Driving a convertible 4x4 is a ton of fun, but when it comes to long, hot, dusty roads, it's about as far as you can get from "a ton of fun." So when I sold my Jeep YJ and bought a Jeep Cherokee, the first thing I wanted to do was make the long drive out to see the Elaho Giant. The Giant is a well known Douglas fir and its circumference is the 3rd largest in North America. Getting to it requires a 85-90 km journey along dusty dirt roads, which is why I avoided doing it in my YJ.

To get to it, you need to first drive along the Sea to Sky Highway and go a little ways past Squamish. This is a gorgeous drive, especially on a sunny weekend morning. My buddy Brett, rode with me in my XJ, and Wil came along in a Ford F150 that we borrowed from Ford Canada. Meeting us in Squamish was Robin in his Jeep TJ, and his friend, Jo. Robin was very familiar with the area and so he was the de facto tour guide for the day.

Once we turned west off of Hwy 99 onto the Squamish Valley Rd, it was only about 15 minutes of driving before we ran out of pavement. From then on it was dirt and gravel, and it was called the Squamish Mainline, or the S-Main. It was an active logging road, and even though it was the weekend, there were logging trucks on the road. So, being fearful of a head-on collision with an 80,000 lb moving mass of steel and wood piloted by someone who has an abiding appreciation for the phrase, "time is money," we set our VHF radios to the radio frequency indicated at the start of the road. We didn't hear many logging trucks calling out their locations but we made darn sure we called ours out every time we passed a kilometre marker.

Some very good advice. We kept one of our radios tuned to 151.115mhz at all times.
 

As expected, the dust was bad, so we spaced our vehicles farther apart than usual so the dust clouds had a chance to settle. The scenery was spectacular. The Squamish Mainline follows the Squamish River and every few kilometres it would give us an excuse to utter, "oooh" and sometimes, "aah." Gasp-inducing views of rapids, photogenic waterfalls, views of the Tantalus Range, there were just so many great views. After about 45km, we turned left to cross the Squamish River and get onto the Elaho Mainline, which would trace the Elaho River and bring us up the Elaho Valley. This river wasn't as big as the Squamish River, but its slower and shallower pace also meant there were lots of great camping areas to remember for future trips.

The Ford tailed by a thick dust cloud.
 

At the upper end of the Elaho Valley, we eventually began climbing away from the river and entered the Clendinning Provincial Park where the Elaho Giant Trail was located. From our parking spot on the side of the road, it only took about 5 minutes to walk to the Giant. Was it the biggest tree I've ever seen? No, but it was still impressive, especially when looking at the thickness of its bark. It's impossible for me to fathom what it must be like to have been alive for so long. We're talking in the neighbourhood of a 1000 years with some of the trees there. After everyone took a turn posing for photos with the Giant, we headed back the way we came. Along the way, we detoured down to the Elaho River for some lunch, where Wil fired up his infamous Fold-n-Go Coleman grill and cooked smokies for everyone. After that, Robin took us to see the Peaches and Cream waterfall, situated in the Molson Memorial recreation site. It's a beautiful waterfall. There was quite a crowd of First Nations folks enjoying the water. After that came the long, gritty drive back to pavement. I was very grateful to be riding in a sealed, hard-top 4x4, and not my old open top Jeep. It made for a very comfortable and enjoyable day of exploring.

Click on the above image to see a 360 degree panorama. (You'll need Flash 10 or greater.)

If you're interested in going, I've attached my track log, in GPX format, here. Four wheel drive isn't required, but having decent tires and a reliable spare is strongly recommended. Make sure you have a full tank of gas and some snacks, too, because it'll be a long day of driving. Oh, and don't forget to bring your camera!

...lars

The start of the Squamish River FSR.

On a hot, dusty day, this waterfall provided a great road-side cold shower break.

We passed by this unusual re-directed creek alongside the road, wondering how often it breached its banks.

Entering the Clendinning Provincial Park.

One of the huge logging trucks that operate in the valley.

Photo of our parked vehicles, taken from the Elaho Giant trail.

The Elaho Giant (the tree, not the woman).

Even the bark was huge and impressive.

Peaches and Cream falls.

A memorial marker near the falls.

Unfortunately, a campsite in the Molson Memorial site was used as a public washroom. It was quite disgusting.

Robyn and Jo on the way back to the Sea to Sky highway.