Stawamus Chief Trail is a very popular hiking trail located at Squamish, Canada, which is about an hour North of Vancouver. The trail is located within Stawamus Chief Provincial Park and the trail head is located right off the highway overlooking the bay surrounded by mountains. This trail is rated as a challenging trail due to the elevation gain and use of ladders and chains. However, the top of the trail provides a gorgeous view.
Since we are from Oregon, we definitely want to do this hike. The drive to trail head was very smooth and we got there around 8AM in the morning. As we started the hike, the trail started to climb sharply with wooden stairs and stones. We could feel that we were gaining elevation like crazy. The rocky steps made it a bit difficult to hike due to the wet and slippery surface in the early morning. There were also rocks on the side that could scratch your skin.
The early morning hike really felt good in the woods. We could see light rays shining through the woods and reflecting off the rock.
We got through the first section in about 45 minutes and got to the first detour to go to the first peak. As we hiked on the trail to first peak, we got to the first ladder. The first ladder was simple and easy. Just had to climb up. Then soon after, we got to the first chain. It was our first time hiking on the trail that has a chain. We were very excited. The chain really made it easy to climb, but this just meant that we gained elevation rapidly. The next part is the most challenging part for peak 1. It was ladder follow by chain. This second ladder was very narrow and we could only place 1 foot in the ladder at a time.
After about 30 minutes, we got to the final climb. The final climb was simply walking on the granite rock and just keep going upwards. It was not difficult here. Once we got to the top, the view was breath taking. It definitely felt like we accomplished a lot today. On the backside, we could see the second peak and the farm land as well.
While we were at the top enjoying our food, there were many chipmunks running around picking up dropped food. We saw few people feeding them as well which is not recommended. We also encountered a chocolate Labrador Retriever there. We did not know how he got through the chain and the ladder. Perhaps he found a side trail to get himself up.
We got back down the first peak and were very hungry and decided not to do the second and third peak. The second peak also has chain on the cliff side for people to hold onto. We definitely will want to finish the second peak and third peak next time.
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