I've had quite a busy summer and didn't really get a chance to hit the mountains. Last Saturday I hiked Knight and Baby Munday which got me right pumped to bag some more peaks. With a very promising long weekend weather forecast, I decided to get in at least one more major hike before school starts. I picked up Philip (a former scout) at 6:30 and we hit the highway heading for Garibaldi Provincial Park. I hadn't yet decided which hike to do, Garibaldi Lake and then Black Tusk and Panarama Ridge, or Wedgemount Lake with a summit attempt on one of the surrounding peaks. I've done Garibaldi Lake quite a few times, but don't have any pictures from the gorgeous vantage point of Panarama Ridge. We pulled over at the Garibaldi Lake Exit to decide what hike we should do. As we were discussing it, about 6 vehicles passed us all heading up to the Lake...it was going to be a crazy busy day on the trail. That made up our minds, Wedgemount won't have the same traffic, plus it would be a nice hike I could add to my list. I definitely was NOT disappointed! It only took 2 hours to get to the lake. I bumped into a guy last Saturday who also was in that area, and tried to summit Mount Weart, the second highest peak in Garibaldi Park. That was our goal, the only problem was that none of the maps showed a trail to Mount Weart, and no one we asked could point out where Mount Weart was. Philip and I had plenty of time yet, so we guessed what peak was Weart, and headed in that direction. Mountains are always so deceiving, and soon enough we found ourselves just short of rock climbing on steep and very rocky terrain. It was the never ending mountain with numerous false summits. Every time we thought to be 'almost there' another rock face rose in the distance. When we finally reached the summit only to discover we were on the wrong mountain altogether, Mount Weart was the next ridge northeast of us. We got amazing pictures nonetheless, but could only enjoy the summit views for a few minutes, it was past 4:00 and we had a long hike/drive ahead of us! From our vantage point, we did see the correct route for Mount Weart, and discovered from some hikers that it definitely takes 2 days to summit. You spend 1 night at the lake and then summit on day 2. I was so jealous of the people camped out next to the lake and surrounding glaciers, thinking of the solitude and amazing night sky views they'd have with the moonlight illuminating the snow.
We finally made it to the parking lot at 8:30, just as it was getting dark, and at 11:45 were back at home. It was a 17 hour day, 11 hour hike, but the views were worth every bit of it!!! Can't wait to get out and do the 2 day summit!
Wedgemount Lake. Look left and you can see a small cabin for overnighters that sleeps about 5/6 people. Most people tent on nice wood platforms.
We had to navigate our way up this rockface! I'm glad we found a different route for the descent!
The majestic peak behind me (of which a picture does NO justice) is Garibaldi's highest peak, Wedge Mountain and Wedgemount Glacier.
Our "un-named summit shots"
Armchair Glacier looking pristine and untouched!
We finally stumbled on the proper trail to Weart! It was nice to bump into some other hikers.
Looking up at the glacier from the bottom.
