Trip Report Details

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Trip Date: 25-Jul-2010
Activity: Scramble
Destination: L Highwood PL 383118 to Opal Creek loop

Report:

Real summer weather brought out a good crowd to try this loop. They were not deterred by the steep grunt that is the initial phase of the trip as we made our way up the avalanche chute through the trees then up the drainage to open steep slopes above:

Steep climb to the col

Some of us spotted bear tracks in the dirt, along with ungulate prints. It was about 1 & Ľ hours to complete the 500 metres or so of vertical and earn a rest to admire the view:

Wally and the girls at Gap-Elpoca col

Then it was down to the upper basin of Elpoca Creek which had some flowery meadows to traverse before contouring through the subalpine fir forest. For future trips it would be recommended to go high along the western slope of Elpoca Mountain, the views are better and the forest is thinner and less extensive higher up:

Crossing scree below Elpoca

Eventually we made it to the Elpoca-Opal col where we had fine views back to Elpoca and the terrain we had traversed:

Elpoca Mtn

This was the designated lunch spot and many chose to loll in the sun, although Ivan & Yoko kept their boots on and took a side trip up to the hill to the west of the col while Francisco went up the slope to the east:

Goats? Sheep? Lazing Ramblers?

From here it was new territory for all on the trip and it started with a descent into the Opal Creek basin:

Much faster going down than going up.

Subsequently things were not quite so easy. There were a few creek crossings and encounters with willows, plus many promising game trails that would disappear at inconvenient locations:

tiptoeing along a sketchy animal trail

Eventually, after much bush thrashing, we arrived close to the mouth of the impassable Opal Gorge:

Upper entrance to Opal Gorge

From there one must find a way around Dry Canyon directly south. Although we did find snippets of promising game trails, in hindsight we should have gone higher up and perhaps found better trails. After some bushwhacking we finally did intersect an excellent one and it led past an impressive cleft in the rock:

Cleft of Dry Canyon near Opal Gorge

to a viewpoint overlooking our cars far below. The good trail continued down the ridge to the south that descended towards Elpoca Creek; before getting to the creek we cut west and bushwhacked down to the Valleyview Road to then walk back to the parked cars.

Participants on this adventure were Alicja, Kathy (photo), Ivan(photo), Nancy, David, Yoko, Peter, Philip, Jeanette, Barbara, Wally, Francisco, Rosanne (Golden Bushwhacker award), Shirley, Gerry, Jeanne and guest Larry. Special thanks to Laszlo and John for extra efforts helping out. Ron (C,S,P).

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