Capturing the Art of Nature
East Harrison Camp Out
It was the July long week-end and I thought it a nice day to re-visit the east Harrison FSR and area, unfortunately so did hundreds of campers!
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2007
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Ethan and I drove out to Harrison to see if anything new was to be seen. I thought we could drop in to Cook’s Cove first and then continue on along the FSR to Silver River. Upon arriving at the FSR all seemed quite normal, the morning was a bit dull but had promise of breaking up a bit in the early afternoon. Our first stop was at a viewpoint of the lake where I took a few shots. Then it was on to Slollicum Creek (Upper Rainbow) Falls where we had a lovely view of the water, it was running faster than we have normally seen before. The mists formed by the fall where quite impressive.
Our next stop was at Cook’s Cove – what a shock! The place was crowded with campers. It has gotten so popular that there is now a host and a $10 per night fee! Though the views were still spectacular, the noise from the boom boxes definitely distracted from the previous solitude the area afforded. I chatted with the forestry host who said that they can have 100+ campers in this small area now on a week-end! Needless to say I took my pictures and moved on, I really wasn’t enjoying the place that much as people seemed to be crowding into most scenes.
It was then up the FSR to Bear Creek. We didn’t get far before we were stopped by a forestry worker to collect nightly fees if we were staying, this seemed a bit odd. But as we got to about 2km from Bear creek we came across the first signs of real trouble – bumper-to-bumper parked cars! There were so many people camping along the shore of the lake that finding a parking spot was difficult. Ethan & I just couldn’t believe the numbers of cars & people. You know it has gotten bad when you see a number of motor homes drive by looking for parking!
I tried to head up the Cogburn FSR but it was gated as were so many other roads, it seems that the growth of recreational users has intensified the numbers of gates in the area – very frustrating. So we continued up to Silver River where I met more groups camping out. I did get a few photos but decided to head back as it was now getting later rather than drive inland along the river. The area has definitely gotten far too popular for my liking.