The West Harrison

Nick has Mondays off work and so we felt it would be a great day to drive the back-country. I am still waiting to have the winch added to the truck so our drive would stay to the main roads again. I hadn’t been along the Sts’ailes (West Harrison) Resource Road for years and felt like a nice drive to the 20-mile Bay camp site where I could get some nice photos of Harrison Lake. We loaded ourselves into the truck and set out for the hills. Our first stops were for nourishment, a sandwich at Subway and coffee at Starbucks, not to be left out our truck wanted a drink of diesel as well. The truck being a bit gluttonous, its bill was much higher than Nick and me combined! Done with feeding the masses we set out for Mission and Highway 7.

We were soon driving through Mission on Highway 7 heading east to the Harrison area. The drive went smoothly until we reached the Deroche area where we ran into road work. Three separate sections each with its own single-lane control gates. We were fortunate to sail through the first two but we got delayed on the final one. Finally reaching Harrison Mills we turned off the highway and onto the Morris Valley Road. We had a pleasant drive past the Harrison River marsh and soon we had reached the Weaver Creek Spawning Channel and the end of pavement.

Switching the truck into 4x4 mode we started up the resource road proper.  We stopped by the sign announcing the road radio frequency and I dialed it into my amateur radio. The commercial radio I had expected to have, arrived defective and was on its way back. So today we could monitor the radio traffic but not announce. It was good being able to hear the traffic as logging was active up the road and we needed to be aware of when the next loaded truck would be staring us down. In fact, the first passed us only a few minutes later.

We meandered our way along the route as Nick got used to handling the truck on the gravel, listening for the next truck and avoiding other recreational vehicles making a nuisance of themselves on the road. We stopped at a small pond next to the road. It is a beaver pond and I have often stopped at it to gather a few photos. We then proceeded up the road to the Camp Cove spur unfortunately the road was gated and we were not able to drop down to the cove. Continuing, we carefully listened for the next logging truck as we made our way through a number of sharp turns. As we got closer to the next one, I had Nick pull off into a small spur where I got out to take a few photos while we waited for a pair of trucks to pass us.

We then continued up the road and just prior to the 19km point we reached the Woods Lake campsite entrance. As it was past noon, I felt we could head in there for a bite. The campground was empty except for the host. We pulled into a camping spot near the small lake and parked. It was a lovely sunny day to enjoy the space, lake, fresh-air and general mountain ambience. As we ate, the host worker came by to ask if we were spending the night, being there only for the day she left us after a short chat about the few numbers so far this season.

I was quite amazed at the greening of the place. The last time I was here it was still very black and charred due to the forest fire that ravaged the place back in 2015! One could still see some charred stumps but overall, the place was vibrant with growth. As we wandered the area I was intrigued by a sign the said Phone Booth. We followed its trail to a stone rise that offered a view of Harrison Lake to the east. Whereas there is no cell coverage in the campsite, from this higher point looking across Harrison Lake one could reach the cell tower on the far side with 2 bars of signal. I sent Carolyn a text saying we were at the campsite. After gathering a few photos, we continued along the short trail to the side of Wood Lake and then back to the truck. It is a nice easy camping location and the lake has several features to make swimming and wading easy for kids. Well, it was time to move on. 

Nick felt that he had driven far enough in for the day and so rather than continue in to 20-mile bay we turned back for the drive home. We stopped at a couple of spots for photos including at the small lake near the start of the road – Grace Lake. There I chatted with a chap who was fly fishing in the water. He said he wasn’t having much luck at this lake the next one over was better. Soon we were back driving and then back on pavement.

We made quick time driving back along the Morris Valley Road and when we reached highway 7 I decided to turn east to Agassiz rather than face the three construction zones. Travel on the highway went quickly but we did run into a small construction area on Mount Woodside, fortunately the delay was minimal. The drive through Agassiz went with out any issues and soon we were crossing the Rosedale bridge heading for Highway 1. The rest of the return trip progressed much as it always does, slower than one wants but fast enough to get one home before dinner time. We reached the house around 4:30. It had been a short trip into the hills but another good introductory run for Nick and I sure enjoyed just getting out into the mountains again. The hills are calling me ever louder now.