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Weekend Bouldering - Squamish! by Ray Phung

A few weekends ago, I grabbed my passport and headed up to Squamish for a long weekend of bouldering.  Squamish is located an hour north (or 41 miles... or 60 something kilometers) of Vancouver, BC just off of the Sea-to-Sky highway on the way to Whistler.  The city itself is located on the banks of the Howe Sound, and is a climbing mecca.  It's prominent feature is the Chief - a large granite monolith.  There are a plethora of routes (trad) up the Chief, as well a dozens of boulders strewn along its base.  Nearby are a lot of other quality granite sport and trad routes.  Pretty much everything you can ask for!

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Rock of Ages Loop Hike by Ray Phung

Right before the new year, my buddy Temo and I drove out to the Columbia River Gorge to do the Rock of Ages Loop.  This trail is 10 miles long, while gaining around 3000 ft of elevation.  Over the last hiking season, I have been trying to knock out all the steep, scrambling hikes in the Gorge.  This trail in particular sees a lot of traffic by those training for the alpine treks up the Cascades.  

This loop starts at the Horsetail Falls trailhead, and begins by climbing up to Ponytail Falls.  

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