Hiking Mount Cook in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Contents
Mount Cook Hike Information
Difficulty: Very Difficult
Distance: 15.10Km
Elevation Gain: 1,953m
Highest Elevation: 2,676m
Average Gradient: 25.87%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Very High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 10 – 12 Hours
– Moderate: 8 – 10 Hours
– Fast: 7 – 8 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: No
Season: ~July – October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: No exposure, minimal scrambling
Mount Cook Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°10’09.4″N 122°52’58.2″W
Mount Cook Overview
Mount Cook is a summit located in Garibaldi Provincial Park, accessed from the Wedgemount Lake trailhead, and often completed as an overnight hike after camping at Wedgemount Lake. Featured in Scrambles in SWBC, Mount Cook is the easiest peak to climb within the Wedgemount region, and is mostly just hiking on a combination of talus and scree. Route finding is generally quite easy, though an offline map is recommended as there is no trail and few cairns once you reach the scree slopes.
Parties can choose to either tackle Mount Cook in one challenging day, or they can overnight at Wedgemount Lake before continuing on to summit the next day. The stats above are from the trailhead. If going from Wedgemount Lake it will be around 6km and 750m elevation gain roundtrip back to the lake. While splitting this over two days might seem the obvious choice, it does mean lugging up overnight backpacks to Wedgemount Lake, which is a 1,200m elevation gain hike in itself. Some people prefer to go fast and light and tackle Mount Cook in one day.
The trail to the lake is very straightforward, albeit steep, thanks to being an official trail in a provincial park. Once you reach the cabin at Wedgemount Lake, you will turn to the north and follow an obvious trail up to a plateau, with some simple boulder hopping through to the base of the talus/scree slopes. From here you follow the tedious scree up to the eastern ridge of Mount Cook, before following it along to the summit. There is no real scrambling anywhere along the trail, or any exposure.
Many parties will hike up Mount Cook as part of the Armchair Traverse, which is a traverse that connects Mount Cook and Mount Weart via a ridge between the two. It gets its name from the Armchair Glacier between the peaks, and the ridge goes at an exposed Class 4 scramble. For those capable, the Armchair Traverse is regarded as a very high quality scramble with unrivaled views, but it should not be taken lightly and should only be attempted by capable parties.
The season for Mount Cook is generally mid to late summer once the snowline has receded from these elevations, with July to September the best time to go.
Camping at Wedgemount Lake requires a reservation through BC Parks and, as with any hike in Garibaldi, dogs are not allowed. This hike is accessible to all vehicles, though does require a 2km bumpy ride up a logging road.
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Is Mount Cook worthwhile?
Mount Cook is the easiest summit to hike to from Wedgemount Lake, requiring no real scrambling, no glacier travel and no exposure. Route finding is straightforward with a map, and the only real challenge is the annoying scree slopes that will make the hike a tedious one towards the end. Thankfully the views are fantastic at the top, and well worth the effort.
While Mount Weart is a preferred hike with even better views, it’s perhaps a little more intimidating than Mount Cook. Mount Cook is a great introduction to off trail backcountry hiking for those used to traveling only on trails, so most parties should start with Cook before contemplating Weart.
Of course, both peaks can be combined with the Armchair traverse, though as noted this should only be considered for experienced and capable parties that are confident in exposed Class 4 terrain.
How difficult is the hike to Mount Cook?
Mount Cook is a bit of a slog with almost 2,000m elevation gain, so it’s certainly a difficult hike. That being said, much of the elevation gain is “easy” elevation gain on a simple trail up to the lake. Many parties can reach the lake in 2 – 3 hours, particularly with daypacks instead of overnight packs. From the lake you begin by following an unofficial trail before giving way to the scree. At only 700m more elevation gain from the lake, it’s not that far to the summit, and most parties will be on the top in another 2 – 3 hours.
Technically speaking Mount Cook is mostly straightforward travel, though a map to help guide you would be useful from the lake on.The trail to the lake is a mix of roots, rocks and loose dirt, then the hike to the summit begins on dirt/heather slopes and ends on horrendous scree. It’s not technical, it’s just annoying as most steps are on unstable rock. There is one notch along the ridge that you need to work out, but it’s easy if you keep right.
Mount Cook Route Information
The trailhead for Mount Cook is the same as that for Wedgemount Lake. It’s around 2km down a logging road that is bumpy but fine for most vehicles. There is a huge amount of parking available, though it certainly might get busy on a sunny summer weekend.
