Fool on the hill
Click to viewI came back from camping earlier then expected, I wanted to make it to Elfin lake in Garibaldi park but I only made it half way and stopped at the Red Heather Day spot.
That was the toughest climb I've ever done!
I was late starting, the Garibaldi park website said 4Km outside of Squamish, where the turnoff is actually right beside the Canadian tire, which I think of as part of Squamish, I pulled a u-turn on the highway (quiet day) and figured it out.
I made it to the gates of Garibaldi park only to realize that I needed cash to pay the overnight use fee, back out to the highway to find an ATM doh!
After a quick buzz up a well groomed dirt road, I was ready to repack my backpack for solo tripping*
After paying the camping fee I started walking, and low and behold just around the first bend in the trail... snow appears on the ground, and me without real boots (just my day hiking shoes with the mesh sides.)
5KM of climbing with 460M of elevation from 922M base altitude up a snow covered twisty hill later!
It's 6:30 and I'm pooped! I made it to the half way day area, I figure there was almost 2M of snow up there (the outhouse was on top of a tower with cable supports to keep it above the snow, I should have taken a picture of it.)
I wasn't expecting the snow at all and my shoes were really wet. The temperature was warm, I sweat out everything I had to sweat, I drank both of my water bottles (1.6l total.) I had to take frequent breaks because my pack was too heavy.
I packed too much, I had around 20+ KGs of gear on me, I had enough food for 3 people for three days I figure. One of these days I'll learn how to slim down my pack properly. It's hard to know what you need to bring.
There are a few glimpses of squamish from between the trees.
And a raging torrent coming down the hill, I was nervous to walk over it not knowing what's under the snow.
Diamond head has pit toilets along the way, so the extra few pounds of the folding shovel I brought didn't really come in handy, I used it as a tent peg in the snow though so it wasn't a total loss.
I started to dig in to the snow, since snow is a good insulator, and fun to camp in, but got frustrated because it's really heavy wet snow.
I setup my tarp with some rope, my walking stick, and a tree in a little nook near the cooking shelter. I'm glad I stayed above the snow because it rained pretty hard for a bit during the night, I'd have probably been really soaked in my slush pit if I'd dug in.
I set to melting some snow with my stove, I think someone needs to build some sort of snow->water lazer-gun or something it takes a fair bit of fuel to make drinking water up there.
I made myself some burgers for dinner, I think I attracted some bears perhaps.
The night was uneventful, after cooking outside and taking a few pictures it became dark and cold so I started a fire in the little day cabin, I hung around in the dark for a while collecting my thoughts. I had a lot of music stuck in my head.
Solitude is neat and spooky, I spent a lot of time on the hike up wondering if it was a good idea for me to continue by myself in the snow. The mountain is a quiet place, just the owls and birds and trees making noise in the breeze.
I made up a song and sang it for a while, then forgot the words.
I went to bed around 11:30, got my tarps figured out and smushed the snow until it was comfy.
I thought I was hearing animal noises from outside, but nothing showed it's face.
In the morning I organized my gear, ate some granola and some fruit and walked up the hill with my waist pack, I wanted to see how far from the top I really was (I could almost see it.) A few hundred meters up the hill from the camp I found bear signs, a smallish sized bear paw print (about 12cm across) and some poop that was pretty fresh. I decided it was time to go home.
* Ashton was going to come up with me, but his foot was in pretty rough shape so we decided he should stay home.
Camping Highlights
Miscalculations
- Bug netting, not needed so much in the snow...
- Better shoes
- Snow?!?
- Too much food - less cooking = more better when hiking
- Water purification drops - pretty much the only option for snow is to melt snow
- Shovel - don't need to bury your poop at a pit toilet
Yay!
- Walking stick
- Big hike
- Bears!
- New tent soon