I recently had the pleasure of ushering a good friend into the world of backpacking, taking her on her first overnight trip. Lauren was already an experienced hiker, having done numerous challenging trails around the Fraser Valley. Not only was it her first backpacking trip, it was also her first trip to Garabaldi Provincial Park.

Our packs were relatively light, only around 15 lbs per pack (light, but not ultralight), and we were starting later in the morning, so we decided to set an aggressive pace. We hiked the endless series of switchbacks up to Taylor Meadows in a quick 3 hours. So much the better since this is by far the least interesting part of the hike. Once at Taylor Meadows, we found a tent pad near to the cooking shelter next to the creek, had a quick lunch break, set up camp (thus dropping most our weight), then continued on our way up to Panorama Ridge.

Early Blooms & Endless Views

The route from Taylor Meadows and to Panorama Ridge is a long one, but rewarding. As you make your way there, each section of the trail is its own beautiful painting. Since we went in early July, the wildflowers were just starting to bloom so there were swatches of colour all along the grassy, lower-lying areas. We passed several colourful glacier lakes, countless mountain-fed streams giving us a refreshingly cold water source with which to fill our water bags. As we made our way further up the mountain, we cooled off in snowy patches. We even had to hike the last leg through wet snow, which was surprising considering how warm it was. It wasn't enough that I wished I had brought snow spikes, but it was enough to need to take a little extra caution.

Meandering Upward and Meeting Mosquitos

While most of the hiking experience was phenomenal, it must be said that early July is a buggy time of year and there were a LOT of mosquitos. We just assumed that as we got further up, away from the treelike and plants, that there would be less and less of them. For whatever reason, the opposite was true. And I foolishly decided it wouldn't be bad enough to warrant bringing mosquito head nets. We did have bug repellent lotion, but even that wasn't enough. Lightweight, long shirts, pants and a wide brim hat gave me a little protection, but Lauren suffered a lot more than me having less coverage with her short sleeve shirt and capris pants. Lesson learned for next time.

Even with all the bugs, the majesty of the view from the top of Panorama Ridge did not disappoint. It was stunning with the turquoise waters of Garabaldi Lake stretched out below at the foot of white capped mountains. It was breath-taking. We took some time to appreciate the view, snap a few mandatory photos and made our way back to Taylor Meadows, wanting to make sure we got back before dusk with time to spare.

Any time I go camping, I do my best to be near a fresh water source, not just for drinking. No matter how cold the water is, it just feels so amazing to wash the sweat from the day's hike off and cool the body down after hiking on a warm day. I also like to include a cold water breath hold practice every chance I can get to keep my free diving skills sharp for stunt work. The creek next to our camp was also cold enough to chill the bottle of wine, we had carted up with us in a lightweight Platypus wine bag. Some might balk that wine is a weight hog for backpacking, but what's the point of backpacking with a friend if you don't leverage the extra carrying capacity for a few trail luxuries? ;)

Garabaldi's Taylor Meadows campground is well serviced for backpackers with lines for hoisting up food to keep it away from animals, and cooking shelters with tables and benches to give you a refuge against the elements (and mosquitos!) so you can enjoy meals in comfort. For our dinner, I used Mountain House Chicken and Rice from a can as a base for making our dinners, to which I added home dehydrated eggs and kale, as well as some Hoosier Hill Farm Premium Powdered Butter, some powdered parmesan cheese, and some Italian seasoning to make a Chicken, egg, veggie and rice Alfredo. I packaged each of our meals in medium-sized Ziploc freezer bags, making it easy to just pour in some water boiled on my titanium pocket stove. That being said, I’m eventually going to move toward using re-usable bags once my freezer bag supply is gone, as Lauren recently started a company,

One World Eco Designs, selling various reusable bags to help reduce plastic waste in the world. I had considered buying Titanium long spoons for my backpacking kit, but decided it was just as light, if not lighter to just use the long spoons that come when you order McFlurries at McDonald's. After dinner, wine, and a bit of tea, we were completely bagged. We headed back to my ultralight Naturehike 4-season tent, which we had set up earlier in the day and crashed hard.

The next morning, we took a short hike out to the Garabaldi Lake campground to enjoy the morning mist on the lake. The water was so pristine and perfect, like a glass mirror reflecting the surrounding mountains and sky. It was well worth the extra time spent hiking there and back to Taylor Meadows before packing up and heading down the mountain back to our car.

The "Number 1" Problem

Now I want to bring to light that not only are there no washrooms on the main switch back route leading back to the parking lot, there is also not much in the way of private areas in the bush in which you can relieve yourself, which ended up posing a problem for me as we made our way down. After each kilometre, I got more and more stressed, with pressure building, the need to urinate bordering on painful. In my defense, I DID go before we left camp, but I had drunk so much water that I just had to go again. After each switchback, I started to pick up more and more speed, the need to find a private patch of woods rising. Meanwhile, the switchbacks were causing issues for Lauren's knees so she had to slow her pace way down. The endless downhill switchbacks were the most challenging part of the entire hike for Lauren because of the damage to the meniscus in her knees for which she'll be getting surgery in the fall. Eventually, I had to apologize to Lauren, take my leave and run ahead, desperate to find some place to pee in privacy. I made it to the final 1km marker and still there was no such place to be found. I hit my breaking point and went up the hill about 20 feet and ineffectively hid myself behind a tree, dropped my pants and squatted down, hoping no one would come up the trail before I was done my business. Being a Friday, I had no such luck as there were a lot of hikers coming up for the weekend. Just as I started to go, two cute, young men came up around the turn of the next switchback. I don't know if they noticed me squatted up the hill, but at that point, I didn't care. I just pulled my Tiley hat over my face to hide my shame. Another lesson learned: Make sure you find a place to pee before you hit the endless switchback section of the hike down the trail from Garabaldi Lake. I was a picture of embarrassment when Lauren caught up to me on the trail.

A Nearly Perfectly Popped Cherry

All in all, annoying mosquitos and public urination experiences notwithstanding, it was an amazing trip for Lauren's first ever backpacking trip. We hiked 26km the first day up to Panorama Ridge and back to Taylor Meadows, then hiked a further 13km the second day from Taylor Meadows to Garabaldi Lake and back, then down to the car. Lauren was an awesome backpacking buddy. We had so much fun laughing and chatting the whole way that we really didn't need a bear bell to scare animals away. I am grateful that I got to be the one to usher her into a new way of appreciating the outdoors. I hope it is the first of many.

Have you done the hike to Panorama Ridge? How did you enjoy it? Any pieces of advice for people who've never hiked it before? Please feel free to share your thoughts and advice in the comments. :)