Capturing the Art of Nature
Harrison East
It still being too early in the season for most locations, the East Harrison is a good location as it offers much to do being at low elevation and with many side roads.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2011
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The winter this year piled on 50% more snow than normal in the hills and it will take quite some time yet for the higher roads to be passable – most annoying. So I still need to keep finding low elevation trips to fill my wanderlust for the back country. The East Harrison offers a lot of side roads to explore and goes for over 60kilometers itself, so I thought it would be a suitable place to spend the day. I also wanted to look over the small abandoned mine shaft we saw earlier in the year and then continue north along the Silver River to see the lovely gorges the river flows through.
So we set off just after 8:30 and made our way to Abbotsford for coffee then Agassiz for fuel and food supplies for lunch; that part of the trip was routine but soon we were beside the lake and onto the FSR proper. Our first stop was at the first viewpoint for the customary look out over the lake, we found the cottages across the way quite interesting today and noticed a road connecting some of them that caught our eye. We wondered if it connected up to the road leading to Cook’s Cove – previously we noticed a new gate on a side road there that just may now lead to these cabins. Perhaps next trip we will explore it a bit more.
Once past the cabin area we made our way up to the mine shaft. There we pulled out our flashlights and cameras and made our way into the dark. There was now one new problem – the big flashlight seemed to have no juice for the bright beam and my small light was intermittent! What a great start to exploring a dark cave. We decided to continue on in despite the poor lighting, once our eyes had adapted to the dark the feeble light that we did have seemed to be sufficient to explore the cave – so we went deeper – hoping all the time that they wouldn’t just up and die on us at the far end! Once we reached the end we stopped to look over the graffiti there and then Geoff set up his tripod and started taking some long exposure images while I moved the light around. It provided some interesting images with all levels of exposure. We slowly made our way back while I gathered a few close-ups of some of the water effects on the walls.
As we returned to the truck we saw a group of campers heading towards the cave – they didn’t seem to have much light either so I wasn’t sure how far in they would go. But we were now done with the cave and ready to move on up the Silver River to see some of the sights in the gorge. There were a number of side roads we passed that looked interesting but we were keen on reaching the end of the main line before time ran out so we would need to try them again another day. The next stop was at the confluence of the Clear River and Silver. Here we found some interesting pools and rapids to hold our attention for a while. Continuing up we soon arrived at the old logging camp. Unfortunately the camp was all gone and was actually completely cleaned up! That sure came as a surprise.
Next stop was the high bridge over the Silver River just past the start of the deep gorge section of the river. As we reached the bridge two chaps on ATV’s were stopped on the bridge blocking our way so they moved a bit for us to pass. We parked on the far side of the bridge and I gathered a few shots while they set off up the road. The view from the bridge really is quite remarkable and I quite enjoy the spot, though getting too near the edge of the bridge does induce a bit of vertigo so I need to be quite careful while taking photos from the bridge.
We continued on up the road, passing a small waterfall on a side stream and a number of deep narrow side gorges that would make fascinating images if one could rappel down into them somehow. Sadly that is well beyond my abilities at this time! We finally made our way to the fork which leads back across the river and on up the Shovel Creek FSR. There on the bridge were the two chaps in their ATVs again. This time we stopped to chat with them for a few minutes. Geoff continued to talk while I made my way across some logs from an old bridge structure to where I had a nice view of a waterfall. It was just barely visible from the bridge being obscured by trees but here I had a great view of not just the water but also of the roar from it. Soon Geoff joined me and after more photos we returned to the truck.
It being lunch time we decided to stay at the bridge and eat. I also wanted to set up my HF radio gear and do some communication tests. Geoff meanwhile wanted to try out his new portable single burner stove. So while he boiled some fresh river water, I listened on the bands to stations from the east coast and Europe. Once done with lunch and radio tests we packed up and continued up the East Harrison. Shovel Creek was blocked by snow only a few dozen meters past where we stopped for lunch!
The road on past the fork was somewhat poorer in quality and we enjoyed the pleasure of more potholes and bumps! But we didn’t get all that much further before even the East Harrison was covered in dense snow. So the extent of our journey was now set and we could only turn back and try a few of the side roads as we came back to them. Our next stop was just in from the main line where a short spur tracks along a tributary stream. At the end we found an old gutted truck chassis that Geoff gave a once over.
Back to the main line we continued south to the site where there used to be another side road which crossed over the Silver River. Here the logs from the old bridge were stacked up blocking access to the river. They were quite serious about preventing vehicles from attempting to cross here. It was a shame as the old road on the far side showed some interesting possibilities on the map. The river at this point was quite fast flowing as it made its way through the rocky gorge. We were able to get up close to it for some interesting shots. While I was taking photos Geoff was busy sifting through a small area of sand looking for flakes of the good stuff – he did find one shiny flake but we weren’t sure of its composition.
A few drops of rain hit us so we returned to the truck and continued during our way out. We made a few more short detours on some side roads but nothing took much time and so we were soon back to the main travelled areas. At Bear Creek we took a few moments to watch a tug pull in a barge to the shore to off load some heavy equipment. It was quite interesting to see how they swung the barge around 180 degrees to make it possible to drive off the equipment. Once bored with that we continued on south and soon were off the FSR and onto smooth pavement. The rest of the trip home went quickly except for the brief stop in Sardis for a coffee. A pleasant trip and one I will need to repeat this summer so I can explore the farthest reaches of the East Harrison. That area I have not seen even after all these years.