Senior Hiking #377 - Harrison Lake

32° - 35°


Nov 8, 2010…Harrison Lake 1st snow hike …tr #217…
hike # 377
by Betsy

Thinking that this could be our last opportunity to head up to the mountain trail heads, and with snow in the forecast, we headed up Upper Pack River Rd. We brought all our gear, not knowing what to expect…snowshoes, boots, gaiters, and warm clothes. On the last section of road, we began to see snow, not only along the sides of the road but falling from the sky as well. There was no one at the trail head…no surprise here…and we bundled up. I wore my snowshoe boots and gaiters, more for water protection and warmth than for comfort. They are not hiking boots but I can get along with them okay. We left the snowshoes in the truck.

We got so engrossed in all the wildlife tracks, and were studying what looked like a nice bear print when I looked up ahead on the trail and saw two hunters coming down. It scared the daylights out of me as I jumped, thinking it was a bear! They had parked in a spot past the trail head so we hadn’t seen their rig…and took a critter trial up…they had not gone to the lake…not sure if they even knew there was a lake. They were hunting for deer but had seen nothing.

There was so much water on the trails and the creeks were overflowing due to all the rains we have received…it looked more like a heavy spring run off. And stepping in so many mud filled sinkholes was not that much fun. I had to take my fleece vest off at our snack spot.

Plodding on, the snow got deeper and deeper and we guessed it was close to three feet. Post holing slowed us down considerably. By the time we got to the lake, the temperature had dropped down to 33° and we ate our lunch under the big rock overhang before walking over to the lake to take pictures. I put more clothes on before we took off...everything was cold now…my hands, my feet, even my nose. And I stayed cold for most of the way down and figured that from now on I would go into winter clothes mode…warmer long johns on bottom and two or more on top. It snowed for about half the way down.

Left home 9:10Got to trail head 10:05Started up 10:15Got to lake 12:45 (2 hours 30 min)
Headed down 1:00
Got to truck 3:00 (2 hours)
Total miles hiked 6 miles
Total hiking time 4 hours, 45 minutes