The Problem with Pain?...Part 2

On Sunday we went on a hike up the Chief near Squamish with Karmen's mom and dad and their friends Jim and Linda. The day started out very early. We left our house just before 7 and arrived at the base of the mountain by just after 8 in the morning. We were all geared up for the 3 1/2ish hour hike. The mountain seemed rather empty in the morning but we were expecting the traffic of hikers to pick up as the beautiful, sunny day continued. We were determined and ready to conquer peak #3 and possible #2 as well.

The hike started out with a bunch of steep stairs that left all of us short of breathe and questioning in the back of our minds..."Was this such a good idea?" We persevered (with the occasional break here and there). At one point we came to a place where there were two paths to choose from. We confidently chose the path on the right. We hiked onward. We went up for a while, we climbed beside a large rock face for a while, we went down for a while,  we went back up for a while and eventually reached a lookout point. Surely this must have been the third peak. We rested, quenched our thirst, ate a snack and took some pictures. We also saw two girls who arrived about fifteen minutes after us (the only hikers we had consistently seen at this point in the day). Then we continued on to the second peak.

The next part of this hike from what we understood was only supposed to take approx. 15 minutes (or so we thought). We hiked for much longer, along a path that continually seemed to get steeper and harder and at times narrower. At this point though, there was no turning back, we had come this far and we were determined to finish, even though our aching muscles were telling us to throw in the towel.  Finally, we arrived at what we though must be peak #2. We were pleased with ourselves. We took pictures, explored the views and soaked in the majestic sights. As we looked around we discovered that there were many people at the top, on the far side and they had all climbed a different route, a shorter route, the common route...we had clearly taken the scenic route. We also found out that the peak we were at was the third peak and we hadn't actually arrived at the second peak yet.

We decided to hike down using the common route. We were too tired to venture the fifteen minutes to the actual second peak. We all had a slip or two on the way down, as at times it was really steep and our legs were getting weaker and weaker. Finally, we were all ecstatic to see the parking lot and realize we were done!

In conclusion, the Chief hike isn't as well marked out as they say, if you don't see other hikers you may be on a road less traveled, if you don't hike a lot your muscles are going to hate you the following day and nothing beats the view at the top of a mountain (for people from Saskatchewan you feel on top of the world). Did I mention it took us a good 5 hours to do the hike?