Mount Crumpit

Mount Crumpit 600 m/ 1969′
International– Canada
Total Time: 2:15
Distance: 5.9 km/ 3.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 255 meters/ 840′
Crux: Class 2
Trailhead: Westway Ave, no services
Companions: Holly and Avery

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We had a half day left in Squamish before heading to Whistler, and were looking for something for a quick morning workout before heading north in the afternoon. After running through some options, we decided to hike nearby Mount Crumpit, named for the craggy peak in Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Only 1/3 as tall as the fictional peak and nowhere near as craggy, it will still offers nice views of Howe Sound and Stawamus Chief, our hike from the day before. We found the trailhead along a suburban neighborhood in Squamish, the well developed trails very popular with mountain bikers.

Entering the forest, the trail quickly crosses Little Stawamus Creek before passing a number of junctions, eached signed and named to cater to the mountain bike community. After briefly starting up the S&M Connector Trail, we turned onto the steep Deep Ends Trail, a double black diamond that climbed directly up the west ridge of Mount Crumpit.

We were definitely feeling the effects of our steep hike of Stawamus Chief the day before, and Holly was very quickly regretting choosing this hike. The views were mostly treed as we climbed through the old growth temperate rainforest, although we would occasionally emerge on a bare rocky outcrop with great views of nearby Stawamus Chief to the south.

It took us about 45 minutes to go up and over a false summit, on some maps called Mount Co-crumpit, with a painful drop to the intervening saddle where we picked up the Stairway to Heaven Trail to the summit.

A cairn and sign marked the high point on a mossy rock in forest, although there were views to be had to the south and northwest just below the summit along the trail. With the majority of uphill behind us, I had hoped the descent would be smooth sailing back to the trailhead. Unfortunately, the more gentle terrain on the north side of Mount Crumpit meant there were tons of use trails and variations from mountain bikers, and we got off route on steep terrain a number of times before ultimately hooking back up with the S&M Connector Trail.

Although the hike only took us a bit over 2 hours, the steepness and our sore bodies made it seem like a serious workout. Not to mention the training weight I was carrying :-). Back at the trailhead, we headed into Squamish for lunch before heading north to Whistler for the rest of the trip, the rest of our hikes being below treeline due to rainy weather up until the final day.