As it turned out, though there was a lot of elevation loss on the trail between the second and first peaks. In fact, the way down was quite steep, and involved several sets of metal ladders and cables. In fact, we descended 700 feet before we reached the junction to the trail leading up to the first peak.
The trail leading up to the 1st summit was itself quite steep. As we neared the summit, we reached a spot which Jenn remembered from her childhood. Way, way back then, she had climbed up to the 1st peak as part of a family hike. Jenn's mom is a little bit scared of heights, so when they reached the open and airy terrain above the trees, Jenn's Mom had a bit of a moment and had sought refuge by carefully downclimbing the open rock until she'd reached a small, circular hollow in the rock.
The top of the 1st peak was, as we'd suspected, the most scenic and airy of the three. With excellent views and weather in all directions, we took many more pictures. However, we didn't linger for long, as we had a deadline with a ferry to which we had to hold. We were soon off, quickly descending the 1600-odd feet down to the trailhead. We'd managed all three peaks in almost exactly four hours. Not too bad!
Interactive Trackmap - Chief Hike - click map to Expand
Start Time:
7:44a.m.
End Time:
11:45a.m.
Duration:
4h1m
Distance:
7.14 km
(4.44 mi)
Average Speed:
1.8 km/hr
(1.1 mph)
Start Elevation:
191ft
(58m)
*
Max Elevation:
2325ft
(709m)
*
Min Elevation:
190ft
(58m)
*
End Elevation:
256ft
(78m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2670ft
(814m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
2609ft
(795m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Chief Hike, Elevation over Distance
Chief Hike, Elevation over Time
