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Posted - 07/01/2010 : 1:47 PM
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This morning I tried to get to Mt. Elphinstone again from about the middle of horizontal 2k stretch which is 720m point of Sechelt Roberts FSR where ditched spur road goes up southward. From there there were some forks(ignoring overgrown spurs); first one take right(then soon see West Ridge trail" sign on a tree), then take straight(instead of right). Then I ended up being a "Old ski A-frame cabin" site(about 1100m point). It was crushed to the ground(see the photo). To here from the FSR where I parked was 27min run. But then I could not find the trail that might be leading to the Mt. Elphinstone where I turned around. If someone knows how to get to the peak from there I would appreciate knowing it.
 
Then while at the high elevation, I drove to Dakota FSR to explore Datoka Winter Recreational area. This is where xc-skiers explore the nice alpine in winter. The road goes up to about 1000m level, where there is a gate(see photo). From there in less than 3min run to the "Olympic" sign and some silver dome buildings & a toilet. I kept going up straight or where-ever the trail is going higher and get to about 1150m level where this cross country loop starts to veer back and dissapear(13mins from the gate). Now this area is a fantastically soft dried-marsh like texture soiled trail with alpine plants carpeting the entire area scattered with mini ponds & old growth trees like mtn Hemlock-Cypress. Very nice sensation to massage Achilles heel from daily sprint interval training. I kind of got lost as following faint path around all over the place. I didn't explore as it was raining and very cold but it looks like this soft land has network of mini paths everywhere & is a very sizable area on the map. As coming back down to where the silver buildings are, I realized logging roads extending to various directions are official xc-trails as well(but not soft soil). No bugs, not a soul. Road condition was decent gravel road for 2WDs. Sorry the map might not indicate visited place very clearly; right bottom on this map photo you see "Old Ski A-Frame Cabin". And then top left of the map there are some red-white dotted roads- this is Dakota rec area.
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Edited by - trailrunner on 07/01/2010 9:37 PM
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A mini alpine jogging report of Gibsons area
