The Black Tusk

We spent this past weekend preparing for a hike, hiking, and recovering from a hike (well, we're not quite done with that yet!). Five of us from church went up to Garibaldi Provincial Park, (close to Whistler) camped Friday night, and then took a 30 km hike (18 miles). Yes, it was long. We had planned on taking in our packs and camping but once we arrived at the parking lot, we learned that there would most likely be no room in the campground. Those packs were not going in for nothing! So we switched to day packs and
started the hike.

A tree that had rotted out, yet still had the branch knobs on the inside of the trunk.

Moss like this only grows at a certain altitude.
For awhile on the hike it was EVERYWHERE.

After 8 km, it was time to stop for lunch.

According to the sign inside this building, it was NOT an outhouse. It composts the addition made to it so it is a little different, but it sure smelled like an outhouse!

After lunch we walked through a beautiful meadow. The wildflowers were blooming, the trees were interesting, and above us the Tusk was looming. See it in the top left corner?
We were just a little over halfway there!

Taylor's Meadows

Of all the flowers blooming, this was my favorite, affectionately named the Yak Flower. On the top of this one there's a little tick.

Tough Women!!!

You can see the landscape has changed a bit! Once you get above the treeline, the trail was all rock and sand.

Most of us hated this part, as you'd take a full step up and then slide back a few inches in the rocks. So discouraging. John loved it, however, as he couldn't help noticing how much better he was feeling climbing up this mountain than one we'd done in Switzerland. Let me tell you - he's in shape!

The Tusk - doesn't it look daunting? All five of us hiked our way up to the far left side of the base. John and Trish decided they'd gone far enough and were going to enjoy the view from there. Amanda, Don, and I, however, climbed up the chimney to the top.

This was the point where I turned to Don and said, "Don, I don't think I can do this." He answered, "Charlotte, put your hand here and your foot here." I gritted my teeth and kept going but it was scary knowing there was a 1700 foot drop behind me.

We made it!!! The view from the very top of the Tusk was beautiful. Behind me here is Garibaldi Lake, an aquamarine lake that's fed by a glacier. The 360 view showed we were surrounded by mountains. If you look at the bottom left corner, you'll see a snowfield and the ridge we'd been walking on earlier (see picture two above this one). It was way down there.

Climbing down proved to be a bit more difficult but with each other's help we did it with few problems. Once Don got to the bottom of the chimney, his cell phone rang! It was somebody from work calling with a problem. Crazy how you feel like you're in the absolute middle of nowhere and suddenly you're not.

WE CONQUERED THE TUSK!