Check out Matt's version of the trip here. Matt had paddled Garibaldi Lake a few weeks earlier and saw snow above Sentinel Bay. He brought up the idea of skiing in July, so what the heck we went for it! On Wednesday night we hiked the Garibaldi Lake Trail with a kayak, skis, and tons other gear. We kayaked across the lake towards Sentinel Bay where we explored the area until Friday.
Damn our packs were heavy as we hit the trail around 9:30pm.
We arrived at Garibaldi Lake around 12:30am, loaded up the kayak (well past it's 400 lb suggested maximum) and paddled out. Fog was rolling off the lake giving the water a very eerie feeling. I was actually quite freaked out, luckily Matt's good humor calmed me down.
We reached the shore of sentinel bay around 3am, unloaded the kayak and passed out shoreside for a couple of hours.
We made our way 1.5km to the glaciology hut that would be our home for the next two days.
We hauled our gear up from the shore.
Ah home sweet home
We rested a bit then made our way Southwest exploring the area.
Not quite enough snow for skiing unfortunately.
We had some amazing views of the Table
Soon clouds took over the sky
It looked like storms coming in from the Southeast so we made our way back to the hut.
We made it back just as clouds were overtaking the hut. We spent the night waiting out rain and strong wind.
In the morning rain and winds persisted.
At the calmest moment we loaded the kayak and set out back across the lake. Luckily the winds were in our favor. The paddle was nerve-wracking and we were both grateful to arrive at the other side.
A quick lunch in the warming hut and we made our way down the trail. Ah two happy campers!
A few notes:
-There's actually two huts at Sentinel Bay. Both are in good shape. The one we stayed in was the nicer of the two. Good water and wind-proofing and foam on the sleeping areas so you don't need to bring a mat. Instructions we had said the huts are 500m from shore, we found them to be well over 1 km.
-Paddling with all of that gear was very difficult. The extra weight made the kayak top-heavy and very tippy.
-If you do paddle Garibaldi Lake keep an eye on the weather, the wind can really whip through.
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