Squamish and “The Chief”

About an hour from Vancouver, Squamish sits at the end of the Howe Sound and boasts an impressive number of outdoor or extreme sports.  Salmon fishing charters head out just south of town, kite boarders use the high winds in the summer to launch off the ocean, rock climbers scale the granite peaks, and there seems like an endless number of hikes.  Add to that the grand scenery of granite cliffs rising steeply from the ocean and a short drive to Vancouver and you have the perfect little resort town, without the notoriety of Whistler.

Squamish from sea level

I spent two nights here in a sleepy little campsite just across the road from Shannon falls and directly beneath an uncomfortable number of power lines.  The stone face of “The Chief” dominated the mountain above me and I made an afternoon hike up to two of the three “Chief’s” peaks.  Rising 700 meters, the six-ish mile trail climbed wooden stairs then continued, winding between fallen trees and across makeshift bridges, before it ended abruptly at the bald head of “The Chief”.  As I scaled the steep granite, tiny reflective plates hammered into trees growing every hundred feet or so kept me on track.  The third peak might have been the tallest, but a segment on my loop to the second peak had the best view.  It dropped off so suddenly that I found myself 5 feet from the edge, looking down maybe a thousand feet.  According to the lady at the information center, slack line professionals had been teetering across up there earlier in the year. 

 

On the way up "The Chief"

I saw a photo of this gap with a man slack-lining across.  In the background is Squamish.