Escaping the Silver Thaw

By Christine Campbell
Published: Jan. 13, 2013

I know I was quite young at the time of the silver thaw in, and really didn’t understand why we had to leave our home in the middle of the night.

We lived up the Squamish Valley next to this little lake surrounded by big trees. It was the most magical place to be as a kid all year round.

I recall being woke up, and being put into my winter coat and boots and setting outside with my family. We started walking up our long steep drive way.

The snow was hard and deep but you still broke through.

I was having a lot of trouble with the whole thing and began to cry, so my dad set me on his shoulders for the rest of the hike up the driveway.

We reached the top of the driveway and my dad set me down next to my older brother.

Then if all this was not strange enough, my dad took an axe to our family car. It was covered in snow and ice.

At this point I was terrified and turned to the protection of my older brother. The night was so dark with many load noises of cracking – thunder and multiple gun fire sounds.

Even at that young age, I thought the world was coming to an end.

Before long the family car was warm and ready to go. I felt safe with all of us in the car driving away from the thundering darkness. We didn’t get far down the gravel road when my dad got out of the car and my mom was told to drive.

After we travelled down the curvy gravel road with my mom driving, we come to a stop. I look up to see my dad – ‘he is with us’. Mom starts getting mad at my dad; I don’t understand why we have to back into the thunder darkness.

The car begins to back up all the way, so my brother and I stand up in the back seat to see where we were going. I see my dad driving a big bulldozer back towards where we came from.

My brother tells me that dad was clearing fallen down trees with the bulldozer and is now putting it back so other neighbours can use it to clear the road.

The car came to a stop and before I could turn around and sit back down, it took off fast. I was still trying to get my little butt back in the seat as my dad took the corners fast.

Then we came to the straighter part in the road and I stood back up to look out the back winder of the car. I could see three trees falling down from different sides of the road.

Later in life, I learned we escaped from the Silver Thaw that hit Squamish in 1972.