Yesterday, I embarked on a challenging hike that I've been itching to do since I moved here. It's a series of three rock faces/peaks in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, better known here as "the Chief".
I'm not sure how to describe the journey and the feeling of summiting better than I did in this entry (to follow) in my journal that I wrote while atop the Centre Peak (Peak 2) around 3:00 PM on Saturday, June 30.
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I am on top of the world.
I am in my own personal Eden.
I am in paradise.
I am at a loss for words.
I wonder if I can describe this feeling, this view, this sensation, this beauty. I will try.
Early this morning I packed my backpack with food, water, camera, TP, first aid equipment, and my map and headed Northwest, along the Sea to Sky highway toward Squamish, BC. This road hugs the ocean on one side, and the mountain on the other. I found it difficult to stay focused on the road, because the scenery was breathtaking. The funny thing is, I've driven this road a few times before. But still, this bit of nature never gets old.
An hour and a half later, I came upon Stawanus Chief, a sheer rock face jutting out of the mountain side. Its flat, looming face is a mecca for expert rock climbers. Its backside hike up is a draw for hikers like me.
The hike is beautiful. The terrain is rocky, of course. Some of the "steps" up are so high that I had to hold the roots (Yes! roots!) of the tree above me (yes above!) and hoist myself up. My quads have never worked so hard. But they have been good to me today. They are tired but they are strong.
About an hour into this hike I came upon a clearing, a sheer rock face, like a mini-peak, that looked out on mountains upon mountains upon mountains. Had this been the actual peak that I was hunting for, I would not have been disappointed. I sat back, enjoyed the view, and refueled on a granola bar.
An hour later, I was on top of the First Peak, the most visited peak. The climb up was far more difficult than I had expected; but the view was far more spectacular than expected.
You can see the first peak here (I took this picture from the second peak looking down). It's a flat rock face. No vegetation. Just a big rock in the sky. The view is extraordinary. Like nothing you can fathom and like nothing that these pictures can realistically portray. I gasped at first sight.
"Holy shit" I muttered as another hiker smiled at me.
"This is beautiful."
A half hour later, I set forth down from this peak and onwards to the second peak.
The trail to the second peak, where I am now, was strategically difficult. My hike morphed from a "hike" to a climbing expedition and I found myself encountering a number of new experiences. I was lucky enough to stumble across Rusty and Marcel, a couple who were also attempting to summit the second peak this afternoon. "We should hike together," said Rusty when she realized that I was alone. "This is really dangerous. You shouldn't be alone."
So I joined Rusty and Marcel and together we accomplished the most extraordinary and difficult of tasks: We shimmied between sky-high rockfaces in little crevasses so thin that had I weighed another 5 pounds I may have gotten stuck. This would be a bad time to have a bout with claustrophobia! We climbed hand over hand, fist over fist, step over step, up greasy wet tree roots and mossy rocks, slipping and sliding on our slow ascent up. We grabbed on to the chain bolted in the some of this rock's most treacherous and steep places to hoist ourselves up. In one place, my foot slipped and I dangled from the chains only. Frightening but exhilirating. We ascended up a rusty old ladder, caked with mud and moss. At the top, you have to swing, almost literally from a tree branch to get enough momentum to land on a part of the rock where you can keep your footing.
My heart, during all of this, was beating so fast I was sure I could see it rising and falling through my skin!
Two minutes from the top, we had to go on hands and knees to crest the final edge of the rock, before we could stand up right again.
And then, we arrived.
And I am here.
And there isn't anything more beautiful that I can remember having seen in my lifetime save for my nephew's bright eyes on the day he was born.
My feet are dangling some 3700 feet over Squamish BC. I am lookinng "down" on tree tops and "down" on an airplane. Cool!
I am, as I said, on top of the world.
In the distance are the snow-capped rockies as far as the eye can see. The ocean is a pearly-green. The trees are thick Pollock-inspired gobs of green that dot the horizon. The sun is shining. The breeze is cool. I am maybe 6 inches away from the edge of this cliff on one side and another 6 feet from the other. It is a tiny foundation of security. And it is beautiful.
Someone has made a rock cairn, and I sit next to it.
Am I in heaven?
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After this entry and a few phone calls to the people i love from this little piece of paradise, I descended with Marcel and Rusty. I left them at the Peak 2 trail head and headed solo again to Peak 3. The peak three trail is unmarked and, as such, a little more frightening. My knees were starting to wobble from the stress of going steeply downhill and I was beginning to feel a little unsure. The terrain became increasingly difficult, like on the way to Peak 2, but I felt confident that I could scale this challenge too, if only I believed that I could.
Around this time, I almost quite literally "bumped" into Jason and Rick, two avid hikers who were swinging around one tall, twisty rock as I was pondering how to get by it.
"Are you hiking alone?" they asked.
"yes," I said.
"Well this is a pretty tough hike. Lots of slippery places. And a lot of tough pull-ups. We wouldn't recommend doing it alone. you'll need an extra hand for sure. In fact, we wouldn't ever do it alone. Too dangerous."
I gulped. I was getting tired. And although i really wanted to achieve all three summits, I didn't want to knowingly put my life at risk doing it.
"We come here almost every weekend," said Jason. "Just give us a call. The three of us can use each other to get to the top next time."
I took his number. Thanked them for their honesty. And followed them out.
When I got home, I slept for 12 hours.
Today, my legs feel like jelly, but ... man ... was it worth it.
Wow.
