2 years ago, we were invited on a hike with a group of families. We thought it would be a great way to meet like-minded people, and the first organized outing was to Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, just outside Squamish. I won’t describe the misadventure of that outing, but we realized we might be more on the beginner side when it comes to hiking terrain that is more vertical than our old stomping grounds in Ontario, and we were not able to all stick with the group. It’s always bugged me that we weren’t able to make it to the peak as a complete family, and this past weekend, we had a chance to redeem ourselves.
My eldest remembered how the old held back the young last time and wanted free reign to hike ahead; he’s almost 15 so we allowed it (having him rush us would only make keeping a sustainable pace more frustrating.
The Lightning Kid wanted to go off the trail to climb various cliff faces he could see; we tried to prevent that as we knew he’d need to save his energy. I was soon proven right, as the trail morphed from trail to rocks to stairs to rocks again. Going up that steep a climb will blow up your cardiovascular system, but luckily the Lightning Kid was willing to let Mom and Dad catch their breath. Eventually, Mom got into a flow and it was the Lightning Kid who needed more breaks.
We reached the approximate 3/4 mark where we had separated last time, and resolved ourselves to keep going. Eventually, we got to some parts where I wish I had taken more pictures; the rocky steep terrain had chains and ladders at various intervals enable climbing higher. We paced ourselves, and picked our footing carefully, with everyone choosing when to use hands, handholds, etc. and when they felt comfortable walking.
The summit provided us with views that made all the sweating, huffing and puffing worth it.
Heading back down was mostly easier, but not so gentle on middle-aged joints, so there was less need for breaks to catch our breath, but we still found ourselves having to pace ourselves to not twist an ankle or jam a knee etc.
Another big family hike in the books, with only the question of whether Stawamus Chief Peaks #2 and #3 are as hard…?