TC2T Recon -- Elbow River
Trip date: Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Submitted by aqua toque
Particpants:
aqua toque
Discussion:
On Sunday I set off to checked out access to a big run in the Elbow Valley on which I had done turns last season. My route followed the Elbow River from the vicinity of the Beaver Flats campground on hwy 66 upstream to near where Quirk Creek comes in.
For a good part of the trip I was able to ski along the river's ice shelf but had to deke into the trees here and there (there's a summer trail but it seems to have a lot of big up and down). The crux of access to the run is getting across the river. Not much in the way of ice bridges this year where needed but I did find a sketchy specimen which held up. The bushwacking heading away from the river and towards the run is not too bad but there are some micro terrain features to navigate.
With trailbreaking and reacquainting myself with the route it ended up taking me 3 hrs to get close to the run. The weather started turning nasty around this time and I was feeling physically and emotionally weary. Didn't feel like climbing for another hour so I decided to bail. I'll probably go back in the near future while my track is there. Any local yokels interested?
Travel along the ice shelf was so aesthetically pleasing that I was inspired to make another 2min gopro video. Besides, I figure I'd better make hay while the sun shines because when my daughter finds out I'm famous she'll probably want her gopro back.