The trail immediately crosses a bridge over Wedgemount Creek before turning right into the forest. There isn’t a lot to note about the trail up to Wedgemount Lake, you’ll want to get it over with as fast as possible. The vast majority of the hike up to the lake is forested, which is especially nice on a hot summer day. While the trail is steep overall, the climb is gradual and the trail well maintained, so it’s easy to keep a good pace. After ascending almost 1,000m in the forest, at around the 1,750m elevation mark you’ll break out of the forest to an opening below Rethel Mountain. Continuing on the trail it will now be steep and dusty, with the occasional use of hands to prevent slipping back down. After ascending about 150m of this you’ll reach the Wedgemount Lake Hut where most people will probably want to stop for a quick break.
Once at the hut the views are already amazing, with all the iconic summits on display, namely Wedge Mountain, Rethel Mountain, Parkhurst Mountain, Mount Weart and Mount Cook.
If you are planning on heading straight to the summit, make sure you do not descend from the hut down to the lake as you will only end up climbing back up. Rather than continuing to the lake you’ll want to turn to the northern slopes opposite the lake. There will be an obvious trail that weaves through a couple of campsites before beginning to climb up through a mixture of dirt, heather and rock.
Soon enough this climb becomes steep and there may even be a few sections where you’ll use hands, but there should remain an obvious trail / route with some cairns here and there to confirm you’re on the right track. After around 250m of steep climbing you’ll reach a plateau where the dirt / heather trail gives way to large boulders.
The next phase of the climb will essentially be hiking through this boulder field with scree / talus slopes to your right. You may be tempted to begin climbing these talus slopes earlier than your map indicates as it is a more direct approach, but if you choose to do this you will no doubt suffer in steep, loose scree. Instead, continue to hike along the boulder field, gaining gradual elevation, until almost the end. There should be cairns and the route should be somewhat evident by the different colored rock from where people have walked.
Eventually you’ll turn to your right and begin working up the steep talus / scree. If you can stick to the well traveled route the scree shouldn’t be as bad as if you find yourself off route, but either way it’s not pleasant. You’ll climb up this steep scree field for around 250m before topping out on the ridge, where the views will really open up, especially to the north. Along the ridge you’ll find a few different “summit” cairns, though these are not Mount Cook. They do offer very nice viewpoints above the vast glacier, Mount Moe and a few small, colorful lakes down below.
If you want to get some nice views of Wedgemount Lake and the peaks behind you’ll need to hike over to the southern side of the ridge as it’s too broad to see otherwise. With some looking around you’ll easily find some amazing views in that direction.
Heading to the summit is now quite simple, you just follow the ridge over to Mount Cook. Along the way you will need to navigate around a notch in the ridge where you drop down and then climb back up the other side. It might look a little tricky at first but it’s easy if you go to the right of the cliff in the notch. There will be a little bit of Class 2 scrambling here, but nothing much.
Once beyond the notch the summit is only a 5 minute plod away. The summit views aren’t too dissimilar to those you had earlier on the ridge, however you will get a pretty nice view of the Armchair Traverse over to Mount Weart from here as well.
After resting up at the summit you simply return to the lake the same way you came, before beginning the descent back to the trailhead. You may want to take another break at Wedgemount Hut before beginning the long slog down to the trailhead.
When should I hike Mount Cook?
As noted the peak season for Mount Cook is generally between July and September once the snowline has receded enough to make the hike as straightforward as possible. There may still be snow around in July. Once the snow returns in earnest, perhaps in late October or early November, Mount Cook will be out again until the next summer.
Top Tip
There aren’t a lot of water sources to Mount Cook in mid to late summer once the snow has melted off the ridge. If you are low on water at Wedgemount Hut you might be wise to drop down to the lake and refill. If you don’t want to do this, make sure you fill up on the hike up to the lake at around the 1,500m mark where you cross over a few creeks.
If you intend to do this in one day, start early and keep an eye on the time. Some parties will take over 10 hours for Mount Cook.
If there’s potential for snow along the route you will want an ice axe and microspikes/crampons.
Extremely competent and confident scramblers can combine Mount Cook with Mount Weart, completing the Armchair Traverse. This is an exposed Class 4 scramble and makes for an even longer day.
