Capturing the Art of Nature
Doctor's Bay
We have seen little of the northern section along the west Harrison and so with it being a lovely day it was now time to see what the region has to off.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2012
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Last week Ethan and I explored sections of the West Harrison and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to come back this week with Geoff. I wanted to do some exploration further up the lake as it is an area we have seen little of due to the time it takes to get there. I had also heard that there is an ancient petroglyph at Doctor’s Bay – the Kaiyama Petroglyph which gave the area its name. So off we went to see what the region held and take a few photos of the glyph.
The drive to the start of the FSR went quickly and without excitement, we drove through Mission and though we were stuck behind slower cars some of the way we still made it to the FSR in good time. We drove up the mainline with only a few short stops to admire the view but when we came to the Wood Lake campground I noticed it was open this weekend so we drove in so I could gather a few photos of the lake. We drove in the first gate which got us to the wrong area but here we chatted with one group of campers that we had met last fall on the East Harrison. They remembered my camera! It was interesting chatting with them again. We then left the site and entered the second gate where we found the spot I was hoping for. Unfortunately the place was crowded with campers and I didn’t really have a chance to wander the area as much as I had hoped.
Done with the lake we continued up the main line, past 20 Mile Bay, and eventually came by a side road leading to the lake that seemed to be newer and so we drove into it. It didn’t go in very far nor did it offer any views of the lake below. Geoff backed the truck up to turn around and in the process ran the truck up a bit on a rise. We then pulled away and he happened to look back and noticed our spare tire on the ground! Going over to it we saw that his backing up had snagged the tire on a submerged stump and it had ripped the supporting cable. At least we have all the pieces. Now we just need to replace the cable and put the tire back – it takes up too much space in the back.
Finally we arrived at Doctor’s Bay area and what we thought might be an access road down to it. The road was quite rough and a bit over-grown though it did appear that some clearing had been done. We started down the rough road and over a stream crossing that didn’t give us much room for error. Not too far past the stream the road surface became a rock face and it looked a bit much for us to try and the road ahead looked questionable, so we turned the truck and parked it. We were still hopeful that the road would lead to the bay and so we got some gear and started down the road on foot. There was a fork at one spot that lead up a slope which Geoff decided to try. He found an amazing view of Harrison Lake from the point and begged me to come look. I was already down to the bay and thought I would check it out later. We had a planned radio contact in less than an hour and so I wanted to see as much of the bay and possible glyph as I could.
I made my way along the road which paralleled the shore. It eventually came to two abandoned buildings one looked to be an old chicken coop. The road ended here. I then made my way to the sandy beach, the place is truly quite remarkable and I quite enjoyed taking photos of the bay. As the water level was low I was able to walk out to a small islet and gather some photos from there. In mid-summer with higher water the area would require a boat to reach, we noticed a small dock on the close side of the islet – obviously someone comes by here in the summer to camp and enjoy a secluded spot. I looked for the petroglyph but my best guess co-ordinates indicated it was around a point and the beach ended against cliffs so I wouldn’t be able to get to it from here without swimming. I opted to return to the beach where Geoff had caught up to me and we started back to the truck, it was getting close to the time for my radio contact.
The way back up the road seemed to go quickly and we were soon setting up the antenna. It went up fairly quickly except for the stakes, pounding them into solid rock proved a bit difficult. But we got the assembly done and I was chatting with the guys at home only a few minutes late. While I chatted, Geoff got our kitchen going and cooked our lunch. Once done with the club members I switch to the 15m band and found a chap in Havana, Cuba with whom I was able to have a short chat with. Lunch was now ready and we stopped to eat after which we took down the radio gear. Now that we had seen the road and inspected the rough road section we felt we could drive it should we come back.
As there was another marked road on Doctor’s point we returned to the mainline and searched it out. The start of the road looked rough but it cleaned up quickly and we actually had a decent road to follow for a fair distance around the side of a rise. At one point we were stopped by a tree that had fallen off the cliff face on our right. Its roots were still up the face! We sawed the top off it and dragged it back off the road so we could pass. Geoff made short time of the tree and then we drove on to the end of the spur. According to my map the glyph was only a 100m down from the road but it was steep and forested so we decided to not try hiking it today. Perhaps another trip is warranted.
Just across and up a short distance along the mainline there was another side road following the cliffs to the north. We decided to drive it before heading home. Here we found a nice northerly view of the lake. The road continued along the cliff face and soon we came by a stream crossing where a tree had fallen across the road. It being late, I almost decided to call it but the road looked inviting so we hooked a strap to the tree and dragged it out of the way. I sure am glad we did as the road led to a grand clearing with an amazing view of the north end of the lake. We parked here for a bit and soaked in the grandeur of the spot. It would be an amazing spot to camp out.
Well it was now really starting to get late and we needed to get back to pavement before sunset so we crawled back to the main line and there we made good time south and soon we were driving the pavement at Weaver Creek. It was a great day in the hills, sunny and warm, not too dusty yet and very few people driving around.