Capturing the Art of Nature
West Harrison Snow Ruts
It felt good to finally get out and enjoy some fresh air. The road was cleared but only the mainline and so everyone was driving it making for a busy road.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2013
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I have been unable to get out much this fall thanks to the weather but today was a lovely sunny day and we felt we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to get away from the crowds. We knew that the weather will have left deep snow on most roads by now and so we had to pick wisely otherwise our drive would be a short one, stopped by snow. We felt that the Sts’ailes (as the West Harrison is now called), would likely give us a good chance of finding enough open road to spend the day on. So we packed up and set off for the Coffee Shop. Once done with fueling up the body and the truck we made our way to the start of the FSR.
Traffic was light and we made good time, the start of the road looked promising and soon we were making our way up the initial section as the road made for the first view of Harrison Lake. As we had thought, there was snow piled up along the side of the road but it was plowed and we felt it would likely be so for a good distance. As we reached the first view of the lake we saw that the side road was rutted but the snow plowing made a rise with steep access to the side road. At first we felt we would walk it but Geoff soon felt it was easy enough to drive and so over the lip we went and splashed through an icy puddle. The road had a crusty layer of snow with a depth of around a foot on the main road area. We didn’t go far as the view I wanted was in just a short ways.
As I enjoyed the beauty of the lake and fresh snow on the peaks, Geoff looked over some heavy logging equipment that was parked alongside the road. Once I was done taking photos, we started back for the mainline, Geoff found a spot to turn-a-round but it was too deep in snow and we were starting to spin and dig ourselves into a hole. So he back tracked and looked for another spot which proved to be more solid and we were soon back on the main line heading north.
As we continued along we could see that the side roads were mostly buried in snow and would not be easy to travel, some were simply blocked by the deep piles of snow left from the plow. Our next stop was at the beaver pond which the mainline curves around. I gathered a few simple shots from the side of the road – not too adventurous today. Further along, we pulled into a short spur that offered us a few views of the lake. Here we heard some chain saw activity and after a short drive further up the mainline we came by some natives cutting up a fallen tree. As we continued north enjoying periodic views of the lake we noticed that the snow was getting deeper, the road narrower and the plow piles higher. It was now a one lane road with tall snow walls beside us – a bit inconvenient should a truck be coming towards us.
As we approached the Mystery Creek fork we came by a group of foresters working on their equipment alongside the road. They were making it hard to get past but with a bit of determination we were soon on our way up the road. We soon passed the Mystery Creek sign as we followed the clear path along not realizing that we just passed the fork, the mainline was not cleared and we didn’t even realize we had moved onto the Mystery Creek FSR. We continued west and stopped on a bridge where I got out to take a few photos of the frozen over creek. Here we ran into some ATV’s and a truck wanting to get past. Geoff pulled the truck forward and made room for them.
We continued up the Mystery Creek FSR and soon gained some elevation on the north side of the valley. Soon we came to a nice viewpoint where I got out to take photos. It was here that we met up with a caravan of 12+ jeeps trekking together. They unfortunately were coming down the road and it being one lane Geoff opted to back up a kilometer to a wide spot. Meanwhile I gathered a few photos. Geoff eventually made it back and we continued up the road the short distance further which was cleared. Here was a wide spot with some trailers that were occupied. We looked around briefly and then started back along the road. We decided to go to the fork and see if we could travel along the actual West Harrison.
When we reached the fork we noticed some ruts heading out, but it looked deep and I didn’t think we could get far. Geoff wanted to give it a go but just as he was getting ready to move a pair of ATV’s came up the road and told us that the snow got very deep quickly and they got stuck only a short ways in and there was a tree down which we would need to clear to get even that far. We reluctantly decided to not try it. We started our drive back along the mainline past the loggers and started looking for a good side road to try.
We soon found one on the lake side of the road and there we came to the same two ATV’s who had stopped for a bit of lunch. We chatted for a bit and decided to eat our own lunch. While there a few jeeps came and went heading down the side road we were on which led down the slope to the lake. Once we finished lunch we decided we would also try the road but we soon discovered that we weren’t going anywhere – our hot tires had melted the snow where we were parked and now we couldn’t move. We were about to hook up the winch when another jeep came by and offered to give us a pull which we accepted.
We then set off down the road it was steep, snow covered, icy and extremely rough. We probably shouldn’t have tried it. But others had and we thought it would be fine. Unfortunately, not far from the bottom we encountered an extremely rough washed out section that was just too much for our long wheelbase. So we turned around and started up. It was as we cleared the worst of the challenges that we remembered that we had a broken leaf spring and should be taking things easy. We quickly got out to see if the spring was twisted but it looked fine and so we continued up. Soon we came to a steep water crossing that had formed an ice patch which stopped us dead. So we had to winch ourselves passed the stream to where we could get some traction. Soon enough we were back on the mainline heading south.
The clouds had moved in a bit and the sun was getting low so we decided to head home. As we came to the Helmlock Valley FSR I noticed that side road looked drivable and might be clear enough to reach a viewpoint so we started up it. We didn’t get too far – the first switch back – but we did get a nice view of the lake. As Geoff turned around at the switch back we got stuck. We felt that it would be best to put on the chains and so we dug out around the tires and put on the chains. It was hard going as our hands were cold and not that nimble. Eventually the chains were in place and we resumed our turn-a-round. This time we were able to get turned and we started down the road, not far along Geoff looked out and one of the chains had twisted and we had to remove it, we decided to continue without it. Soon a second and then third chain followed suit and we finished the drive down the spur with a single chain in place. We hadn’t put the rubber tensioners in place and so the chains were slipping. But we were soon back on the clear mainline and we set off for the start of the Fsr. The short remaining distance went without surprises and once at the end we checked over the springs – they still looked fine and so we left for home after a stop in Abbotsford for an end of day coffee.