Elaho Canyon

Our first camping trip of the season. This trail is in the same area as High Falls Creek (last post) about 100km away from Squamish on a bone jarring logging road. We left the house around 5pm, expecting to get to the trailhead in time to make our first camp, but it took three hours over rough terrain to get to the trailhead. Luckily, there were campsites at the trailhead. Unluckily, it was raining. Undaunted, we set up a makeshift camp and set up a couple of tarps to keep the tent dry.

When we woke up the next day the rain was just stopping and the sun came out, a nice way to start a day. We lazily packed up our stuff and headed off on the trail. Parts of it are poorly marked, but we had a nice walk through some old growth forest with a few huge Douglas firs. After negotiating countless fallen trees, we eventually found the proper trail and headed off towards our goal: Canyon Campground. The trail meanders up and down around dry creek beds through a nice forest before arriving at Cessna Creek. There was once a bridge here and the crossing in our guidebook is only described as "problematic". For us, with our packs, the dog, the high water and steep canyon walls, it was game over. We turned around and headed back to Lava Camp near the trailhead.

Lava Camp was nice, located high above the junction of the Elaho River and Lava Creek with nice views down the canyon. However, the only source of water was 10 minutes down a steep ravine to Lava Creek, where we could get some glacier fresh water to cook our dinner. A bit annoying, but not the end of the world.

We had a relaxing evening and left early the next day so that we could take our time on the drive home. The road along the Elaho and Squamish rivers has many nice parts, so we found a good spot for lunch and relaxed there for a while before finally getting back on the road for Vancouver.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend of free camping. Now we work for a week before this coming long weekend. Hopefully we'll find something nice to do.

Sometimes we don't go over the best bridges. Our intrepid Sunfire was up to the task.



Our first camp.

Getting ready to go. We're out of the habit of carrying large loads.

The trail was a bit hard to follow at first, but we found our way.

These are the large trees.



This is the "problematic" bridge. I think there is a special circle of hell reserved for people who make euphemisms of this kind.

Some pretty moss gardens.

The Elaho Canyon.

Maggie is alergic to insect bites. It didn't help that she ate an ant that repeatedly bit her tongue.

Our camp.

A panoramic shot of the Elaho.

A tiger lily.

Our lunch spot. We decided to light a fire and have something nicer than cheese on crackers.