Exploration of the Garibaldi region

The Squamish name for Mount Garibaldi is Nch'kay. During the British Admiralty Survey of 1859–1860, European settlers named it Mount Garibaldi after the Italian patriot, Giuseppe Garibaldi. As early as 1876, Sam Edge and a companion (both of Port Haney, near Maple Ridge, BC) climbed the eastern face of the northeast peak of Mount Blanshard (whose twin peaks are now called Golden Ears).

John Davidson, however, naively described his own mountain travels north of Vancouver as a first for human beings. Given the long Native occupation of the area, Davidson’s claim that “it was safe to say [that the Garibaldi region] had never been previously visited by man” was misguided at best. Davidson, however, often made such claims when interacting with the press and when corresponding with old friends and colleagues back in Scotland. For instance, in a talk that he sent back to the Aberdeen Workingmen’s Natural History and Scientific Society, he said: “Previous to 1912, when we began its exploration, Mt Garibaldi had been scaled from the south by two parties of mountaineers, but for miles to the north the nature of the country was unknown.”

Prior to 1906, Mr. A.T. Dalton of Vancouver made trips from the Squamish Valley along the Old Pemberton Trail and up Cheekeye River toward the southern base of Mount Garibaldi. He led a party that succeeded in reaching a point about 60 metres (200 feet) below the peak. On August 8, 1907, a party of six Vancouver climbers reached the summit of Mount Garibaldi. The climbers included J.J. Trorey, A.T. Dalton, W.T. Dalton, T. Pattison, Atwell D. King and G.B. Warren. The views from Garibaldi inspired the establishment of a summer climbing camp at Garibaldi Lake.