Posts Tagged With: Elfin Lakes

Walking the Rim of Opal Cone, Garibaldi Provincial Park—A.Juric

I’ve done many great hikes, but once in a while there’s one that smacks me up the side of the head, reduces my vocabulary to a mantra of inadequate “wows”, and makes me believe that perhaps there is a God. Opal Cone, in the Diamond Head area of Garibaldi Provincial Park, is one of those hikes.

Walking along the rim of Opal Cone, an extinct volcano, I was overwhelmed by the views in every direction. Thick glaciers cling to towering Garibaldi Mountain and Atwell Peak. Massive Garibaldi Névé icefield stretches down the flank of the mountain, giving way to rivulets of meltwater across the rubbly, glacial moraine. Pyramid Mountain and the Mamquam Massif make a dramatic backdrop for the sandy, boulder-strewn plain with its shockingly turquoise lakes. Continue reading →