After a short stay in Whitehorse it was time to catch our flight back to Vancouver and head out to Squamish. It’s interesting to note that while we had been in the Yukon we had – when we had Wi-Fi and internet access – noted that the Squamish weather was wall-to-wall sunshine every day. Of course when we got there rain was forecast! Is there something funny going on here? Hmm! Well, it was only for one day and we had four days to explore Squamish…
It took us a while to find a campsite as everywhere seemed to be very full. Eventually we found a nice site a couple of kilometres north of Squamish at Garibaldi (doss #9). We learned that on the forthcoming weekend there was massive music festival being held just outside Squamish. We also learned that the campsite fees would go up from $10 per person to $50, plus $20 for the car during and the night before the festival. The hotel around the corner was $119 per night. A saving of over $100 between the four of us. With the added benefits of a proper comfortable bed for our last two nights in Canada and an easy place to dry out the tent (to stay under the flight weight limits) and re-pack for our journey home, et voila, doss #10!
Our first day on the rock a Squamish saw us at the Smoke Bluffs. We ticked a number of Top 100 climbs including the brilliant Smoke Bluff Conection, a long route that combined Mosquito (5.8), Phlegmish Dance (5.8), Jabberwocky (5.10b), and Wonderland (5.9).
On our second day of climbing Top 100 routes we had just pulled up in the car park for the Shannon Falls area and I heard “Hi Pete” shouted out of the window of a passing car. None other than Rob Adie with Ben Wolstenholme! What a small (climbing) world it is! But I suppose if we are to go to a world-class venue like Squamish it was likely we would bump in to someone we knew…
Our final day in Squamish saw us on the Apron of the Chief, a classic venue and two more Top 100 routes…
Finally before our long trans Atlantic flight home to the UK we took Rob’s advice and visited Granville Island to while away a couple of hours before our flight…
Fantastic pictures! Looks like an amazing trip.
What a brilliant description of an amazing adventure.
Surprised to see they’re still flying Beavers. Haven’t seen one since I left Lilongwe in 1958.