Elk Falls hike

Sooner or later, every Campbell River resident ends up at Elk Falls and the suspension bridge. It took me over a year, but I finally made it.

From the new parking lot at the project interpretive centre, the trail leads down, down, down, and down again, (the ravine is deep) to the bridge, hanging high above the falls.

View from a lower spot on the trail. Still above the falls. Note viewpoint at right.

View from the viewpoint. (Photo from my old pocket Sony, now defunct.)

I wanted a view from the side, so I went on down, down, down. (Hard on the knees)

The suspension bridge from slightly above.

And down some more, on a switchback trail along the side of the canyon, through dark green, old-growth forest.

"Old Mossback"

Just about level with the falls now. The river drops 75 feet into Trout Pool below.

View from another turn in the trail. Note viewpoint at the left. I didn't stop there, though.

And down some more. I wanted to reach the rocks at the top of the falls; I had seen them from the suspension bridge, and there were people on them. I knew the trail would get me there sooner or later. If my knees held out.

Made it! The river flows along, then falls into a hole.

Looking upstream.

Campbell River leaves Lower Campbell Lake, drops over Ladore Falls (22 feet) to Irene Pool, then pours down the ravine and over Bear Falls, Moose Falls, Deer Falls. Elk Falls is the final drop before Trout Pool. From Irene to Trout, in about 5 miles, the river falls 320 feet. From here, it still continues downhill, but not very steeply, until it opens into the flat Campbell River mouth.

The worst about a long hike downhill is that you have to scramble back up again. I took a wrong turn and climbed to the top of the ravine where there was no access to the parking lot, grumbled my way back down, and plodded back up. I caught up to some tourists from Italy on the way, got talking all along the rest of the trail, and completely forgot my sore calves.

I'm tougher than I thought.