On Monday I drove to Squamish and hiked from Garibaldi Diamond Head parking lot to the new campsite at Rampart Ponds. Tuesday morning I hiked the final 1.5km to Mamquam Lake and then headed back with a quick visit to Opal Cone.
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| Map courtesy of BC parks |
It's permitted to take a bike as far as Elfin Lakes. I chose not to because I was worried about where to lock it up. Of course this portion of the trail was quite busy.
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| Elfin Lakes pretty as always |
The trail to Mamquam Lake is in great shape! Bridges over both river crossings and lots of nice scenery!
My Garibaldi Park map shows Pyramid Mountain as a "scramble" and not a "climb". I was hoping to summit this mountain. The closer I got the more difficult it appeared to be,
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| Pyramid Mountain will have to wait until my next visit to the area |
The new campground at Rampart Ponds was nice. In the morning I visited Mamquam Lake.
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| Mamquam Lake |
On the way back I visited the old volcano known as Opal Cone.
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| A touch on snow in the centre of the cone. |
I met a friendly Czech hiker named Michal. He joined me for the rest of the way back.
-All together an enjoyable trip. Travel time was about 5 hours to Rampart Ponds and about 6 hours return (with a stop at Opal Cone and a lunch at Elfin). It's a smooth trail with lots of elevation gain and loss.
-I'm VERY interested in getting up Pyramid Mountain. If you have any info on it please let me know!
-BC Parks Garibaldi Map is available here
Pyramid. Yeah, it's a tough one. Tried it years ago from Mamquam Lake as a day trip from Ring Creek Road. 50 KM round trip and 21 hours. I would have made it but I had to be back for work the next day. There is a way up the cliffs from Mamquam Lake. It was a weird trip because I bushwhacked up from Ring Creek Road. Tried it again from Eanastick Meadows. Another long one. Super bushwhack. Got to the same point but was running out of time.
ReplyDeleteA 50km/21 hour day trip? Wow! I can admire that!
DeleteBruce Fairley's Guide to Climbing and Hiking in Southwestern BC says "From the northeast side of Mamquam Lake ascend slopes to northwest ridge of the central of the three western summits. Scramble easily to the peak and reach the other two from there..." I didn't not own that book at the time of making this post and think that description is helpful. I might visit this area again next summer.