With plenty of daylight, the ridge of Columnar looked like a light stroll in comparison to hikes we have previously done. The dips in the ridge felt significantly less than what I imagined them to be, and it helped that people moved from the sheerer drop on the right flank to tread on the left. From its lesser peak is where I caught my first glimpse of Squamish that day-- far off into the distance with the chief looking like a little dwarf observing it.
After a two-chocolate snacking break we moved off to tackle the final incline up to the highest point. It is here that I first thought there were two figures on The Gargoyles observing us, but I assumed it to be simple paranoia. After struggling to find solid footing, and sliding a fair amount, I stumbled onto the ridge and looked out at the valley below. I could see our two tents from the summit, and snippets of the world between the clouds.
Deciding against taking the entire trail down, we took a strategic shortcut where we ran into two park rangers. They commented to us that they had watched out ascent and the beginning of our descent and sounded quite impressed.