Sept 6th, 2020: Mount Price

Type of hike: Out and back

Time (approx): 8 hours 5 mins

Distance: Around 27.8km

Hello, and welcome to another adventure in Garibaldi!

The Hike

Sometimes I like trying out the lesser known trails and since Mount Price is not a popular choice, I decided to attempt it and see if the view up there is as nice. Standing at around 2052m, it is lower than Black Tusk, Panorama Ridge and Helm Peak.

You can see Mount Price on the right next to the Sphinx Glacier from across Garibaldi Lake:

The trail towards Mount Price is sort of behind Garibaldi Lake Campground. I walked along the lakeside and past the Battleship Islands.

Very abruptly, the map told me to dive head first into a bunch of trees and bushes. I thought it was joking, but then I spotted the pink ribbons.

This trail was difficult at best, and brutal at worst. While it is marked by pink/orange ribbons (some of them faded to white under the sun, making them hard to spot), they are sometimes far in between and hard to follow. If it was not for my trail map, I would have gotten lost for sure. Not to mention the overgrown trees, plants and bushes make finding the path hard as well. They even made finding ground to step on challenging because I simply could not see. A couple of times I stepped on what I thought was solid ground actually turned out to be a ditch.

Surprisingly, the amount of flies was small compared to how much green stuff was around. The horrible thing was, due to all the trees and shrubs, there were tons of cobwebs and I have pretty bad arachnophobia. It got on my face, my hair, my arms, legs, even my eyelashes.

It took me about an hour to get through the 1km after the campground. Besides the wildlife, there was also rocks. Not just any rocks though, these were boulders of all shapes and sizes. Most were unstable, jagged and sharp. This was the first time I had to walk across these things and I have to say it was more tough than the chimney scramble. This was not a trail, it was simply a path hikers who have previously attempted this made out and stuck ribbons on for other hikers to see.

I was not sure how long this lasted but it felt like a lifetime ago since I walked on flat ground. Fortunately, after clambering over two (or three?) of these structures, there were a few sections where the path flattened out a bit, mostly comprised of loose soil and small rocks. These were interspersed with sections of more overgrown trees and shrubs, adding on to the ever growing amount of cobwebs on my body. Needless to say, I was not having fun.

Before the scramble up Mount Price, there was a good 1km where the path meandered through some meadows and gave my legs a short break.

There was no trail nor path up Mount Price. The sheer amount of loose rocks and gravel made trying to follow ANYTHING difficult. Luckily, I was more than prepared for this because I already did three other scrambles the days before.

I did not have time to reach the very top of the mountain, but I got close, maybe about 500m away. I was already dreading going the same way back and wanted to save energy for it as well. The view was very nice, but it was nothing compared to Black Tusk or Panorama Ridge. I have been spoiled with too many beautiful views.

What I brought:

1. Bug spray. Lots of flies and various little creatures on this one, which makes sense given how much overgrown fauna there was.

2. Bear spray. All hikers should have this with them at all times.

3. Bear bell. Since this was not a main trail, it was very quiet. It was nice to have something in the background.

4. Hydration pack. I always say this is my second best investment because accessing water is so easy.

5. Lots of snacks.

6. Wet wipes. I have learnt by this point all scrambles are very dusty.

7. Band-aids.

8. Lip balm and eye drops.

9. Portable charger. Having the trail map out decreases the battery real fast.

10. Ziploc bag to pack trash out.

11. TP. There are outhouses up until Garibaldi Lake, and none on the path to Mount Price.

Overall thought:

At first, I thought it was challenging because I was not experienced enough, and was considering attempting it again next year with more hiking experience under my belt. However, I now feel like it was not just the impossible-to-follow path or the ridiculous amount of rocks that made this difficult. As much as I love the outdoors, I am not a fan of little insects or cobwebs, and this trail is FULL of them. Perhaps if the overgrown fauna was taken care of I would feel differently. I really did not enjoy scratching at my face every few seconds to peel away the sticky substance. The reward for climbing Mount Price did not justify the amount of effort needed in my opinion, so I am going to save my time and energy for something else.