Tarn - Hike in Whistler Glossary

Tarn: a small alpine lake. The word tarn originates from the Norse word tjorn which translates to English as pond. In the United Kingdom, tarn is widely used to refer to any small lake or pond. In British Columbia tarn is used specifically for small mountain lakes. Around Whistler tarns number in the hundreds and many are so small and/or hidden as to remain unnamed. Russet Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park could be called a tarn, however its relatively large size dominates the area and the term lake seems more appropriate.

Whistler & Garibaldi Park

Ablation Zone Accumulation Zone Adit Lakes Aiguille Alpine Zone Arête ARRTI Armchair Glacier The Barrier Battleship Islands Bears Bench Bergschrund Bivouac Cairn/Inukshuk Carter,Neal Chimney Cirque Cloudraker Coast Mountains Col Cordilleran Cornice Corrie Lake Crevasse Dalgleish,Alec Deadfall Emerald Forest Erratic The Fissile Fitzsimmons Creek Fitzsimmons Range Fyles,Tom Garibaldi Ranges Garibaldi Volcanic Belt Gemel Glacier Window Green Lake Hoary Marmot Krummholz Lithophyte Moraine Mt Garibaldi Mt James Turner Northair Mine Nunatuk Overlord Peak 2 Peak Roundhouse Rubble Creek Scree Spearhead Range Tarn The Table Townsend,Chas Usnea Winram,Mills

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Near Russet Lake there are two beautifully characteristic tarns named Adit Lakes. Both lakes are small, shallow and have irregular shapes. The two lakes lay in quite a remarkable setting overlooking the valley separating the Fitzsimmons Range and the Spearhead Range. The image below shows the view across to the Spearhead Range. Tremor Mountain and Mount Macbeth are the two prominent peaks. The upper glacier flows from Tremor Mountain from the left and Quiver Peak and The Ripsaw from the right. The lower glacier is Curtain Glacier which disappears behind Mount Macbeth. Hundreds of tarns can be found in the mountains around Whistler and most are unnamed. Mount Sproatt, across the valley from Whistler Mountain is home to several stunning tarns. Owing to the broad and seemingly endless alpine terrain on Mount Sproatt, there are dozens of tarns. Tarns are by definition quite small and comparatively warm to swim in, unlike the brutally cold Garibaldi Lake, Wedgemount Lake, Cheakamus Lake and Green Lake. Though many hiking trails in Whistler and Garibaldi Park have become crowded in recent years, finding a beautiful tarn in the wilderness around Whistler is actually pretty easy. Having a serene and secluded tarn on top of a mountain all to yourself is pretty amazing.

Adit Lakes View of Tremor and Macbeth

Adit Lakes Tarns in Whistler

Adit Lakes Tarns Aerial View

Tarn Aerial View: Adit Lakes

Finding a perfect paradise in the mountains around Whistler is not too difficult. This serene little tarn is on Mount Sproatt and just one of many found in the vast wilderness up there. The water temperature is far from cold due to the shallowness, only about 3 metres deep in the middle. Mount Sproatt is criss-crossed with several hiking and biking trails, which makes it reasonably accessible. It's vast area, however, makes it easy to find solitude and a perfect waterfront view for your tent.

Tarn on Mount Sproatt

Erratic or Glacier Erratic is a piece of rock that has been carried by glacial ice, often hundreds of kilometres. Characteristic of their massive size and ...

Col: a ridge between two higher peaks, a mountain pass or saddle. More specifically is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks. Sometimes ...

Russet Lake sits in a wide, glacier carved valley at the base of The Fissile. In the direction opposite The Fissile, up on a plateau less than a ...

Nunatuk: a rock projection protruding through permanent ice or snow. Their distinct appearance in an otherwise barren landscape often makes them ...

The Peak 2 Peak Gondola connects Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain at a dizzying height of 436 metres(1427 feet). It runs all winter and in the ...

The Fitzsimmons Range is a subsection of the Garibaldi Ranges that covers the area between the valleys of Cheakamus Lake and Fitzsimmons Creek. Fitzsimmons ...

Cornice: a wind deposited wave of snow on a ridge, often overhanging a steep slope or cliff. They are the result of snow building up on the crest of a ...

Mount Garibaldi is the huge, potentially active volcano that Garibaldi Provincial Park is named after. Mount Garibaldi also lends its name to the Garibaldi ...

Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking

Alexander Falls Ancient Cedars Black Tusk Blackcomb Mountain Brandywine Falls Brandywine Meadows Brew Lake Callaghan Lake Cheakamus Lake Cheakamus River Cirque Lake Flank Trail Garibaldi Lake Garibaldi Park Helm Creek Jane Lakes Joffre Lakes Keyhole Hot Springs Logger’s Lake Madeley Lake Meager Hot Springs Nairn Falls Newt Lake Panorama Ridge Parkhurst Ghost Town Rainbow Falls Rainbow Lake Ring Lake Russet Lake Sea to Sky Trail Skookumchuck Hot Springs Sloquet Hot Springs Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain

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Whistler Train Wreck is a hidden little world of brightly graffiti painted, wrecked train cars along a gorgeous stretch of Cheakamus River. One ...

Mount Meager erupted here 2400 years ago and filled the valley with debris that cemented into rock that blocked Lillooet River. Eventually water erosion ...

Holloway Falls is the beautiful waterfalls you see partway along the Joffre Lakes Provincial Park trail. Located between Middle Joffre Lake and Upper ...

Shannon Falls towers above Howe Sound at 335 metres as the third tallest falls in BC. The wonderful, though very short trail winds through a beautiful old ...

More of the Best Whistler Waterfalls

Cirque Lake is a wild and beautiful lake that hides high above and beyond Callaghan Lake in Callaghan Lake Provincial Park. What makes Cirque Lake special among the other sensationally beautiful lakes in the ...

Cheakamus Lake is a wonderfully relaxing way to get in the wilderness easily and quickly from Whistler Village. The trail begins on the far side of Whistler Mountain, 8 kilometres from the Sea to Sky ...

Brew Lake is beautiful mountain lake just a short drive south of Whistler and is relatively unknown and seldom hiked. Laying at the base of Mount Brew, Brew Lake lays in a massive alpine valley of enormous erratics. ...

Helm Creek is a cute, meandering creek that winds its way from beyond Black Tusk, down the valley to the wonderful campground that takes its name. From the Helm Creek campground, Helm Creek descends further ...

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Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking