July 11, 2019
Stawamus Chief
Squamish, BC
Stats as Recorded by Suunto Traverse
Distance : 5.58 km
Elevation : 692 m
Ascent : 2h08m
Descent : 1h53m
On the third peak, with Howe Sound behind us.
Couple days spent in Vancouver to visit my family means taking a day to enjoy the mountain scenery over there. We drove out to Squamish and since our car had left with plenty of time compared to the other car, we made a couple stops along the way at the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge and this beach/dock in Squamish.
After we all congregated, we started up the stairs. One member of the group (not pictured above) ran off ahead and took a different route than us, ascending to peak 2 instead. Our plan was to take the peak 3 route up, traverse down to peak 2, and then descend down peak 1/2's route. Fairly uneventful hiking, it was quite moist (not what I'm used to given the regularly dry Alberta climate).
Man, I hated having shorter legs. Each staircase was a lunge and a half. But we all made it to the summit eventually and enjoyed a nice hour lunch with two domesticated chipmunks while watching the clouds slowly move to reveal the Howe sound.
No trip is complete without a round of "Getting lost with Deborah". We tried looking for the trail that descends straight onto peak 2 without heading back towards the main trail and as you can see, we bushwhacked into unknown territory before our group decided they were not privy to this environment and we backtracked to the main trail anyways. Lots of time spent on summit as seen below.
No trip is complete without a round of "Getting lost with Deborah". We tried looking for the trail that descends straight onto peak 2 without heading back towards the main trail and as you can see, we bushwhacked into unknown territory before our group decided they were not privy to this environment and we backtracked to the main trail anyways. Lots of time spent on summit as seen below.
A small pond just at the summit. The picture makes it looks deceivingly blue.
When we made it to peak 2 after a short little scramble, we saw history before our eyes. High liners were setting up to traverse approximately 30 metres over a canyon inbetween two cliff faces. We watched them for awhile.
When we made it to peak 2 after a short little scramble, we saw history before our eyes. High liners were setting up to traverse approximately 30 metres over a canyon inbetween two cliff faces. We watched them for awhile.
Left/Top: My fiancée gazing over the edge, evaluating the danger if the highliners fell; Middle: the anchor system set up, fixing the other side; Right/Bottom: highliner drawing tension into rope.
There was something wrong with the tension and they ended up taking a lot longer to walk across, so we eventually left. We must've been so distracted by their skill that we veered too far left and headed back onto peak 3's route, thus completely missing our friend who had been waiting for us on peak 1/2's route, whittling away at a stick. By the time we got back down to the waterfall, he was still halfway up the mountain and finally decided to call us, realizing where we were, and began a sprint down. We eventually all congregated safe-and-sound back at the parking lot and after a free slurpee at 7/11, went our respective ways. That Korean barbeque and shower afterwards felt so nice. Gotta wait another week and a half till the next trip now...