Abstract: I was aiming for Castle Towers in two days but got so much snow and so few visibility that I ended up at Helm Glacier for a first winter camping of the season.
Difficulty: 2: Winter hike, the trail was not open, more snow then expected.
Participants: solo
Access: Drive north on Highway 99 until you reach Whistler's 'Function Junction', roughly 46km north of Garibaldi Way in Squamish and 3.5km south of the Creekside area in Whistler. At Function Junction turn right (east) off the highway following BC Parks signs for Cheakamus Lake. Reset your odometer as you leave the highway. Follow the paved road 450m from the highway to where a gravel road forks off to the left. Turn left onto this road, which is labeled 'Westside Main Cheakamus Lake Road'. You then arrive at a junction where you choose Eastside Main Cheakamus (left). Follow this gravel road known as Cheakamus East FSR, ignoring interpretive roads and trails marked by small blue signs. The road ends at the Cheakamus Lake parking area (855m of elevation).
From Cheakamus Lake parking, the trail is well identified. After a nice metal bridge over the Cheakamus river, there's a sign for bikes to stop. The trail continues behind a log. I was surprise to see so much snow. Above 1400m, the snow was below the knee. Snow shoes would have been nice, maybe even skis but the snow was quite fluffy and not compacted yet. A few days later I went up north few kilometers to Wedgemount lake and Cook Mtn and was surprise to see way less snow. I walked towards the Black Tusk view point and then took a shortcut through the snow and small trees to reach Helm Mtn ridge. I found hard to find my way as it was quite cloudy and much snow was falling during the day. I've climb for some time and then went back down through the hill towards the base of the glacier. I setup my tent there for the night.
I heard some picas (little rodents) which started to sing when I played some Andes pan flute music from my device. I've kept the food in my tent and they didn't bother coming around during the night. In the morning, I carried the food in my back pack to be sure they didn't tried to rip off the tent to get some goodies. I went closer to the glacier. Around half way, it was hard to see where the glacier was compare to the rocky slope as the snow was kind of deep. I've choose not to go on the glacier itself and head back. On my way back I was interested by one by crack and approach to take some pictures. I decided to get inside in order to have a better look, which was a bad idea. At some point, the ice broke under my feet and I was fortunate enough to have this big piece of ice sticking out of the flat hard icy wall to hold myself. I don't know how deep it was, but I then felt the urge to get out of this situation and back to the rocky slope where I can trust the ground.
After a nice brew and dismantling camp, I headed toward a waypoint which was shown as 'Elamo River Hot Spring' (from BC Backcountry Road Map). I didn't found any of it.. seem like it's a wrong waypoint. Hot water would have been easy to spot with all that snow... Happy and tired to push my way through all the snow I arrived at my car after a total of 33km of walk and a nice and fresh camping night.