Most hikers approach from the Taylor Meadows campground to the south near Garibaldi Lake, although there is a second route from the north that travels by way of Helm Lake. …
Locals advised me to avoid the crowded trailhead off the highway, and hike via the Helm Creek Trail instead. That’s the Cheakamus Lake trailhead, closer to Whistler.
I bought my $10 / person / night camping permitonline from BC Parks. You can pay cash at a machine only at the Diamond Head and Garibaldi Lake parking lots, not at the Cheakamus Lake parking lot.
Why doesn’t BC Parks have an office somewhere near Whistler?
Cheakamus Lake to Black Tusk Meadows via Helm Creek:
• Length, 14.5 km; suggested time, 6 to 7 hours one way;
• elevation change, 600 metres.
• 1.5 km along the Cheakamus Lake trail, drop down to a bridge across the Cheakamus River.
On the other side of the river the trail switchbacks upward steeply to the Helm Creek Campground.
I carried on to gorgeous Black Tusk Meadows.
Hikers coming down from the south summit told me it was too late in the day for me to start up.
After weighing my options (I was carrying a head lamp) I finally decided to wander the meadows, instead.
It turned out to be a leisurely night.
Next morning I turned my back on Black Tusk and headed back down to my car.
I had time for a sidetrip to pretty Cheakamus Lake via lush temperate rain forest.
Black Tusk is off limits to mountain bikes, but the ride to this lake is superb.
All in all, a wonderful 2-day hike.
If I had one more day I would have done the 34km route Helm Creek, Panorama Ridge and Black Tusk shoulder detailed in this 9min video.
The trail leads out of the parking area and climbs steeply to the fifteen surprisingly lifelike horse sculptures. These beauties stand on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River. Constructed out of welded steel plates, they are the work of Spokane artist David Govedare. The tempered steel ponies were put on the bluff in 1989 for Washington State’s Centennial Celebration. …
The Tibetan belief is that the winds blow the positive energy of the prayers and chants imprinted on the flags into the world- and into all sentient beings they touch. As a result you’ll usually see the flags strung in high places where they can have maximum effect.
view from the top of Kala Patthar above Everest Base Camp
… a collection of my pix with prayer flags in them. Most are taken from hikes in the Annapurna and Khumbu region of Nepal, but you’ll also find flags fluttering in Patagonia, near Jasper in the Canadian Rockies, above the heads of chanting monks in Bohd Gaya in India, in the Christiania area of Copenhagen in Denmark, and in my neighbourhood above the eastern banks of the Don River in Toronto. …
My hiking partner from Manaslu last year is in Patagonia.
He got some (rare) good weather at Fitzroy.
Mike Howarth:
Riding in to El Chalten there before me stood the Fitzroy massif bathed in sunlight. Monte Fitzroy, Cerro Torre, Poincenot, Inominata and many more …
After two days of fine weather, clear views of Fitzroy and Cerro Torre my business here is done. Autumn begins and its time to head north and begin the next leg of the journey; The Carretera Austral.
On the other side of the river the trail switchbacks upward steeply to the Helm Creek Campground.
I carried on to gorgeous Black Tusk Meadows.
Hikers coming down from the south summit told me it was too late in the day for me to start up.
It turned out to be a leisurely night.
Black Tusk is off limits to mountain bikes, but the ride to this lake is superb.
besthike.com 