Squamish Cheakamus Divide (“Semi-Alchoholics Traverse”)
Relationships are all about compromise (or so I’m told), and so to balance out our last overnight backpack adventure, I got my wish of a “fast and light” long day trip across a wide swath of the Sea to Sky between Whistler and Squamish, with an elite crew of rad humans. We also got a lot more than we bargained for, as there was a slight miscalculation about the actual length of this route!
The “alcoholics” traverse starts by ascending from Brandywine meadows to the summit of Brandywine mountain, and continues on a long high alpine traverse past the jagged tooth of Mount Fee to Keg and Brew mountains to finish. A long but not particularly technical 25km point to point. An even longer, more technical option, which includes two more impressive scramble summits along the route, continues along the main ridge towards Squamish, climbing Cypress and Tricouni, before descending to Berg lake and out.
We were keen for the latter, and had a strong and capable group to pull it off in a long day push. Confusingly, available online GPS tracks ranged anywhere from 22kms to 40km (!). In my head I roughly split the difference and was expecting around 28km and 12 hours. Others were slightly more optimistic. It ended up being around 30km and took as a little over 13 hours, as there was a fair bit of more technical talus and scramble sections that are hard to safely move fast over.
This was an extremely high value hike, staying well above treeline almost the entire way, with incredible views of Mount Cayley, Fee, and expansive vistas from three main summits that mark the highlights of the route.
Our relatively large crew of 7.5 (Brian “Deep House” wasn’t joining for the whole trip and only the Brandywine summit) seemed large for such an expedition, especially complicating the shuttle logistics, but it worked out really well in becoming not only a super fun mountain adventure, but a great social mission, with extremely high stoke and vibes.
Dylan “finally stopped falling apart” Falls, as usual, was the pace setter for the mission, charging along with his zero percent body fat and long bike fit legs.
Shan had recently done the clinically insane thing of climbing Mount Fee the week before, so she was able to provide some beta of our route and show us the terrifying loose “sand slab” and precarious loose blocks that make up a “scramble” that sees barely any traffic in the summer for very obvious reasons.
We were stoked to team up with zen yogi superstar and local legend Julian Wells and his elite trail racing partner, the long legged Malin, who both maintained an awesome level of positive stoke and energy the entire 13 hour journey.
Our boy Zac Holden joined, fully recovered from any and all Montenegrin stomach viruses by now we assume.
Mary was quite nervous about this one (as was I!), considering the elite level of athlete making up the crew, but this was a great confidence booster trip for the modest Dr. Pines, as she crushed it and made short work of a long day.
The “fast and light” mentality is justified not only based on the comfiness of the bed involved and quality of pre and post food consumption, but also a hard to describe feeling of travelling far distances through the mountains in the single day. The diversity of the terrain on a route like this is staggering, and moving from lush alpine meadow, to blocky granite summits, to loose gravel volcanic rock, and back again in and out maintains interest and provides rewarding contrast. Another wild feeling is the awe of looking back at the massive route you’ve just undertaken, and the associated feeling of accomplishment.
View of the route back from Tricouni. Cypress is the smaller triangle on the ridge on the left, the two teeth of Fee near the middle, and the far ridge dropping to the right is Brandywine.
Standing atop Tricouni at sunrise, looking North deep in the distance at Brandywine, where we stood only a few hours earlier, was a peak highlight.
Following the shuttle retrieval, it was too late to procure any Dr. Mary Pines approved food (I think if I really begged I could have got Macdonald’s, but the disappointment would have been palpable), so we drove home for protein shakes and an obscene amount of cheese, consumed in a hot bath, before crawling into a comfy bed. A luxury only afforded to the long day trippers!
We’re on the board! For those keeping score at home:
Summer 2025 Bryan and Mary’s Adventure Show Down
Pines Pack: 1
Jones Jog: 1