First scramble of the year

Around 12:45 we made it to the summit block of the Black Tusk. But we can, and will go higher.

After a quick snack and rehydration we set off around the only traversable side of the summit block. After about 200m we reached a selection of gullies. To find the right gully, a fellow climber gave us some advice:

“If it doesn’t look like something you want to climb, it is not the right gully”

We found this to be rather accurate as the rest of the gullies involved some overhanging rock, which is a bit more than we had bargained for. Luckily, the one remaining gully and the farthest one to the west was the one we were looking for.

Although many people didn’t wear helmets here, I think the consensus is that its probably best if you did. Metea narrowly missed being hit when we arrived at the gully from a climber above. Although most of the handholds are solid, the summit block is essentially a mountain of shale so be careful and make sure you are not sending rock down onto those below.

First and most difficult section of scramble

The first 5-10 meters of the gully is near vertical and is undoubtably the sketchiest part of the scramble. Luckily it is harder going up then it is to come down. Take it slow and be sure of your foot and hand placements.

After this first section, the gully starts to level out and narrow. When it’s uncomfortable, and before it drops off the other side, climb up and out the gully to continue the accent. The rest of the way is fairly straight forward, and before long we were at the top, puzzling as to why anyone would ever attempt getting to the actual summit.

False summit views over Garibaldi

We started our descent a little before 2pm. We hit a bit of traffic with climbers coming up the gully but by 2:20pm we were off the summit and shortly after were butt-sliding our way down the snow.

The Mistake

We started our descent a little before 2pm. We hit a bit of traffic with climbers coming up the gully but by 2:20pm we were off the summit and shortly after were butt-sliding our way down the snow.

Every year Garibaldi lake collects pollen from the surrounding trees and some of it collects at the outflows, namely, the Rubble Creek outflow. This is also where all the trails meet the lake. Now I’ve heard this usually just leads to some unsightly froth where the pollen collects. However, in 2022, thanks to the sudden onslaught of high temperatures, it has turned into nothing short of a biohazard. The worst part, the smell. Not going to sugar coat it, it smelt like crap. Worse than the outhouses at the trailhead. So what was a dream of respite and rejuvenation turned into the most unpleasant alpine lake experience ever. Imagine further around the lake this would all be out of mind, but we did not want this to turn into more of a detour than it had already.

We swiftly left, and continued on back to the parking lot. The remaining 9km of this trip was long and painful. This being the first big hike of the year had finally caught up to both of us. We made it back to the car a bit after 7pm and promptly made our way to the closest A&W to drown our pain in burgers and root beer. All in all, a great day out.