The alpine meadows here are glorious to hike. Your efforts are rewarded by views of glaciers and picturesque setting within the protected grounds of Garibaldi Provincial Park.
It is well worth the hike. The lake is 37 km north of Squamish and 19 km south of Whistler. You'll want to bring your cameras and pack out any garbage (as I know you always do) within this wildlife protected area.
The landscape you see here was built by powerful volcanic activity 15,000-20,000 years ago. Lava flows flowed across the land, leaving the remnants of cinder cone volcanoes in their midst.
These landforms record British Columbia's violent volcanic past and the glacial ice that moved through to smooth much of the mountain tops, hillsides and meadows. The most recent volcanic activity occurred while these lands were just being settled at the end of the last Ice Age — 10,000 years ago.
Mount Garibaldi is one of those eroded volcanoes. It sits two and a half kilometers above the town of Squamish, 80 kilometres north of downtown Vancouver. The glory days of its violent past are now peaceful.
The lava flows have long cooled and the area now boasts wildflowers and wildlife — an outdoor playground for those looking to get off the beaten path. As you walk these lands, you can see the volcanic debris that formed the western flank of the volcano. It spread across the surface of the glacier then collapsed into the Squamish Valley as the glaciers melted.
Reference: https://www.cgenarchive.org
