Garibaldi Provincial Park

IUCN Category II - National Park

The Mount Garibaldi

The Garibaldi Provincial Park is a 1946 square kilometer Provincial Park in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The park is located 64 kilometers north of Vancouver and protects an impressive section of the Coast Mountains.

Plant

The park is situated in the transitional area between the Sunshine Coast and the Coast Mountains. Access to the park is carried out via a number of parking areas along the Sea-to- Sky Highway, or from Alice Lake Privincial Park. The park is opened not by roads. In the park is a protected area category II (National Park).

History

The Mount Garibaldi was first climbed in 1907. The view and the beauty of the environment led to regular climbers in summer camps at Garibaldi Lake, so that in 1920 the area was classified as a park reserve. In 1927, the Provincial Park was established with a size of 194,650 hectares and named after Mount Garibaldi.

Geography

The mountain was built by volcanic activity and shaped by glaciers. Their erosion processes created bizarre rock formations, deep valleys and debris- rich mountain slopes. The Mount Garibaldi itself is a 2678 m high stratovolcano. In particular, the region between the Garibaldi Glacier and Cheakamus Lake is determined by the change from black volcanic mountains, glaciers and deep blue schneegleißenden mountain lakes.

At the outbreak of Mount Price 10,000 years ago a glacier stopped the flowing lava and caused the emergence of a natural dam which is still 460 meters high and is called The Barrier. The Barrier dams the Rubble Creek for nearly 10 square kilometers and up to 300 meter deep Garibaldi Lake on. An earthquake in 1855 caused the western part of the Barrier than overthrow landslide in the Rubble Creek, the landslide is still recognizable today. South of Lake Garibaldi rises on The Table, a steilwandiger and plateau -like, 2019 m high summit. It was created, erupted as lava under the glaciated peaks and melted a channel in the ice. This is the pinnacle took the form of a layer cake, a phenomenon that is otherwise known only in two other places worldwide.

The Black Tusk north of Garibaldi Lake is the vent of a volcano that was filled with hard basalt. The outer shell of the softer volcano was removed by erosion, so that today looms only a black basalt cylinder from the rubble -strewn ridge. The highest mountain in the park is the 2891 m high Wedge Mountain in the north of the park.

Flora and Fauna

Within the ecosystem of British Columbia, the park area is allocated on the basis of size and the different properties of different zones of the Coastal Western Hemlock zone, the Mountain Hemlock zone and the Alpine tundra zone. While the Alpine tundra zone can be clearly identified from an altitude of 1750 meters, the transition of the underlying Mountain Hemlock zone in the Coastal Western Hemlock zone is fluid.

In the park area there are several vegetation zones: in the valleys and on the lower mountain slopes, especially in the western Cheakamus Valley, there is a feuchtgemäßigter rainforest of West American hemlock, Nootka false cypress and Douglas fir. The up to 400 year old trees are up to 60 meters tall and up to nine meters in circumference. The forest has a dense understory of sword ferns, ericaceous and evergreen blueberries. Epiphytic lichens and mosses cover every tree trunk to the crown. At about 1000 meters, the rain forest to a spruce -dominated mountain forest of subalpine fir trees with understory of an impenetrable thicket of willows, red elderberry, black raspberries and white rhododendrons. On the plateau-like mountain slopes of the mountain forest transitions to subalpine flower meadows, which are covered in June from a very rich flowers. The first flower is made of wood anemone, snow buttercups, daffodils and lilies mountain. In August, followed by a second flowering of Indian Paintbrush, Canadian fleabane, Arctic lupine, arnica, Schmalblättrigem willowherb and green hellebore. From 1500 meters above draw largely vegetation-free black scree hillsides that rise to snowfields and glaciers. Here are then almost only lichens, as the map lichen and other growths. In mammals, among others, black bears, mountain goats, hoary marmots, Pikas, snowshoe hares, ground squirrels and chipmunks occur. Golden Eagle, Rotschwanzbussarde, Eckschwanzsperber and bald eagles come in late summer to search for prey in the park.

Activities

The park is a popular destination for hikers, climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts. He offers a variety of hiking options, from half-day hikes to multi-day hiking trips. The park itself is only accessible on foot, within the park boundaries there are no roads. Accommodation only offer several basic campsites and shelters. At Garibaldi Lake and the Diamond Head area, there are ranger stations. Of the five points on the Sea-to- Sky Highway 99 from lead trails in the Park. The first park entrance is behind Squamish on Howe Sound. From here you can take the Elfin Lake Trail Diamond Head area with the Elfin Lake. It follows the access to Garibaldi Lake, then the path to the Cheakamus Lake. From Whistler, a path leads to the Singing Pass, and continue on the road to Pemberton the turnoff to Wedgemount Lake. In addition to these five regions of the park is not accessible as wilderness to protect the natural ecosystem. The park is covered from November to mid-June with a thick blanket of snow. The Diamond Head area is then a destination for ski touring. On the northern border of the park is the 2181 meter high Whistler Mountain, the ski resort, however, no longer belongs to the park.