For the first leg of our roadtrip, we were off to Whistler. We originally planned a trip to Jasper and Banff but had to improvise on short notice due to the wildfires. With Megan living in Australia, we wanted to do something different than what she has at home – definitely some sort of trip into the mountains. Thankfully, we were able to grab some last minute camping reservations in Garibaldi. Megan had never been backcountry camping before so I was really excited to experience that with her for the first time! And to finally hike Panorama Ridge, which has been on my bucket list since moving here!
Day 1: Elfin Lakes
We drove up to the Diamond Head trailhead in Garibaldi park on Friday. It was a beautiful sunny day and thankfully not too hot. We hiked through the shaded forest trail which then opened up to endless colourful wildflowers. Wildflower season is only 2-3 week here and I’ve somehow always missed it. It was amazing to finally catch it at the right time. Countless mountain peaks soon entered our view as we finished the back half of the trail, which leveled out and was a pretty easy hike to camp. We immediately swam upon arriving at the lake, then set up camp, snagging one of the best tent pads. Dinner was a dehydrated meal, and we crashed pretty hard, cozy in our tent.
Day 2: hike down Elfin Lakes / Heli tour
The next morning we had breakfast and a nice chat with a fellow hiker, had one last swim, and hiked down. We had to move quickly as we had a helicopter tour awaiting us that afternoon!
Elfin Lakes: 20.6 km & 863m elevation
We grabbed a quick sandwich to-go in Squamish and drove to Whistler to meet our helicopter tour. The tour was a 45 min flight experience with Blackcomb Helicopters to celebrate Megan’s birthday. Yes, this was an over the top bday gift, but we’re so rarely together so this would be an super special, once in a lifetime experience to share together. The pilot was hilarious and did some thrilling moves with the helicopter, it was wild! It was absolutely stunning to fly over glaciers, lakes, and mountain peaks. We even touched down at a remote lake for some photos.
After an absolutely mind blowing day, we checked into our hotel in Whistler and hit the outdoor hot tub. Unfortunately, some rain was heading our way, and the idea of hiking up a mountain to camp in the rain didn’t sound too appealing. So we spent time time replanning our days ahead before BBQ’ing up some nice steaks. Our hotel had a full kitchen and outdoor BBQs which was perfect!
Day 3 – Cheakamus Lake
We had big ambitions of hiking Wedgemont today but awoke to the reality of sore calves so we decided to do something a bit easier on our bodies. After cooking up a nice little breakfast in our hotel, we did a day hike to Cheakamus Lake to swim, lounge and read our books. Shortly after starting the hike, we saw some bear scat on the trail. This was a first for Megan and there was a lot of silly songs sang during our hike to ward off any bears.
Of course we swam when we arrived at the glacier lake, the coldest lake we’d found so far! Next to us at the lake, these two little boys took quite the shining to us and kept coming over to say hi – they were so cute. They gifted us with rocks they found and a “beautiful shell” (a pistachio nut shell LOL).
Cheakamus Lake: 7.7 km & 294m elevation
Day 4 – Spa Day
It was a rainy day and we were SO looking forward to a massage at Nita Lake Lodge. We spent the day in the eucalyptus steam room and outdoor hot tub. It was heaven. We did pop out for lunch in the hotel bar but classic us, got to the spa for 10:45 and left at 5:30.. definitely got our money’s worth. The massage was probably one of the best I’d ever had and was a great reset for our upcoming hikes. We also got upgraded to a huge room!
Day 5 – Chill Day
We headed into Whistler village for breakfast and did a little wandering around. In the afternoon, we napped (twice) and hit up the sauna and pool. It was an overcast day and we took it easy knowing we’d be hiking tomorrow. We walked over to Creekside to crush some pizza for dinner – it was soooo good, some of the best pizza I’ve had!
Day 6 – Helm Creek
After ordering room service for breakfast, we were off to Garbaldi once again to hike and camp at Helm Creek. From Helm Creek, we’d hike Panorama Ridge the following day where (hopefully), we’d have the clear skies they were forecasting. The hike to Helm Creek was quiet through the forest, we only passed one hiker towards the end which was a little unnerving. It took us about 4 hours to reach camp. The bugs were relentless, it was buggy at Elfin but this was on another level. We took shelter in our tent and read for a while, then made another dehydrated meal for dinner – Sheppard’s pie. It was actually really good! We met some really nice hikers and chatted away over dinner. We called it a night early knowing we had a big day ahead of us.
Day 7 – Panorama Ridge / Hike down Helm Creek
We had a shit sleep. We both did. Probably one of the worst I’ve had. The temperature dropped significantly and there was a lot of condensation in the tent making it damp and cold. And we both just couldn’t get comfortable. Terrible timing for the big day ahead but it happens. We had a shit breakfast (don’t buy the cheddar jalapeno grits breakfast, it’s awful) and got eaten alive before heading out to Panorama Ridge.
Once the hike started, our moods drastically improved. There was not a cloud in the sky and the views of Black Tusk were incredible. We passed several beautiful glacier lakes, a million wildflowers, and even encountered some marmots, which were so cute and much larger than we expected! The trail was easy until the last bit where it was a steep hike up. Very steep and never ending, but we made it! Panorama Ridge looks down over Garibaldi Lake, and the colour of the lake was incredible. We could see countless mountain peaks, it was just unbelievable. Worth every bit of effort and so special to experience together!
We hiked back to camp, with a quick stop for a cheeky swim along the way. We had lunch, disassembled camp (while continuing to be eaten alive), and got the heck out of there. I’ve never had so many big bites, even with bug spray and a face net, they were relentless. We did great time on our way down, probably 2.5 hours. Considering we hiked about 5 hours previously, we were really pushing ourselves but we made it out. I made a quick coffee in the parking lot before our drive back to Vancouver, we’d be crashing for the night and then off to the island!
Helm Creek & Panorama Ridge: 30km & 1615m elevation
