Blanca Lake and Elaho Wanderings - July 8/9

The ski bug got the better of me when I convinced Pete to carry our skis up to Blanca Lake in the Elaho valley. There was a post on FB about nice turns but that it took 1.5 h carrying skis to get there was not mentioned. I was quite excited after skiing Seymour a couple of days ago but generally we are not that excited about walking with the skis on our backs. Oh well, first time for us in a beautiful area worth visiting again in fall with all the colors.

I hadn’t been up the Elaho valley in many years so we went on an exploratory mission all the way to the end of the logging road.

The area around the last (north) 30km of the Elaho FSR (Elaho Main) have been heavily effected by the big wildfire in 2015. While large parts of the forest along the road and far up the slopes are scorched the fire stopped short of the Stoltman Wilderness/Upper Elaho Valley Conservancy … except for Lava Camp and the Elaho Giant (which is actually surrounded by clear cuts). Douglas Fir Loop with all its big trees is untouched. There are some signs (many fell off) and an obvious trail to Lava camp and Cessna Creek and a rather faint loop trail.

We didn’t explore far but from what I found online the bridges across Cessna and Marlow Creeks are still out so the Elaho-Meager traverse is not feasible at the moment. On our way back we found another washed-out bridge at Peach Creek at the start of G-main, the FSR west of the Elaho River – cutting off access to Sims creek and Mt. John Clark/Sun Peak. Two hikes I had on my to do list - too late now. Maybe eventually the bridges will be repaired.

Big Trees in Lower Seymour Reserve - May

Back to the search for big old trees. With a long logging history, only a few are left in the Vancouver surrounding. The General and his wife, two big old Redcedars, on Vicar Lakes trail were easy to find. It took more searching to locate Temple of Time Grove and Pipe Organ Grove. One amazingly long Douglas Fir lays toppled on the ground, away from the trail many meters through dense brush finally down a creek bed. This is possibly the largest tree in this grove, the Will Koops Giant. I also explore some of the gigantic stumps left behind after decades of logging like the one found on the ‘More Stumps Trail’. Hope that the remaining few old giants will be left standing for many years to come.

Walking Among Giants

I was looking for new hiking destinations at low elevation (in early summer there is still lots of snow up high in the mountains). Since I always wanted to check out the remainder of old growth forest around Vancouver I made finding the BIG trees my objective. Here are a few photos of my explorations.

There are spots close to Vancouver where big old growth trees still stand. They have escaped logging and wildfires and matured into century-old giants, providing a glimpse of what this world looked like before western civilization arrived. Some of the trees are celebrities, like ‘Grandfather Capilano’, an 800 year-old, +60 meter high Douglas fir in Capilano River Regional Park. Others are tugged away deep in the temperate rain forest and faint, hidden trails lead to them. It is an awe-inspiring moment to catch first sight of one of the giants among their smaller cousins, to walk up closer and let the eyes travel along the tall trunk up to big branches and crown high above.

Hollyburn Fir, 1100 years old

Big Red Cedar with some regular trees for size comparison

Nurse Log

Skid roads - left over from the logging days

Another big Red Cedar near Mosquito Creek