Hiking Gibson Peak near Squamish
Contents
Gibson Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 19.20Km
Elevation Gain: 1,090m
Highest Elevation: 1,888m
Average Gradient: 11.35%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 9 – 10 Hours
– Moderate: 8 – 9 Hours
– Fast: 7 – 8 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? Yes
Scrambling / Exposure: Steep snow ascent, cornices, avalanche terrain
Gibson Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°43’45.1″N 122°58’03.0″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Gibson Peak Overview
Gibson Peak is one of the many summits surrounding the popular Watersprite Lake off the Mamquam Main Forest Service Road in Squamish.
There are numerous peaks in this area, many of which are named after guitars, such as Martin Peak, Gibson Peak, Washburn Peak, Fender Peak, Epiphone Peak and Dreadnought Peak. All of these peaks, as well as the Watersprite Tower and Demon Peak, are achievable scrambles one way or another, and many of them are an excellent addition to the extremely popular and moderately challenging hike to Watersprite Lake.
It is possible to combine a few of these peaks into one hike if you’re up for a long and challenging day, with some parties opting to summit Martin, Gibson and Epiphone in one outing, for example. This would not be easy in winter conditions as the ridgeline travel can be a bit convoluted with cornices, but in summer it is more than achievable.
Gibson Peak is a year-round objective, making for a straightforward scramble in the summer or a smoother, snow-covered approach in the winter and spring. While it’s certainly possible to hike Gibson Peak in the midst of winter via the Watersprite winter trail, this route does cover avalanche terrain, so it’s only suggested for experienced and equipped parties under the right conditions at that time of year. We hiked this in spring with a stable snowpack, and still needed to take care on steeper slopes. The ridges around here tend to be heavily corniced in the spring as well, so care should be taken when traveling below them.
There are a couple of different approaches to summiting Gibson Peak, either from the north via Watersprite Lake (as described here), or from the south via an old logging road, which is a more direct approach but omits any visit to the lake (see Martin Peak for the general route). If going in the summer you will almost certainly want to take the Watersprite Lake approach as the other route will be overgrown without snow cover.
The views from the summit of Gibson Peak are stunning and incredibly varied. You can see all sorts of different mountains, from the nearby Garibaldi range, Mamquam Mountain, all the aforementioned guitar themed peaks, Sky Pilot, the Tantalus range, Pinecone Peak, Seed Peak, Meslilloet Mountain and more.
Accessing the trailhead requires an AWD with decent clearance. While much of Mamquam FSR is in pretty decent shape (A 2WD can get a good way down it), once you cross the bridge over the Mamquam River the road becomes steep and rocky. Many people make the mistake of bringing inappropriate vehicles up this road in hope of reaching Watersprite Lake, only to realize it’s in worse condition than they anticipated.
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Is Gibson Peak worthwhile?
This whole region around Watersprite Lake is a gorgeous area with many beautiful summits of similar heights. The views from Gibson Peak were breathtaking on a sunny day, but to be honest one of the biggest selling points is Watersprite Lake, especially in the spring when you typically have the place to yourself.
How difficult is the hike to Gibson Peak?
Assuming you are following the Watersprite winter trail as we did, the majority of the trail is a straightforward hike, with the first 4.5km on an uneventful FSR. In the winter and spring this will be snow covered and travel will be smooth. You’ll then find yourself at a creek filled meadow, which in the winter will be snow covered, but as the spring and summer roll around the creeks begin to open up, making travel through here difficult (hence you should take the summer route at that time). For around 1.5km you’ll hike through this meadow and along a series of creeks, crossing a few man made bridges in the process, before a steep forest climb up where you’ll intersect with the summer route just before reaching Watersprite Lake. From the lake you’ll self navigate over/around it before ascending up towards a ridgeline. Route finding here can be finicky as some slopes are steep while others are manageable, and cornices may block certain routes as well. Use the GPX as a general guideline. Once on the ridge you ascend steeply to the top of Gibson. It’s easier to ascend Gibson from its eastern ridge.
