Once we’d had our fill of riverbank wheeling, we headed back down toward Squamish and our homes. By this time it was getting dark - and this is possibly one of the most important factors when winter wheeling. The days are much shorter so being prepared for darkness is essential. The Lightforce “Striker” quad-LED setup on
less treacherous than the steep, narrow side roads in the area. Lucky for us, the Squamish and Elaho valleys offer some spectacular views and photo ops. Most popular would be the long bridge across the Squamish River at about the 35 km mark, and the waterfall about 5 km from the start of Elaho River road. On the way to this second spot, you’ll see some great vistas of the Elaho Canyon. Further up the Elaho River road, there are some popular 4x4-only camping spots on the river bed. Since this is a low-water time of year we thought we might try driving out to the river bed - we weren’t disappointed! The short trail to the camp sites is a well-traveled and deeply-rutted path with a couple of big mud pits. Some playing in here was necessary - another factor of snow wheeling is the colder temperatures, so one of the Jeeps discovered that driving on a frozen mud hole sometimes means that you suddenly drop through ice and have to use a little bit of back-and-forth to get over the ice chunks and out!
this G-class featured two each of flood and spot lenses, mounted up high for optimal beam performance. Thanks to good lights, we didn’t worry about wildlife or any other unseen hazards on our way back to dry pavement. While I was happy I didn’t get my own rig involved in a minor trail accident, I did spend the drive home reflecting on how I might prepare for this myself. I would certainly need to add some lights to my truck, and as a precaution I would bring a supply of food and water in case we had to spend the night somewhere in the snow. With a little bit of preparedness and some well-equipped friends, you can have a lot of fun in the snow - just make sure you remember that just like on city streets, winter conditions can change everything at a moment’s notice.
TRUCK | JEEP | SUV
FEB/MAR 2020 OFF-ROAD Plus MAGAZINE 21
