Stasawamus Chief Descriptive Essay

The Stawamus Chief is an iconic landmark. It dominates the Squamish skyline and attracts tourists, hikers and climbers from all around the world. This magnificent granite wall beckons you to approach and climb her. The Chief can be extremely busy. Outdoor enthusiasts regularly flock to the area to test their fitness levels and take in the magnificent views from the three peaks. On a clear day, the summit offers panoramic views of Howe Sound, the Squamish town site and adjacent mountains.

Today was a perfect day to hike! Seriously, is there ever a bad day to hike? We eagerly loaded up our backpacks and set our sights on the summit. The trail to the Chief begins climbing almost as soon as you leave the trail head. As your heart rate starts to quicken, it doesn’t take long to realize that this will not be a casual stroll in the park. The sound Shannon Falls roars beside you and encourages you to keep going. Secretly, I hoped that the roar of the falls would cover the sounds of my huffing and puffing.

BC Parks does a fantastic job maintaining the park and trail. The route to the peaks is well …show more content…
That is when the excitement began. It was raining quite heavily by the time we reached the trail to second peak. The rock was wet and slippery. As we crawled and clawed our way up the rock, clinging to the fixed chains we began to wonder if we should have waited for a drier day. The rock was quite slippery. By the time we reached the fixed ladder we were debating the wisdom of continuing on. Truthfully, I was more worried about going back than pushing on. We rested for a few minutes, caught our breath and then continued the climb. We were not the most graceful looking pair as we clung to the rock. Thankfully, we soon reached the top of the second peak. The clouds briefly lifted and we took the opportunity to take in the view and shoot a few