Technically speaking Gibson Peak has its challenges. The FSR plod is obviously simple enough, but the navigation beyond the lake and up to the ridge can be somewhat complicated, with steep slopes and cornices galore to figure out.
Gibson Peak Route Information
The trailhead for Gibson Peak is off a spur road departing from Mamquam Main FSR (see coordinates). It is essentially a few kilometers before the summer parking lot for Watersprite Lake. Please only attempt this in a reasonably high clearance AWD at a minimum. The road is steep and rocky, with the biggest concern for most cars probably being flat tires. In the winter you may need to park earlier on the FSR at the Watersprite Lake winter parking lot and walk up, as this parking lot is a little higher than the winter trailhead and will likely be snowed over.
From where you parked you’ll simply follow an obvious trail into the forest. There’s not a lot to note, the trail will just be rocky & will climb gradually. At around 1,070m the FSR will split into two, at which point you should ensure to continue left on the main FSR. The other FSR (if not totally overgrown) is the other route to Gibson/Martin Peak that doesn’t go via the lake.
Once you’re past this junction you’ll simply follow the FSR for another 3km, almost to the end of the road. Most of it is mellow, with plenty of flat stretches throughout. Once you reach 1,180m or so you’ll want to drop off the FSR and start following Watersprite Creek. You’ll reach a broad meadow with a series of creeks flowing through (they may be totally snow covered in mid-winter), which you want to hike through. As spring arrives, passing through here becomes more challenging as the creeks open and finding ways across isn’t easy.
Once through the meadow you should pick up some markers/flagging, at which point do your best to follow them. If in doubt, follow the GPX. You’ll continue following Watersprite Creek for another kilometer or so, with a downed tree bridge crossing along the way (it’s important to find this as otherwise you’ll struggle to cross the creek). After 1km or so of easy travel, at around 1,240m you’ll enter the forest and begin a steep climb up. After around 100m of climbing you’ll reach the summer route to Watersprite, which you’ll then follow to the lake, with a little more steep climbing.
You’ll now want to cross Watersprite Lake (or navigate around its southern shores), aiming for the south (right) side of Watersprite Tower. Once here you’ll find yourself at the bottom of a vast bowl beneath the ridge connecting Martin/Gibson/Epiphone. Our ascent and descent route differed here, but I would suggest generally following our descent route (though you may need to find less steep slopes). The reason for this is that this route connects to the eastern ridge of Gibson rather than the western ridge. Ascending Gibson from the east is a lot easier than the west, which involves a short, steep scramble that proved difficult in snow. In the summer either route is fine.
Climbing up to the ridgeline is steep, and much of the ridge is corniced, so you’ll need to route find your preferred approach and access point to the ridge. Once you’re on the ridge it’s merely a case of following it to the summit. There’s a short, steep roll that may benefit from an ice axe, but we only descended this route (via a glissade) since we ascended to the summit via the western side. Once you’re beyond this steep roll it’s merely a case of putting one foot in front of the other to the top.
The summit can also be corniced, so if in doubt, don’t go too close to the edge. The views from the top are fantastic, with excellent views of the Mamquam massif, Garibaldi massif, Darling Peak, Sky Pilot, the Tantalus range, Pinecone/Seed Peak and countless more. After you’re finished you can simply return via the same route. If you’re feeling emboldened you can scope out the route to either Martin or Epiphone Peak as well.
When should I hike Gibson Peak?
While Gibson Peak is technically a year-round hike as it can be climbed in both winter and summer, I would probably suggest spring or summer as the preferred time to go. If you want to go in snow then you will want to time it for when the winter trailhead is accessible. April to June is likely a good time for a spring ascent. In the summer you will want to go via the summer route to the lake, with the best time likely towards late June to early October.
Top Tip
Even though you may get away without needing it, an ice axe would be good to bring on this hike if you go in snow.
If you want to link up multiple peaks then I would go in the summer. The ridge is much easier to hike along without snow as the cornices make things unnecessarily steep and complicated otherwise.
