Charles and I headed up to Squamish for some hiking and mountain biking. We picked up Jo’s two hyper border collies for a steep walk up Squamish’s most famous landmark, The Chief.

The Chief is a rock climbers’ mecca and one of Canada’s top climbing destinations. We followed a trail that meanders up the much more gradual backside through lush old growth forest.

We scrambled over big moss-covered tree roots and slippery pboulders. While the weather was clear, everything was wet. Water streamed down the path and the dogs splashed through mucky puddles.

After some good steep climbing the trail leveled out and suddenly we had panoramic views of the ocean glittering below and even bigger mountains all around.

The Chief has three peaks. We ascended the third then traversed back to the second. As soon as we got to the edge we realized why this is such a hot spot for climbers. The cliff face plummets straight down all the way to the ground thousands of feet below.

Descending from the second peak toward the first we got to a long slippery ladder. Dusty nervously let me carry him down but Ruby didn’t want any part of it. She backed off in a hurry. A little funny seeing as she was walking along the edge of the abyss completely unperturbed just a few minutes before. So I headed down with Dusty while Charles backtracked with Ruby. At the intersection of the two trails we stopped to wait. Even though it had been a pretty full hike Dusty couldn’t help but grab a stick and start a game of fetch. When Ruby caught up all kinds of sticks went flying. You were playing fetch without me?!?