Elaho River Valley

Ireally quite enjoyed the Elaho and the distant Squamish areas when we visited the sites previously. The only reason I haven’t been here more often is due to the long drive time it takes to reach the start of the logging roads. Today’s trip had a dual goal, we wanted to explore the lovely area again but we also wanted to try another HF radio contact from an area well beyond normal communication range. The area selected for the radio test was the far end of the Elaho valley at 12:30pm.

We left home around 8:30 and quickly made our way to West Vancouver and our regular shopping spot where we picked up a coffee and some sub sandwiches for lunch, then down the sea-to-sky to Squamish. The construction for the Olympics was now long finished and the road very nice and much easier to drive. I was surprised that final third of our drive, the area just south of Squamish, was not much improved. This section of road seemed quite poor compared to the road further south. I guess they ran out of funds before they got here.

In Squamish we refueled and set off to the start of the FSR. This part of the drive went quickly, it brought back memories of previous trips – I really like the name of the small community called Cheekye! The first part of the FSR along the Squamish River was quite easy to drive but very dusty and we didn’t stop much along here as I was concerned that we have the time needed to be ready for the radio test. About a third of the way along, we caught up with a bus bringing rafters up the river for their ride down. After a few kilometers they pulled aside for us to pass. So we got ahead of their dust clouds which improved our mood as we could actually see the road now.

When we reached the fork to the Elaho, we stopped to gather a few photos of the immediate area before setting off up the Elaho valley. The road soon takes a steep climb as one approaches the Elaho Canyon and when we reached the canyon we found another rafter bus stopped along the road waiting for its passengers to catch up. Here, we stopped to gather a few shots of the river far below. I find this area quite attractive but would like to gather some photos from the river level. Not sure if there is a trail leading down from here but it would be worth exploring more thoroughly. We did spot some rafts on the river below, they were waiting in a small cove that provides some shelter from the main river as it makes its way through the gorge. 

We then set off up the valley and spied a number of bridges across the river with roads heading in that looked like they would be worth exploring one day – so much to see! We continued along to the far end of the road. As the time approached noon we started looking for a site to setup the gear. We wanted a clear area not on the main FSR so we wouldn’t have problems with other traffic. Finally, we spotted a road spur that branched off above the main road. We drove a 150 meters up to the spur and parked. It was a good site and we stretched out the antenna along the road in front of the truck. We had a bonus of a lovely view of Mt Ralph to the south. The setup of the gear took around 20 minutes which left us about 10 minutes to spare before our first contact window. I heard a few stations on the radio including one in Estonia which I tried to contact but unfortunately didn’t get through. At 12:30 I started calling to the team back home and though I could faintly hear some voices, I wasn’t able to make contact. I then waited for the next contact window at 1pm. This time the voices were a bit stronger and I was eventually able to make contact with Carolyn at home and then a couple more club members. So the test proved successful and we had a nice chat with the team back home. After 15 minutes we signed off and packed away the HF gear so we could continue our explorations.