Mount Price

Mount Price is a small, dormant volcano rising out of the south/west side of Garibaldi Lake. Some interesting geo-history: when Mount Price erupted 8-15 thousand years ago, the resulting lava flow cooled against an ancient glacial ice sheet. After the ice sheet melted away, it left a huge volcanic cliff called “The Barrier.” The Barrier acts as a natural dam, and the pooled snow/glacier melt behind The Barrier eventually formed Garibaldi Lake. So in a way, Mount Price created Garibaldi Lake!

This was my second trip to the Garibaldi Lake area (I previously visited in September), and it’s an easy choice since the scenery is superb and the trailheads are only 1-2 hours away from downtown Vancouver. But I guess I will need to branch out to a different area for my next trip to BC!

Some information for folks interested in Price in the winter:

• Trailhead: The Rubble Creek trailhead isn’t actively maintained in the winter, but was melted out enough to drive at the time of our trip. Expect some road walking if there’s more snow though.
• Route:
  • In winter the most efficient way to access Price is by walking across the frozen lake.
  • It’s possible to go straight up the northern gullies, but we chose a slightly more roundabout route following forested ridges to avoid avalanche terrain for the most part. Map link.
• Gear: Microspikes were useful for the trail and snowshoes after that. We brought ice axes just in case, but never had to use them.
• Stats: 17 miles, 5.6k feet elevation gain, 10 hours