Black Tusk

(The Grey peak on the left is Black Tusk)

As Monday rolled around, we naturally found ourselves in need of a rest day from 2 days of climbing in Squamish. Neither of us had ever been up to the Black Tusk so the decision was easy. We got up, ate some breaky/packed lunches and drove out to Squamish for the 3rd day in a row. I love doing long hikes on Mondays because there is hardly anyone else out there on the trail. Tamsin did the same route we did the weekend before, but didn't end up summiting the Black Tusk itself because there was a 30 minute waiting line!


(View of Garibaldi Lake)

The hike starts with a pretty boring 9km uphill switchback slog through the trees from the Rubble Creek parking lot. Once you are out of the trees however, the scenery is stunning. You have Garibaldi Lake on your right (as well as other amazing landmarks) and Black Tusk on your Left. It's odd though, it is not until you are almost right at the tusk does it look black. I kept wondering why it was called "Black" tusk because from afar it looks Grey.




The trail after the Black Tusk junction is quite steep and after a couple thousand feet of climbing the ground gets quite rocky (loose rock- gaiters would have been nice!). Nonetheless we got to the Tusk. It was in the clouds and the weather turned cold. We put on a few extra layers and were good to go. You can climb up the Tusk itself and the first way we chose proved to be a little bit sketchy. Besides the fact that it was very steep, the rocks that form the tusk are quite loose. I didn't trust that whatever rock I used to pull myself up on would not come flying out of the rock, rendering me to my death. The thought of down climbing freaked me out even more. I knew there had to be another way because lot's of people go up the tusk. We wandered around the corner and there was in fact a much safer way. I was happy to have made it to the top because I am not one to usually forgo the epic end to an adventure.


(Climbing up to the Summit)

We didn't spend much time on the summit because it was really cold. We spent just enough time to grab a few shots. After descending we made our way back down. Eager to get back to the car, we ran pretty much all the way back to the parking lot. The hike up/run down was just over 5 hours in total.


(On the Summit!!!)

(All photos taken by Peter)

We followed this up with our standard trip to the Howe Sound Brewery for a pint. They always have great beer specials on Mondays!

Alright, I head off to school next week. I am a little nervous but I am sure it will be awesome. I have thought about a few races I would like to do in the upcoming months (1) Buntzen Lake 5 peaks (2) Giv'r take around the lake 30km (3) Hallow's Eve...In the words of Jerry McGuire...WHO'S COMIN' WITH ME?

See you in the trails (or the streets of Kitsilano and Dtown running to and from School!)