Capturing the Art of Nature
Squamish River Valley
It was refreshing to be back in Squamish and exploring new areas especially as it was the first time out this month!
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2011
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May has been a very wet month so when we finally had a decent morning to get out, we jumped at the chance to head up the Squamish River Valley and try a few new roads. Ethan arrived at the house shortly before 8:30 and we were soon heading for the Sea-to-Sky highway and Squamish. The initial drive went very smoothly and we were soon topping off the tank just past downtown Squamish and ready to hit the logging roads.
Our destination for the day was to explore the first few side branches off of the mainline. B100 is its official name and we started up the road, it was actually in decent shape as it had been logged not all that long ago. Not too far up the road we came to our first of several lovely small waterfalls. I really enjoy the look of a nice silky smooth waterfall so we stopped so I could setup my camera gear to capture the small falls. Today was also the first test of my new backcountry manager software system that I am developing. So far it was working well and I was able to tag a number of good spots for future visits.
After a couple of switchbacks crossing the same stream each with a vastly different looking waterfall, we came to a straight section of road where a large diameter tree had fallen across the road. It looked like it would be a fun challenge to clear the tree and on examining the obstacle we decided the best approach would be to saw off the upper section and then winch the heavier trunk off the road. The lower end was quite thick so we opted to drag the top end. This required us to set up the block so we could get a proper pull across road. Once the tree was cut we attached the line and started dragging the tree. It all went very smoothly and quickly, almost too fast! More issues would have been interesting but then getting on past the tree was our real goal. Once it was off to the side of the road we stowed the tools and continued on past.
The higher areas offered some lovely views of the Squamish River but all too soon we were stopped by a snow pile that had slid across the road. Included with the snow was a large log that had come down with the avalanche. It was quite a large log and I am sure it would do serious damage to any pickup that got in its way when it was moving. Realizing we were done with this main branch we back tracked and tried each of the side roads in turn. We had lunch on one of the side roads and then at 1:40 we stopped to set up my HF radio gear to try some HF contacts. But the band was completely dead. I heard only one station on the air which was very odd. I had set up the antenna with only a single pole that leaned against the truck as I did last time but perhaps the metal of the truck was interfering with the signals. I’ll need to move things further out next time.
Done with the radio we continued our way down to the mainline trying a few more side branches as we went. Since it was still early we decided to try the next major side road – B200. So we continued up the Squamish River Mainline and took the B200 off ramp. This side road looked to be even more active than the first and the road was an easy drive as we made our way up. Soon we reached a point with an amazing view of the Squamish River. It will need a few return visits under different lighting conditions. Continuing up we soon came to a major fork and selected the left one heading north. The road continued up a few hundred meters but we came by an avalanche slide that left a lot of snow blocking the road along with a huge torpedo log! So that was the end of the drive up the north branch. Back to the fork and now we set on up the southern branch.
This fork lead through some nice mossy slopes and cliffs as it wound its way around the ridge that parallels the Squamish valley, heading east and away from the valley the road makes its way into the High Falls Creek area where there are a large number of side roads and areas to explore. Upon rounding the ridge we came upon two hikers that had worked their way up from the Squamish Mainline through a trail that joined the road at this point. They had been looking for the continuation of the trail but were not having any luck with that. As we continued on past we kept an eye out for the resumption of the trail but we didn’t find it. Soon we were stopped by snow covering the road in a bit of a dip. Being late we decided to head on out and so we made our way back to the hikers - we mentioned that we saw no trail along the road ahead much top their disappointment. We continued our drive down to the mainline. Half way back to the B100 branch, we came upon a young black bear that was running along the road away from us. When he noticed he was losing ground, he set off into the bush for the river bank. He was quite small so I am quite sure there was a bigger momma around, best not to explore on foot!
Earlier in the day we met a radio Ham on the VHF radio when we were checking-in to Carolyn back at home. He told us he lived just before the logging road began and so once we got off the FSR we drove up to his place and stopped in for a short visit. John was a fun chap to meet and we had a nice first visit. He offered to be a radio support for us on future visits to the area. That may prove very helpful in the days ahead. After our visit we made our way to the Squamish Starbucks to load up on caffeine to ensure a safe drive home. The drive back went quickly and we had no traffic issues to complain about. Overall it was a good day of driving and seeing some new sights, the new software worked quite well and should prove useful for future planning.