I will show you some pictures of an amazing running session we did with a friend from Vancouver in Garibaldi provincial park, which is situated 20 minutes after Squamish, going towards Whistler.
This was my last long run before heading to Europe and attempting the 100k of the Ultra trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB)2016, which unfortunately went wrong as I got injured 2 weeks before.
The goal of this run was to reach the second summit of Castle Towers mountain at an elevation of 2676 meters (8780 feet).
The run happened in August as the snow finally disappeared from the alpine.
In British Colombia pacific ranges, precipitations are really heavy in the winter and cause massive amounts of snow to appear on the mountains. This is why glaciers can be found at low elevations such as 1600 meters (5249 feet). During this run we had to cross one of these glaciers called Helm Glacier. We actually started from Cheakamus trailhead which is way more quiet than the Garibaldi park main access (crowded most summer).
We took an uphill trail for about 10 kilometers and then left the trail for some bush running until the glacier. We had to get up the glacier and down a grassy South face on the other side of the mountain to reach Gentian pass. Then a steep uphill waited for us until a little summit at 2300 meters of elevation (7545 feet). We had to go down a little bit and up again in big rocks until reaching the first summit. Then started the scary part as we wanted to reach the second summit. I don't recommend to anyone to try to reach it. The rock is really loose and we had to cross a sharp ridge with a cliff on one side and a steep glacier on the other. My friend past that hardest point not without hesitation and while I tried to follow him, I made a huge rock fall down the glacier. I still managed to pass but was already scared. Then we could reach the second summit and rest mentally before having to pass the hard point.
Finally all the way back went well and I took a few pictures of it that I will show you as well as the strava datas.
Datas from Strava
Map and profile of the run from Strava
On the way down Helm Glacier
Final ascent to the first summit
View during the final ascent (Garibaldi mountain in the background)
Black Tusk mountain, seen from the alpine at km 10
Volcanic gravel on the way up
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[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 49.939289 lat -122.944221 long Caslte Towers running day, Garibaldi provincial park, British Colombia d3scr)
