Matt had another Thursday off, this time in honor of the new year, and with a sunny forecast we opted for (you guessed it!) another outdoor adventure. On a suggestion from a local contact, we set out to Squamish with our splitboards for a backcountry tour.
Our little Subie ascended the rough, pothole strewn dirt road with ease until we reached the "chain up" area. We hesitated there and eventually parked, thinking it best not to end up in a ditch or worse. The trailhead was an undetermined distance up the road from the chain up area, so we donned our splitboards on our backs and started out. But not before meeting a fellow Vermonter in the parking lot. Those green plates sure do stick out amongst the typical white
British Columbia is Beautiful plates.
Up we went, maybe 1 km or so to the very full upper parking lot (half full of cars without chains). I guess we weren't the only ones with this bright idea. We would in fact encounter many folks descending the access road who had spent new years eve camped out at the Elfin Lakes Shelter.
The access road gently rose through the forest for 5 km, past enormous cedars and Douglas firs, eventually dumping us out near a warming hut. We stopped for a snack and a sip of water while gazing upon Mt. Garibaldi in the distance.
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| Mt. Garibaldi |
All fueled up and starting to get cold we continued onward and upward. We left the access road and followed the orange winter route stakes up to Paul Ridge. The sun was warm on our backs and every so often we'd hear a big clump of snow succumb to its relentless rays and shed off one of the huge trees we passed by.
We gained the ridge and looked out upon a sea of snow capped mountains in all directions. They were the mountains that I used to draw when I was a child - tall and pointy with white tops. We followed the skin-track with intentions to find the Elfin Lake Shelter, but got sidetracked by an enticing line. It was also nearing our turnaround time so we would get back to the car before dark.
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| Big trees! |
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| Paul Ridge |
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| Matt breaks trail |
We switched over and enjoyed some fun turns, stopping in a sparkling patch of sunbathed snow. As we switched back and started skinning up to the ridge I couldn't help but think that 2015 was off to a good start.
We switched over one more time (good practice) and started down, first through a mellow, tree-spotted slope and then down the switchbacking access road we had hiked up earlier in the day. We wove our way down through the forest and past numerous snowshoers to the parking lot. Then it was back down to the car. A total of 18.8 km (11.7 miles) for the day.
