"Camped about 15 minutes from the closed gate, the first 5 miles are basically a road walk although there is a lot of elevation gain on those roads. Once on the ridge trail the only obstacle is the Pinnacle which is a clear up and over. This late into the season the glacier had plenty of crevasses that had to be navigated. The bergshrund near the summit was only passable by going to the steepest end and hanging it out there for a 20 foot ascent to get above it. No snow chutes left to the final push, so a nice scree scramble finished off the summit. Kudos to the guys that started the summit register in 1982. Lots of entries in that one!" — oregon-mt-goat • Jul 2, 2023

"Jeff and I hiked from Cheakamus Lake parking up toward Helm Glacier. Weren't happy with the snow along the edge of the glacier, extending way up the wall of the valley. Headed straight uphill to join Gentian Ridge. Lots of cloud and showers began when on the ridge. Visibility became very poor. Had to follow the ridge crest directly, because we couldn't tell whether it was possible to bypass the summits along the ridge. Finally reached the McGill weather station, and head of Helm Glacier. Battled gravity, wetness, and foliage on our way down to Gentian Pass. Arrived around 4, and set up tents in a driving fine rain. Everything got wet. Rain stopped around 6 PM. July 12 dawned sunny and mostly clear. Great trip up Polemonium Ridge and across to the West Summit of Castle Towers. Used crampons and axes to cross one firmly packed, steep snow field. The main summit looked quite challenging! We were happy with our accomplishment. Trip back to camp went smoothly. Packed up camp, and returned to Gentian Ridge. It was absolutely gorgeous up there, now that we actually had views! Hours of slogging later, we were back at the car just before we needed headlamps." — Cirrus2000 • Jul 12, 2019

"Inspired by Scott's trip report, I finally found time and a friend to take the trip up to The Black Tusk with me while my wife was at a baby shower. A rather long hike up to the summit from the parking lot, then back down again with a quick stop at the very beatiful Garibaldi Lake. We did the hike in 7.5 hours...but that felt pretty fast! Fortunately there wasn't a lot of traffic at the chimney with our 0730 start. If you walk all the way around to the back side of the tusk, you have missed the chimney." — Jesse • Aug 5, 2018

"Did this peak as part of the Tantalus traverse. Sadly, I was injured at the summit and had to be airlifted out. It was an amazing type 1 traverse with tons of snow, quality rock, and easy climbing. " — daphnehuang • Aug 4, 2017

"Hit a classic for the grand finale weekend of PEAK WEEK 2016… The Black Tusk. Friends had raved about this one for years and everything finally lined up today for a great day out. Dave and I started out at the Rubble Creek TH at 6am and some long, sustained vert through the trees later entered the incredible alpine meadows above Garibaldi Lake. We saw zero people all the way up except when we passed the Taylor Campground cabin. We kept a brisk pace and never stopped for more than 30 sec because the mosquitos swarmed in aggressive clouds. So before we knew it we were at the base of the Black Tusk with our helmets on looking for the standard scramble chimney. We traversed under multiple chimneys and dismissed them all as looking too full-on until we reached a dead-end and had to retrace our steps. With no one else around at the still early hour, we decided to scout out the most reasonable-looking of the chimneys…. the first few parts were probably Class 4. After mellowing out, we entered an ascending fissure in the rock that got really tight near its top end so I scrambled up and diagonally out of it. Here we met 2 guys headed down who confirmed that we’d been on the standar..." — scott • Aug 6, 2016