Capturing the Art of Nature
Harrison East, Talc and Silver Creek
We returned to the East Harrison for an easier day but still have access to some higher levels with snow. Geoff also wanted to visit the Silver Creek area again.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2011
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Geoff hadn’t been back to the east Harrison area since the start of the summer so he was anxious to return to the Silver Creek area, I wanted to gain some altitude to enjoy a bit of snow. As the east Harrison provides a large number of options one can explore, it was the choice for the day. Our day started off normally but then we had a rock tossed at us on the highway chipping our windshield. Fortunately it was small and easily repaired. After a stop in Agassiz for some lunch supplies we zipped through Harrison and began our drive along the FSR.
Our first stop was down on the Cascade peninsula where we parked the truck to explore some rocky rises. They were heavily covered in vibrant moss which looked so nice from the truck and even close-up. Geoff decided to follow the mossy rocks down the slope and managed to find an easy walk all the way to the beach. There he enjoyed the view for a bit before coming back up. I stayed nearer the truck as we hadn’t closed it up fully for an extended absence. Once back to the truck Geoff did a bit of target shooting then we returned to the main line and continued up the road.
A bit passed Bear Creek we came to another mossy overlook that we got out to explore. This area provided a series of steep steps all moss covered. A faint trail continued its way down to the lake but this time Geoff stayed near the top. Again the moss offered a vibrant lush look to the slope which accented the trees growing on the steep cliff face. It was another lovely spot to enjoy and we both found the views refreshing. Continuing up the road we arrived at the camping area just before the Bear Creek log yard and here we parked at the beach and I gathered a few photos of the lake and western mountains. While here we finally came across another vehicle travelling in the area, they were the first one we saw.
I put out a radio call to Carolyn and then we set off once again. As we passed the log yard we saw the road up the South Talc was open and so we opted to drive up there to see what it offered. As we gained elevation we were presented with amazing views of the lakes and cloud shrouded peaks to the north. It was a lovely drive up the north slope of the ridge. There were a number of branches as we made our way, each time we took what looked to be the major fork. Soon we were running south along the west slope where we had glimpses of Harrison Lake below. When the road finally was too over-grown to continue we turned around but the trees snagged the rear bumper and ripped off the section that was bent up! The remaining bumper though solid was very odd to look at. As we neared the fork it started to snow. I got out of the truck at one point and noticed that the snowflakes were each an amazing six sided crystal, looking just like ones sees in photographs – they were actually very pretty.
We took the other fork and continued up the slope eventually reaching the 850m point where the snow was now deep enough to give us some traction issues. The snow was coming down a bit faster and as it was past noon we decided to set up the camp stove and cook some lunch. Geoff was anxious to try out my new stove which he happened to buy for me for Christmas. It worked really well melting the snow for water. The only negative was the snow- even though it was undisturbed; there was enough dirt in it to make the water seem a bit grungy. We boiled water and made some noodle soups and then packed up and returned to the warmth of the truck as it was getting a cold. It was here that we learned that our tonneau cover was not co-operating. The seams were separating and we had to shove it back together to get it to stay on.
Once packed we started back down the side road and continued down to the East Harrison. We next continued north up to the Silver Creek area where we decided to explore the old mine shaft again. Geoff had his bright rechargeable light and so we thought we would have decent light this time. Alas once we started into the cave his light started fading as the charge just wasn’t good enough! So here we were on our third visit and still we had only poor lighting for the darkness. The ground of the mine was much wetter this time and we had to hope over pools quite often as we made our way in. After a walk to the end and back we decided to try one more side road before packing it in for the day.
The branch we chose was a bit passed the air-strip and called the Pine creek FSR. As it was getting towards sunset we had one chance to select a good path up it to a view point for some last photos of the day. We were fortunate in that we chose well and soon reached a high enough point to have a lovely view south of the Silver Creek estuary. I gathered a few quick shots and then we made our way back to the East Harrison for our drive back to pavement. It was soon quite dark and our feeble truck lights were not giving Geoff much help along the wet road. Fortunately he was able to find his way along and we made it back to pavement with only one incident.
Just before leaving the FSR Geoff stopped the truck to lock up his guns and there we noticed that the tonneau cover had once more separated and needed to be reassembled. Unfortunately as Geoff was trying to fix it he saw that the connecting piece had been lost somewhere up the road! So he couldn’t put it back together. At slow speeds the weight would help keep the cover in place but on the highway it wouldn’t. So we folded up the two loose panels and put them in the box and then continued on home. So now our cover was toast and we would need to replace it. Over all the day was good but a bit expensive in truck repairs!