Capturing the Art of Nature
Northern Squamish River Valley
So much fun and so many new spots to see, so we returned to the Squamish valley for another go at the far end of the river.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2012
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The Squamish valley has a large number of side branches to explore and I have traveled very few of them. I have seen the first and half the second plus a couple at the far end of the Elaho but as to the rest, well a few were partially seen many years back but nothing in recent memory. So we felt we should return to the valley and try for the far northern end of the Squamish mainline. The initial drive went quickly as we left home a half hour earlier than normal and we were able to beat the week-end traffic. In Squamish I was able to contact a local ham and we set up to do some simplex calling while we were far up the valley. On our way home we dropped into visit with John for a few minutes before heading home.
We zipped up the early section of the road passing the many lovely sites we stopped at last week. It was quite surprising to see how much greener the place is after just one week! We didn’t really stop to look around until we reached the bridge across the Squamish River leading to the Elaho. From the bridge we gave a call back to John and were able to get a clear signal all the way down the twisty valley. So now we started up the less traveled section of the road. The early part of the road was clear and easy to drive. Soon we came by a huge tree that had fallen across the road. It was huge but fortunately left a big enough gap under it that the truck was able to drive through it.
Soon after the tree we found a short side branch the lead up through a shale field. Here we parked and got out to look for some decent photo ops. Geoff noticed a huge stump not far up the slope so we made for it. I slipped on the moss at one point and was fortunately caught by Geoff. The mossy covering on the rocks was not as solid as it looked. When we areached the stump we discovered that it was hollow and not a safe spot to stand on which I had hoped to do. I gathered a few pictures of it to try and portray its size. We explored a bit more before we returned to the truck and continued up the mainline.
Not much further we came by a stream that had clogged it drainage pipe under the road and it was now flowing over the road cutting a deep crevasse into the road. We added some flagging tape to a small marker that a prior visitor had left to better mark the danger. There was still enough space to drive past the gap but in crossing we discovered that the water had made the ground very soft and we sank in the mud. So we had to haul out the winch and pull ourselves free of the soft sand. At the rate it seemed to be eating the road, I don’t think the spot will be crossable for much longer. We continued north, past the S200 branch and soon encountered deep snow. Well that was the end of our drive up the mainline for today, so we drove back to the S200 branch and started up it. Not far in we came by a lovely waterfall where we gathered a number of photos. Geoff was a bit worried about getting back across the gap on the mainline so we kept our stay short on this side road and soon we were driving back to the crevasse.
The return crossing saw us stuck in the soft sand as well and so we pulled ourselves along once again to get past the damaged road. Safely across the gap we made for the B1000 side road and zipped up it to the very end. It isn’t a large section and we were at the end in a few minutes. There we stopped to eat lunch. We had a grand view of the Squamish valley to the south and watched a group camping along the river below us. Here we put out another call to John and had a short chat with him explaining the damaged road and snow conditions. Done with lunch, we started back down the branch and decided to push through an older section of the branch that formed a loop. Here we were pushing over small alder as we drove the old road but soon we came by a small creek with some trees in the wrong spots. So we opted to back out but now we got wedged between some of the trees we squeezed between getting in and in the end we were forced to pull out the chainsaw and clear a few of the trees so we could maneuver better. Once back to clear road we set out for the mainline and the bridge over the river. We planned to start back up the valley on the west side via the E100 branch.
The E100 branch paralleled the wide valley for some distance providing numerous access points to the sandy river bed where we saw many camping locations. Several groups were camped out for the week-end. We continued up the branch and soon were gaining in elevation as we moved away from the valley. We found a couple of spots with some views of the river where it formed a bit of a gorge.
The road opened up on a gravel pit where we had some interesting shots of the rocks. They were organized in patterns that raised many questions in our minds. Here we also discovered the largest pine tree I have ever seen. The base of the truck was several feet in diameter! Geoff made his way down to it so we could demonstrate it size. It looked healthy even with its gnarly branches. Done with the gravel and the pine tree we continued up the branch until there too we were stopped by snow. An ATV had been stopped by the snow at the same point. Geoff of course had to push his way just a few inches past their furthest point. This spot was near a cliff wall and so I got out to explore and gather a few shots from the top of the cliff overlooking Dipper Creek.
We then started back down the road and took an overgrown side road where we crossed a small creek and soon found ourselves on a flat rock ledge that slowly descended to the Squamish river. It was somewhat over-grown and it being late we decided to not continue down it today. We backed out to a bend where there was a campsite and where we could turn around. Geoff discovered fresh bear claw marks on a tree in the middle of the camp site. We then drove back to the main branch and drove along to the gorge we saw earlier. Here we stopped where we had a view of a waterfall falling into the Squamish River. We climbed down to the river edge and spent some time photographing it. This mini-gorge along the Squamish River had a powerful majesty to it. Though the waterfall was not big it had a compelling feel to its simplicity.
As it was now almost 5pm and the sun was dipping below the peaks, we decided to head on out for the day. Though we didn’t get all that far up the valley, we did find some great sites and had a very enjoyable time exploring the area. We will need to be back here a few more times this summer once the snows are clear and we can push to the end of the roads. Once on the pavement we touched base with John once more and dropped into his place for a visit. It was good to chat with him and wind down a bit from the drive.