Capturing the Art of Nature
East Harrison and the Talc
We returned to the Harrison region and took a side trip up the Talc Creek Valley
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2015
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We didn’t get out over the holidays so we felt quite desperate to get back into the hills and today seemed like a fair chance of seeing some nature. Though the weather wasn’t great, the forecast did indicate the day would improve as it progressed, so we felt we would take the chance and head out.As there has been some snowfall in the region we felt that the East Harrison would give us the best options as the power project would be keeping the road clear. The truck was a bit disorganized after the long gap of the holidays so reloading the truck and organizing things took a bit longer than normal, but we finally got under way.
Our second stop after coffee was for fuel. We were very pleased to find a station in Aldergrove selling gas at under 90 cents a litre! It sure felt great seeing the tank full and not even $100 spent. It felt like old times. Next we pulled into to Davis Meat shop to load up on some really good beef jerky. This stuff is so good it would be worth a drive to Abbotsford just for it. Munching through the jerky, we quickly made our way to the start of the logging road.
We arrived in good time and set about configuring things for the off-road. The weather was still very dull and drizzly but the road was clear and on we went. It seemed to be smoother than normal likely thanks to the power project keeping it in shape. The dullness and low cloud blocked most sights and I was wondering if we would find much to shoot. At least the waterfalls were interesting and we stopped at a couple along the way. Slollicum Creek (Upper Rainbow) Falls is always a lovely sight even though the fog was obscuring the top portion of the fall. Continuing on it wasn’t long before we were stopped by a grader smoothing the road. He pulled over to let us pass and driving the area he had finished was certainly pleasant.
I had hoped to pull into the camp site at the point by the Bear Creek sort yard to gather some lake photos but it was occupied and so we just continued along and started up the Talc Creek FSR. It looked drivable as the snow was only a couple inches deep. We arrived at the bridge over the creek and noticed that the road deck timbers had rotted away in a number of places. The holes exposed the cross beams and the creek far below in the gaps. Geoff and I explored the situation and decided the bridge was solid enough, we would just need to bounce along over the support beams in the rotten gaps. It looked more threatening than it really was. We continued up the road for a few Km slowly gaining a bit of elevation and finally enjoyed some views of Harrison Lake. We were fortunate in that the snow wasn’t deep and didn’t stop us from driving.
Soon we came by a fork and took the upper one, this allowed us to gain some elevation and follow along the Cogburn Creek side of the slope for a couple of kilometers before the road ended. Here we had a few interesting views but nothing amazing thanks to the low cloud level. On the way down we met another SUV heading up this branch. They seemed to have been following our trail. We returned to the fork and started down the lower branch. This made its way along the Talc Creek Valley, not too far in we came by a narrow section with a number of large boulders on the road. They had fallen from the slope above and were now blocking our way. Geoff moved a number of them, sending them crashing down the slope to our side. This was much hasrder than expected and really tired him out. We were left with the one biggest rock still in the middle of the road blocking our way. With only that one left we decided to try dragging it with the truck. After a few attempts we had it moved out of the way and with the way clear, we drove through the narrow section and continued up the road.
We had a few more tight corners and the snow was hiding a few holes but we made it in another km before we encountered another rock covered section. This one had just too many rocks that needed to be moved. Though not big they would have taken some time to clear. We parked the beast and decided to walk on past to view a small waterfall just beyond the rock field. I gathered photos from a number of angles before returning to the truck. Done with this scene, we backed the truck down a bit to a wider section of road where Geoff turned the truck around. Not far past the first area we cleared, we met up with the same SUV we passed earlier. This time they stopped us to ask about the road. We mentioned the situation and left them to go on and explore it. By now we were hungry and wanted to find a decent site in which to eat.
Geoff had the camp sites along Cogburn Creek in mind and so that was where we headed. The main site was occupied with a number of tents and trucks but on the north side of the creek it was empty and we pulled in under some trees and cooked our lunch. It was a good decision as the drizzle picked up a bit while we ate. After feasting we continued up the road to the Silver Creek area. Here we heard on the road frequency the approach of a rock truck. It was hauling gravel for the grader we had passed earlier. When it came beside us we saw just how big a vehicle it was, it didn’t leave us much room even though the FSR is fairly wide. As the road was now occupied by large moving things we started calling our position as well.
At Silver Creek we turned off the road and made for the beach. The lake level was down and we were able to get out further onto the once covered lake bed. Here Geoff spotted two water puddles that he enjoyed driving through. It did help to wash the front of the truck and cleared some of the grime. I was able to gather a few interesting lake shots as I walked along the area towards the mouth of the Big Silver Creek. Some sandy sections were quite soft and I was a bit concerned as to how far one might sink in. Once I had reached the creek we returned to the FSR and started on our way back down.
We called out our travel positions as we made our way down as by this time we were hearing the calls from at least 3 rock trucks moving up the road. We pulled aside before we met each one. There were other pickups driving along but they didn’t seem to care and barely got out of the way as the big trucks came by. Eventually we passed the grader and the rest of the road was clear. We still had time to explore a bit more so we turned on to the Cascade Peninsula side road and made our way down to the Cooks Cove camp ground. It was gated but we parked and walked down to the lake. I took the opportunity to get an updated photo of the tree that was growing through a large tire. It still had room to grow. As it was now getting darker my photography period was rapidly closing, we quickly explored a bit of the area and then returned to the truck for the drive home.
Though the day remained dull and damp, I felt it was well worth the effort to get out and see the sights. We did enjoy seeing a few new things and listening to the activity of some 4x4’s drivers on amateur radio who were busy making their way along on the west side of the lake. On our next trip we will need to go up and actually look at the power project as it should be showing some signs of interest by now.