Capturing the Art of Nature
Elaho? A missing forest
Huge black toothpicks are all that remains of the majestic Elaho Forest
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2016
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Horrendous is the best word to describe the sights of the upper Elaho valley. It was exactly a year ago that I last visited this incredibly rich valley. It always inspired me with the lazy meandering river surrounded by high year-around snowcapped peaks. Only a week after that visit the forest caught fire and even with 100+ fire fighters working to control it, it became a massive fire and burned a huge area on both sides of the river.
I had been watching the forest notices since the fire and saw that the upper Elaho was opened up further at the end of May, so I felt it would be a good time to go explore the area and see what we could find. I also had a new GoPro camera to try out and so with the weather being sunny and hot, we set off for the Squamish valley and the far reaches of the Elaho. The drive to the valley went very smoothly as traffic was fairly light and we made good time. Once in Squamish I tried to contact my Ham radio friend who lives there but he didn’t answer so I guess he was out enjoying the countryside himself.
The initial drive up the Squamish mainline was busy with cars and SUVs so we had to be careful around curves as the other drivers were travelling a good clip across all sides of the road. Twice a jeep came close to driving right into us around a bend – far more dangerous than a logging truck! On the way up to the Elaho, we tried a few different things with the camera and got a bit of a forward view but it will need to be on the bumper to do it well. Our first longer stop was not until the bridge across the Squamish on the start of the Elaho mainline. The scenery was quite magnificent here and I enjoyed taking a sequence of photos. Then on up the narrow road and around the s-curve gorge. Too much traffic to stop so we just kept moving.
Eventually we came to a barricade across the road warning that the road was washed out at the 41.5km point. This was the previous closure point according to the forestry site. But it was open and so we continued on. The road seemed in reasonable shape though it was degraded from last time we were here. We did notice signs of other travelers but fewer than last year. Soon we arrived at the 41.5km point and found that the creek had been worked on to make it crossable and so across we went and kept going. We came upon a forestry sign warning of the hazards of the burnt forest. Soon we saw the first of the burnt area, it was quite overwhelming in scope. Then we encountered a very rough section of road as a creek was running down it digging huge ruts. We made it past and saw even more devastation from the fire. Every slope on every mountain around us was black and bare, covered only with black toothpick like trees. In some ways the grandeur of the rock slopes was exposed but I do like the green better.
We were able to pick our way along the road to around the 60km point where another creek had ripped open the road. The gap was wide enough and the flow fast enough that we didn’t even seriously consider trying to cross. Well, we had come much further than expected so that was a treat. Now we could back-track and try the side roads to see where they went, something we had little time for on past trips. Taking the first we were stopped by fallen trees which we cleared with the chainsaw but only got a short distance further. Our second spur took us quite high up the slope and offered us some amazing views of the valley. Even burned it had a lovely grandeur to it. The blackness was already being muted by bright green weeds that were starting to cover the ground. We managed to travel a few spurs on the slope and found many interesting things to see in the burnt trees. A stump that was hollowed out a couple feet down into the ground. A standing truck with holes burned through it so it looked like swiss cheese. Once done with this spur we descended to the mainline and there we found some shade and ate our lunch. While munching a few Jeeps passed us heading in. It was still a popular spot.
Done with lunch we continued on out and at the barricade we turned up another spur that lead high up the slope of Vulcan’s Thumb and the start of the Pemberton Icefield. This was an area I had been eyeing for some time as an area to visit as it forms the start of a trail climbing to the eastern edge of the icefield. We found an abandoned car that had its front wheels placed carefully on rocks with the tires missing! It seemed very odd. We continued past to the end of the road where Geoff did a bit of target practice. On the way down we stopped to chat with a first nation’s guy who was camped not too far from the car. He was a teacher and was supervising four kids who were out camping in the area doing a 24 hour survival outing for a course. He was quite interesting to chat with and we learned a few things of the area.
By now the day was getting on and we had a long drive home where my youngest son was waiting for Geoff to help him replace his brakes. So with little more to delay us wen made good time for the start of the resource road. Traffic on the highway was light so the drive actually went quite quickly. Now the real work began – replacing brakes that were long overdue and well rusted in place!