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Oregon Grape
Looking much like tiny concord grapes on a holly bush, the intensely sour fruit of the Oregon grape is loaded with Vitamin C. Munch them directly from the bush for a surefire pucker or render them into sugar-loaded jelly for a more palatable treat. Traditionally Oregon grape berries were mashed with other, sweeter berries to enhance their flavour. The inner bark of both stems and roots was a source of brilliant yellow dye during pre-European times. The source of the colour, an alkaloid called berberine, is known to possess antibiotic properties that are still used to combat both internal and external infections. An extract concocted from the roots is used by modern-day herbalists to correct a wide range of liver, kidney and urinary tract problems.
Illustration by Manami Kimura
07
Feb
2007
Garibaldi Park: Black Tusk
(4 - user rating)
Written by Brian Grover
Level: Moderate
Distance: 14 km r/t
Time: 5½ h
Elevation Change: 850 m
Season: June to Oct
Map: 92 G/14 Cheakamus River & 92 G/15 Mamquam Mountain. A full-colour plastic map of the entire Garibaldi Region is available from Lower Mainland bookstores. Published by International Travel Maps at a scale of 1:100,000. They forgot to include a scale but that’s 1 cm = 1 km. The only other drawback is contour intervals are based on older government charts expressed in feet rather than metres. Conversion yields intervals of 61 m, not exactly a dream number to navigate with.
Black Tusk
Access: The bus to Whistler [See Appendix Getting to Whistler] will drop you off at a side road 37 km north of Squamish on Highway 99. Make sure the driver completely understands where you want to get off. There should be ample room for the bus to pull over at the turn off. Look for signs along the Highway indicating Garibaldi Provincial Park, Black Tusk.
After getting off the bus follow the paved side road 2½ km east to the Rubble Creek parking lot. Be thankful you don't have a car to park here as, on a typical weekend, at least some of them will be broken into. The route to the Tusk begins with the previous Garibaldi Lake trail description.
Whether camping or day tripping, a pilgrimage to the Tusk is de rigueur though climbing to the 2316 m summit is not recommended without special equipment. The trail to Black Tusk climbs away from Garibaldi Lake for three kilometres before rejoining the trail from Taylor Meadows campsite at Black Tusk Meadows. Expect the meadows to be alive with colour in the springtime, a verdant canvas splashed with purple heather and lupins, fiery red Indian paintbrush and golden butter cups all visited time and again by the busiest of bumblebees. Please remain on trails at all times to avoid disturbing this fragile landscape.
Continue through the meadows for a short distance before veering left on the fork that leads 2½ km up through loose talus to the base of the Tusk itself. This striking monolith is thought to be a volcanic plug; a column of solidified lava left behind as the cone is eroded away. The trail ends at the base of the only safely climbable chimney to the top.
Novices should not attempt to scale the 100 metre route without benefit of ropes, helmet and the guidance of more experienced climbers. Always ascend or descend one at a time as the crumbly volcanic material presents considerable hazard to those below. The view from the top is without peer, extending from the Tantalus Range in the southwest and turquoise Garibaldi Lake at the foot of Panorama Ridge across to the Fitzsimmons Range in the northeast behind Whistler Village.
