Capturing the Art of Nature
West Harrison South
One always drives past the south end of the lake when exploring the deeper areas but I had never stopped to enjoy this section until today.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2009
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I have been skipping past the south part of Harrison Lake for years as I made my way further north into the more travelled areas. This southern section seemed almost mysterious as there was a fairly large area with no roads marked on it. Yet I was sure the area was accessible to me in my 4x4. So Ethan and I set out to try and find the hidden entry point to this part of the lake. Our first stop was to explore the area around tiny Morris Lake. Morris is reached by a minor road branching off next to the Weaver Creek fish hatchery.
I was hopeful we could reach the Harrison River but shortly past the lake we ran into signs telling us we were on private property. Not a very friendly notice and though I understood the road to be public I wasn't certain and so we decided to go no further and return via a higher newly cleared road. The upper road offered a few great views of the little lake and the mud flats we passed on the way in. This initial trek didn't take long and we were soon along our way on the actual West Harrison FSR.
We took a brief stop at Grace Lake where there were a number of camping groups already setup for the week-end. I didn't want to disturb them too much so we didn't wander over their sites too much. As we traveled further in we noticed a small road heading off the main FSR and we tried it but got only a few hundred feet before being blocked by a narrow road, we will need to try it again with a ATV. We continued up the FSR and soon reached the first look-out over Harrison Lake. We pulled over and stopped to enjoy the view and get a quick bite to eat. The day was partially overcast with the forecast of showers, one could see the worsening weather as we ate our sandwich so we weren't expecting much from the rest of the day.
Once fed, I looked around and noticed the transmission line service road heading due south with an access point right next to us. As I had spent last week-end travelling a service road, I thought that this one may be our way to explore the hidden region. My topographical maps show the logging roads but they miss all the hydro service roads so this convenient road was not shown on my map. I was hopeful it would take us to the last tower this side of the Harrison River. The real question was whether the road was passable with our truck. We set off and enjoyed the views of the lake and the steep cliffs of Echo Island. The road wasn't too bad along this first section but soon we rounded a curve and were faced with a 100 yards of snow covered road. Now normally when one finds snow on the road this time of year you are pretty well done travelling forward so I was quite disappointed.
But Ethan glanced over the patch and though it was on a bit of an angle, it didn't seem overly deep and the road past the patch seemed quite clear for some distance - this patch was actually the only snow we encountered - so we made our run at it and after a few tries got through, the first travelers of the season! We made our way past a number of great viewpoints of the lake, planning to visit them on our return. After a few challenging washouts and steep sections we reached the end of the road at the last tower this side of the river. At first I was somewhat disappointed at this location as there was virtually no view of the lake or river, but I decided to get out and walk over the area just past the cleared tower area.
It was sure worth the effort in making ones way over a rough rocky section. The view of the Harrison River was spectacular! Standing under the power lines as they dropped down and over the river to the other side was an incredibly lovely view. Standing there near the edge gave me a mild sense of vertigo and I needed to pull back for a few moments before continuing with my photos. I returned to the truck and encouraged Ethan to come back with me to enjoy the view. So I grabbed the rest of my camera gear and we returned to the over-look and grabbed a few more shots. While there the rain finally caught up with us and we scurried back to the truck to stay dry and to get past the rocks before they got slippery. This view alone was worth the effort of the day. Now to get to that first tower on the other side!
As we took a rest in the truck while we let the shower pass, I reflected on the look of the road in front of us that we had just travelled to get here and recalled my thoughts from earlier in the year when I was staying at the Harrison Resort. Back then Ethan & I were looking across the lake to this area where we saw a road that looked very inviting and we wondered how we could get to it - well here we were travelling it! It certainly was as good as we had imagined it would be.
After the short shower we made our way back this time taking a number of short side branches to the individual towers and the viewpoints they offered. Some offered phenomenal views north along the lake and as the clouds and rain were intermittently obscuring the distant hills we had an endless variety of moods to the region to capture. As we drove north we came to a side road that after some reflection we figured it was the far end of the road we had been turned back on earlier! A few more stops for photos and we were soon back to our lunch spot and the main FSR.
It was an amazing short journey. The weather far from ruining the opportunities actually greatly enhanced the photo ops. I was very pleased with the trip and the sights were encountered. I definitely want to go back to that last tower and spend some more time capturing the sights. It would be an interesting spot to pick the season properly to capture a sunset over the Harrison from that location. I guess I will need to do some sunset research with Google Earth.