some photos. He also told me that where we were standing on was only the sub-summit, and the true summit was a pretty big piece of rock near us, but reaching it would require ropes and extra safety gear, and the way to reach the true summit had a lot of exposure and shouldn't be attempted without proper safety equipment. I settled with only reaching the sub-summit, took some photos, had an early lunch while admiring the view, and started to head down.

Heading down from the Black Tusk, going back the same trail that brought me to the top, there was a fork in the trail at the Taylor Meadows campsite that brings you to Garabaldi Lake. As it was my first time hiking in Garabaldi Provincial Park, I took the detour and headed towards the lake. I posted about our family hike to just the lake and back in a previous hiking post #568115. But I will include a few pictures from the lake taken during my 2015 solo hike. After dipping my feet in the glacier melted lake water, admiring the beautiful views, and having my snack, I headed back towards the parking lot following the Garabaldi Lake trail, which eventually merges with the beginning section of the trail I took initially at the start of the hike. It was a very enjoyable hike with lots of beautiful views.

Trailhead.

Trail is wide and well maintained, but beginning section has a lot of switchbacks.

Boardwalk at Taylor Meadows.

Crossing a stream over a small wooden bridge.

Black Tusk in sight. It's the lump of volcanic rock on top of the mountain.

Reaching higher elevations, the vegetation thins out. Less trees and more grass lands.

At this elevation, we can begin to see views of Garabaldi Lake and the surrounding mountains.

Heading closer to Black Tusk. I believe there is no more trail in this section and I was just hiking on loose rock.

No more trees at this point. Very close to the Tusk. To get up, I needed to go left along the base of the Tusk and find a chimney that brings you up.

The chimney. This photo shows me looking back at it from the top.

Looking down from near the top of the Tusk. Lots of steep terrain and high exposure spots. Needed to tread carefully.

Views from the peak of the Tusk. This one looks South at Garabaldi Lake.

This one looks South East at Garabaldi Lake, Mount Garabaldi, Sphinx Glacier, and nearby peaks.

This one looks East at the nearby lakes, mountain peaks, and flat lands.

This one looks North East at the nearby valley and the faraway mountain range. I believe that long strip of water blocked partly by the trees is Cheakamus Lake #915284.

This is the true summit of Black Tusk. I was unable to reach it, because it requires ropes and extra safety equipment to reach, due to large amounts of exposure required to get to the true summit.

The valley below.

I attempted to take a panorama photo of the view before descending the Tusk.

Large patches of snow still remain even in the middle of summer, due to colder temperatures at high elevations.

Back at the flat lands below, heading towards Garabaldi Lake.

Getting near Garabaldi Lake. This is the outflow of the main lake to a smaller lake down stream.

Very clear but cold glacier water. I believe the turquoise colour is from the minerals in the water.

Looking at the lake. Sphinx Glacier is in the background.

Back at Rubble Creek parking lot. I took a photo of the rushing waters of Rubble Creek before driving home.

Check out my previous hikes: