Black Tusk Hiking Trail, Whistler, BC

Robert Hallam from North Vancouver writes:

As at June 27th, 2010. Has anybody been up recently and can give me an idea as to where the snow levels are at this time?

Web cams as Whistler show snow still on the ground at 2000 m.

Posted: June 27, 2010 12:44:41 PM PST

Jeff from Vancouver writes:

Somebody know where is the snow level at this time?
thanks

Posted: June 1, 2010 09:42:45 PM PST

Alex from West Vancouver writes:

Did the hike today (October 3rd) in just over 6.5 hours (4 hours up, 2 hours 40 mins down). After reaching Taylor meadows the trail was half covered in snow. After the Black Tusk junction, then entire rest of the route was through the snow. At the summit there was 6 inches to a foot, even a foot and a half in some windloaded areas. If the weather stays consistently cold the next week or so be well prepared on this hike as the snow will surely stick around.

Posted: October 3, 2009 09:22:41 PM PST

Graham Snowden from Vancouver, BC writes:

I just finished this hike and it was spectacular! We went through Taylor Meadows to Black Tusk - one of us all the way up - and then came down via Garibaldi Lake stopping for a swim and then coming back down all in one day. It took us about 9 hours including 30 - 40 minutes for lunch and 30 - 40 minutes at Garibaldi. We descended at a pretty good clip.

The toughest part was climbing up to the shoulder of the Tusk. Lots of loose rock and relatively steep grade but still pretty safe. The chimney requires you to be quite careful and does not need to be done. If it is busy, I would recommend not doing it.

Overall, fantastic day!

Posted: September 26, 2009 07:13:38 PM PST

C from Vancouver writes:

Left Vancouver at 4 30 am
Hiked all the way to the very top of the tusk and back at the parking lot in about 8.5 hrs. Its a long hike, but you can easily do it in one day. We were back in the city by 4pm

Hike not as long as it says about 8 hours including breaks and that is not too fast of a pace.

Bring Bug spray and jacket, its really cold at the top!

Posted: August 25, 2009 01:10:34 PM PST

n n from Vancouver writes:

In mid-July 2009 there was virtually no snow that you would be forced to cross between the lake and black tusk peak

Posted: August 19, 2009 12:40:43 PM PST

Ivan G from Richmond writes:

One of my most favorite hikes ever :)

The last few K's to the top are pretty brutal, and there is usually snow there even in August. I wouldn't try it before the middle of July due to snow.

I recommend you start it at 8 or 9 am. We started at noon, and even though we went pretty fast we were sprinting the last 7 km's back through the forest in absolute darkness.

Awesome views of Garibaldi lake! 360 degree views from the top.

Posted: June 16, 2009 02:18:49 PM PST

sibylle from Silverthorne, Colorado writes:

Our favorite hike this summer was in Garibaldi Park up to Garibaldi Lake and then to the Black Tusk viewpoint. We awoke to clear blue skies and from camp, we could see Mt. Garibaldi for the first time in days. It was our last day in Canada, so I asked Tristan if he would like to hike near Garibaldi.
Tristan acquiesced and after packing, we headed north. A “hike” with Tristan, who at 17 recently competed in both track and cross-country, involves him hiking up at full speed and me occasionally jogging to keep up. When we looked at the signs, it said “Black Tusk, 14 KM”.
“Go faster,” he admonished me. “It’s 14 km to the Tusk viewpoint and probably another 10 to the top. That’s a 48-km round trip) almost 30 miles). It’ll take too long if you’re that slow!”
After looking at the map, he decided to climb the Tusk, despite leaving the parking lot at 12:45. I’d planned on a more leisurely hike to Garibaldi Lake, only 9 km (5.4 miles) with an 800-meter elevation gain (2,624 feet).
After 25 minutes, we reached a sign saying we’d gone 2.5 km.
“That’s 50 minutes for a 5 k!” he said. “That’s way too slow for 5 k!”
Never mind that we were supposedly hiking, not running uphill, nor that it was steep, and we’d already passed over 50 hikers, Tristan felt we should go faster.
We finally reached the lake in about two hours, we would leave us time to continue on to the Black Tusk. We took the small detour to hike down toward the campground at the lake and enjoy the view across to the peaks. As we left the lake, we briefly saw a loon between its dives under the water.
Then we headed up toward the Black Tusk Viewpoint.
Once we reached the lake in about two hours, Tristan decided to head for the Black Tusk viewpoint. Never mind that it was now close to 3 p.m., that we had not only another 5 km of trail to hike up but also 14 to get back, which left us with about 4 hours to do the next 19 km (almost 12 miles) and it gets dark before 8 p.m.

After the Tusk turnoff, the trail got really steep. We hiked above tree line along a streambed with gorgeous riparian wildflowers to sweeten the pain of almost running uphill. At least we weren’t at high altitude!

Once we reached the Tusk viewpoint, Tristan said,
“I want to climb that!”
Since it was 5 p.m. and we still had our 14 km-hike back out, or almost 9 miles in the next two hours, I declined his invitation to continue. Luckily he agreed, and we started downhill.
After a while, we concluded that hiking might not get us down before dark. It gets really dark under the dense tree canopy along the lower trail, where visibility and light were limited even during mid-day hours.
“It’s after 5,” I reminded him. “ It gets dark around 7:30, in less than two hours.”
“Yeah, you should start running,” he admonished me.
Well, there weren’t a lot of other options, so I began running back down the hill. Jogging all the less rocky and root0infested parts, and walking carefully on the others, we got back to the car at 7:10 p.m., just in time to drive back to Squamish, take down our tent and cook in the dark, and had back home early the next morning.

See my blog,
http://funclimbsaroundtheworld.com

Posted: September 17, 2008 08:23:31 AM PST

William from Vancouver writes:

Love this hike

Posted: October 9, 2007 07:18:14 PM PST

HikerBoy from Vancouver writes:

Make sure if you're camping on a long weekend to get to the Garibaldi Lake campsite early. The spots are taken quickly and both Garibaldi Lake and Taylor Meadows campsites tend to fill up on during the busy summer months.

Posted: October 7, 2007 04:44:24 PM PST

Mike from Burnaby writes:

Black Tusk was an extremely challenging hike, especially making sure we made it back before it got dark. However, the views were amazing and we thankfully did it on a sunny, clear day.

I tried to do it one other time the year before but the snow level was too low and we didn't make it very far up the trail. Next time, I think we'll camp near Garibaldi Lake and take a day or so to do Black Tusk and Panorama Ridge.

Posted: October 7, 2007 03:33:49 PM PST