The Chief
So this Sunday I was awoken by the telephone call. Some friends of mine at the college decided they where going to clime The Chief today and wondered if i wanted to come. Well I heard the trail is much like the Grouse Grind so I thought why not, should be fun. As Frank had to work (wimped out i say), there was 3 of us, Peter, Alex and me.
Now The Chief is a giant granet wall or monolith that juts out of the surounding rock at Squamish, BC. It is a haven for rock climbers because of it's huge sheer rock face and easy access. It really is an impressive site and has world class rock climbing. As you can see from the picture the rock face it quite sheer, we didn't go that way. You see around the back side of The Chief is a nice sloping trail, a much easier trip than the font face.
We started out the day at the Shannon Falls parking lot. From there we traveled along a fairly flat path to the base of the mountain. The trail begins going up a valley between 2 rock faces. The basic route is traveling up through the valley on the right side of The Chief around the the back side of the mountain. From there we traveled along the back until we reached the back fo the 2nd peak. From that point we began traveling up several switchbacks until we reached the edge of the tree line. From that point on the path was much more difficult. There were some fairly steep inclines that required assistance from a rope to travel up. We then traveled through a crack in the rock face until we reached a the ladder to the summit. It truth the ladder was not really nessessary but it made the trip easier. Once we reached the top of the ladder we where pretty much on top of the Chief, the rest of the hike was gently sloping rock, the kind you would find in northern Ontario. 5 min traveling put us at the summit at just under 700 m (2200 feet) elevation. The hike up took about 1h 40 min at a fairly leasurely pace conducive to several photo oppertunities. Better description found here but they take the first summit not the second which is slightly higher in elevation.
The top was truly amazing. You basically stood at the edge of a very steep cliff, overlooking the entire Squamish valley. You could see several big mountains in the region, including mount Garibaldi. I will be putting the pictures up on my website hopefully tonight so that you can see the trail conditions and the view from the top.
We finished off the day with a stop at the pub for a beer and a movie as it was Sunday and that is movie night at the college. The Life Aquatic was up that night. A very enjoyable movie, I highly recommend it.
Now The Chief is a giant granet wall or monolith that juts out of the surounding rock at Squamish, BC. It is a haven for rock climbers because of it's huge sheer rock face and easy access. It really is an impressive site and has world class rock climbing. As you can see from the picture the rock face it quite sheer, we didn't go that way. You see around the back side of The Chief is a nice sloping trail, a much easier trip than the font face.
We started out the day at the Shannon Falls parking lot. From there we traveled along a fairly flat path to the base of the mountain. The trail begins going up a valley between 2 rock faces. The basic route is traveling up through the valley on the right side of The Chief around the the back side of the mountain. From there we traveled along the back until we reached the back fo the 2nd peak. From that point we began traveling up several switchbacks until we reached the edge of the tree line. From that point on the path was much more difficult. There were some fairly steep inclines that required assistance from a rope to travel up. We then traveled through a crack in the rock face until we reached a the ladder to the summit. It truth the ladder was not really nessessary but it made the trip easier. Once we reached the top of the ladder we where pretty much on top of the Chief, the rest of the hike was gently sloping rock, the kind you would find in northern Ontario. 5 min traveling put us at the summit at just under 700 m (2200 feet) elevation. The hike up took about 1h 40 min at a fairly leasurely pace conducive to several photo oppertunities. Better description found here but they take the first summit not the second which is slightly higher in elevation.
The top was truly amazing. You basically stood at the edge of a very steep cliff, overlooking the entire Squamish valley. You could see several big mountains in the region, including mount Garibaldi. I will be putting the pictures up on my website hopefully tonight so that you can see the trail conditions and the view from the top.
We finished off the day with a stop at the pub for a beer and a movie as it was Sunday and that is movie night at the college. The Life Aquatic was up that night. A very enjoyable movie, I highly recommend it.
posted by Shawn Penson at
5:53 p.m.
4 Comments:
Too bad I had to work that day. I would have loved to join you guys in that hike.
The Life Aquatic was quite halarious, I beckon Shawn's recommendation :)
By
frank, at 5:59 p.m.
That's a beautiful area out there. I'm sure there must have been some climbers on the wall. Did you see any?
By
carolynbee, at 10:29 p.m.
Good post Shawn!
By
Erwin, at 7:16 p.m.
Frank: Well i would love to do that hike again and i think it would be a good one for orientation as one of our harder hikes.
Carolyn: I did not actualy see any climbers on thewall but then again we came in from the opposit side of the mountain so it would be difficult to see them
Erwin: thanks for the complement, coming from a master blogger like you that means a lot. I can only strive for the legacy you have created.
By
Shawn Penson, at 2:14 p.m.
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