Burton Hut Money Box Installation (June 17-18, 2018)

On June 17 we set out to Burton Hut. We went on the Rubble Creek Trail. Garibaldi Lake was melted out, so we had to do the dumbest trip ever. We first went on Taylor Meadows. We could see the Black Tusk sticking out. We got to Mimulus and Black Tusk Lake. The lakes were frozen at the middle part. There was glacial flour in the water on the edge where the lakes were melted. Helm Creek was below us when we were on the lateral moraine leading onto Helm Glacier. We did a climb onto Gentian Ridge. It was getting dark. We skied down to Gentian Pass. We saw tons of wolverine tracks. At one point we ran out of snow and took our skis off. There was horrible dead fall everywhere and it was getting pretty steep. When we arrived at shore we couldn’t see the hut. We started walking south until we saw a little reflector and found Burton Hut at 12:30 am.

Taylor Meadows
Taylor Meadows

Black Tusk
Black Tusk

Glacial Flour Makes The Water Blue
Glacial Flour Makes The Water Blue

Wolverine Tracks
Wolverine Tracks

10 years ago my dad made money boxes for all the other VOC huts. My dad didn’t make one for Burton Hut because we didn’t get permission from Garibaldi Park. This year, the executive finally got permission to install a money box, so we made one.

At the hut, my dad used a power drill to drill into a rafter. Then he put Loctite onto the studs and put them through the rafter. Finally, he used nuts to put the box onto the studs.

Money Box
Money Box

When my dad looked on the shelf he pulled out a jar that had a pickled cobra eating a scorpion. I liked the pickled cobra. I think it should stay at the hut.

Pickled Cobra Eating a Scorpion
Pickled Cobra Eating a Scorpion

After our night in the hut, we didn’t want to have to redo the dead fall going up, so we tried to go around the trees. We were trying to cross Polemonium Ridge. What we thought was Polemonium was actually just some random talus ridge, which we were disappointed to find out. After we got over it we thought we saw the actual Polemonium Ridge. We went up another talus slope and when we looked back later we found out it was the col between Castle Towers and Polemonium Peak. It was 5:45 pm when we were in the col. It was much higher than we intended to go.

The Table
The Table

A Strange Survey Marker
A Strange Survey Marker

Castle Towers and Phyllis' Engine on the Right
Castle Towers and Phyllis’ Engine on the Right

We thought we would have to bivy for sure. We even thought it would be dark by the time we got on top of Gentian Ridge. We skied down Castle Towers Glacier. We had to go west to get to Gentian Pass.

Skiing Down Castle Towers Glacier
Skiing Down Castle Towers Glacier

On Gentian Pass, we saw five marmots whistling at us. (Whistler Mountain was called London Mountain, but when the surveyors heard the marmots whistling, they decided to rename it Whistler Mountain.)

We saw wolverine tracks on top of our ski tracks from the day before, and we saw many more tracks than the day before. We hadn’t seen any people tracks other than ours for more than 24 hours.

When we started going up to Gentian Ridge, I tripled my pace, and when we got to the top of Gentian Ridge, the sun was still over the Black Tusk.

When we were crossing the Helm Glacier, there was some horrible wet loose that had been in the sun for about 12 hours. Luckily we got back onto our own tracks where it was easier to follow.

Wet Loose
Wet Loose

The View From the Col Between Panorama and Gentian
The View From the Col Between Panorama and Gentian

The Sun Starting to Set
The Sun Starting to Set

We found the Panorama Ridge Trail, and we decided to follow it because our old tracks were melted out, so we couldn’t see them. We also decided to follow it because when it got dark, we could follow the postholes back to the car.

Taylor Meadows Under the Moon
Taylor Meadows Under the Moon

At Taylor Meadows Campground, it was not worth it to have skis on, so we took our skis off and left our boots on so that we wouldn’t get wet socks. At the fork that goes to Garibaldi Lake (6-km mark), we put on our shoes and made it back at 2:15 am.

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3 Responses to Burton Hut Money Box Installation (June 17-18, 2018)

  1. George Hill says:

    Sounds like an adventurous trip – Thank you and Jeff for building and installing the money box!

  2. Roland Burton says:

    Congratulations, guys. You are way tougher that everybody else in the Club!

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