Another picture that is courtesy of Marek's Mountain site. This picture was taken from the climb up Tszil and shows a great view of the mountain that Bob and I hiked (Taylor Peak). We ended up at the rocky cliff bands (as seen in the Red line). Instead, we should've followed the trail around the mountain further before heading towards the main summit (the blue line).

Picture courtesy of Marek's Mountain site (I didn't take this one but definitely helps show more of the ridge hike) Wanted to add this picture because it gives an idea of the scale of things. Those little ants at the bottom of the picture are people crossing the ridge. The mountains certainly have a way of putting you in your place.

The mandatory "now we hike" shot. This is the starting point at the Joffre Lakes trailhead. Joffre Lakes is located roughly 1 hour North of Whistler just past the town of Pemberton. We started hiking at 8:40am full of energy. None of us realized that we'd be on the trail for almost 11 hours!

After a quick 2 minutes of hiking, we arrived at Lower Joffre Lake. The lake is easily accessible from the parking lot. As it turns out, this was Scott's favorite lake because it was the closest to the car.

Hiking through the forest between Lower and Middle Joffre Lake.

Arriving at Middle Joffre Lake. We stopped for a quick break, ate some nuts and then carried on to Upper Joffre Lake.

The classic Middle Joffre Lake picture. There was very little wind and the lake looked more like a piece of stained glass.

A bit overexposed, but I wanted to make sure that there was enough light to capture the expressions on Scott and Bob's face. At this point, we were all still full of energy and not feeling the pain of a long day hike.

Another view of Upper Joffre Lake with the Matier Glacier above.

Scott pondering Phase 2a QA along the trail near Upper Joffre Lake.

Quote from Bob -- "I think I finally understand what relaxing is.." This quote after hiking 5 km straight uphill. Being in the mountains tends to simplify things and Bob may have found his next new hobby.

From Upper Joffre Lake, this is the view looking up at the col/saddle. On the left is Tszil. To the right is Taylor. Our original objective was Tszil, but due to time and difficulty, we changed our plans once reaching the ridge and decided to go for Taylor (200' less of elevation gain).

Upper Joffre Lake which is fed from above by the melting ice of the Matier Glacier. The Glacier pulverizes the rock into flour, which is then carried into the lake giving it the glacial blue color.

Looking back at Scott starting along the ridge. In the distance is Upper Joffre Lake.

Bob, looking past the ridge towards Tszil Mountain. This section of the ridge was pretty wide, but further up, the trail narrowed and the dropoff increased.