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Dust to DustHarrison AreaJuly 25/10 Written by Greg It was a strike-out day! But we still had fun. We went down to the Weaver road to look for the Weaver loop. We took the first turnoff on the right, which was a short trail to a dead end. Strike 1! Back to the Weaver road. We took the next trail to the right, just before the gate to the Weaver Rec Site. We encountered some big deadfall across the road, approximately 3-feet high. I think some thought we were going to turn around. We rolled some smaller logs into place and went over it. Oh yeah, this was Shortys05's first quad ride, and on a brand new quad. Everyone made it over; some with a bit of help. We encountered more big deadfall across the road; only 2-feet high this time. We went over it too. So we're less than a kilometer into our "easy" ride and Shorty's already pulling wheelies over 2-feet-high deadfall. Cool! However, this road was also a dead end. Not cool! Strike 2! 
 Back over the 2nd deadfall. We checked out a side road that led around the back of the lake. Dead end, of course. Strike 3! Fortunately, this is quadding and not baseball, so we kept riding. 
 Back over the 1st deadfall, which seemed real easy now. Back to Harrison West FSR. I checked behind me periodically, but mostly all I saw was dust. I felt sorry for everyone behind me. I kept my speed down, and avoided sliding around the corners, but the dust was everywhere. Looked for the wide turn-off on the left side, where we could enter where those people were camping then duck into the bush on the right, where the trail gets tighter and twists through the forest then pops back out on the main road. Never saw the turn-off OR the exit. Strike 4! Looked for the powerline access that gets us up off the FSR on the left side. Never spotted it! Strike 5! Watched for the little parallel powerline access on the right side. Missed it! Strike 6! Darn! Not doing too well in the spot-the-trail department. We had to content ourselves with ducking down to the "private beach" with the little bridge at the muddy section (where Shortys05 tipped his quad over for some reason; looking to get a QROC sticker maybe). Had lunch on the beach; very pleasant, and a nice break from the dust.  Then down to Hale Creek via the powerline trail, had a quick break from the dust, then back up the powerline trail. UB6 and dokota8615 left us at this point. 
 Then up to Sunrise Lake and the V-rock. I distinctly remember Voodoo saying "Is that it?" when he was half-way up, then on the second half discovering that no, that was not it. haha Yes, this trip was supposed to be easy trails, but everyone was doing so well that we just did Sunrise anyways. Our rides have an "adaptable" difficulty level; it can change depending on how everyone is riding. Plus it was a break from the dust. Voodoo and Lisa left us when we exited Sunrise. 
 Then I FINALLY found one of the loops. This was the "accidental" loop, where we accidentally figured out it was a loop during last time we were here. Nice scenery. Btw, the two access points are really close together on the main road. It was a nice break from the dust. We checked out several roads on the Harrison Lake side between here and 52 kms. Found a bunch of dead-ends, but also some cool little trails down to the water, that were nice breaks from the dust. I was looking for the trail that led to the clear-cut at the end where I bushwacked a new trail through the clear-cut debris last time. Never found it. What are we at? Oh, strike 7! We found a nice campsite on a beach, and the moment Shortys05 pulled in, he was set upon by a blood-thirsty horde of mosquitoes. Despite the heat, he quickly donned a black hoodie for protection. I had a good laugh, because normally they attack me, and this time I was happily eating my sandwich in a short-sleeve shirt, relaxing on a driftwood log at the water's edge, while the mosquitoes were busy harassing Shorty. It was a nice break from the dust.  After exiting one of the trails, Shorty left us to go for a swim in one of the lakes before it got too cold. I can't remember which trail, but it might have been this one. So that left Cedtia, Goosen85 (and passenger Jay), and me. Since we were already this far, we decided to keep going until we reached the 50 km marker, because I knew of a trail that led down to an abandoned logging camp that I thought was around 44 or 46 kms. One of the trails ended at an old house down on the lake. Actually, the trail kept going but you had to cross a sketchy quad-wide bridge that was covered in moss. We didn't want to chance falling into the creek so we turned around. 
 Another old trail we checked out was SEVERELY overgrown. We could barely make it out. The only reason I knew I was going in the right direction was because some of the deadfall had scoring on it from ATV tires. Unfortunately, it eventually petered out (or I missed a turn) and we had to turn around. Bushwacking through that old trail was definitely a trip highlight though. And no dust. Anyways, we checked out a bunch of trails on the Harrison Lake side and finally stopped around the 52 km mark, without ever finding the trail to the abandoned logging camp. Strike 8! We decided to call it a day. Back down the main road, with a stop in a 20-Mile Bay for a break from the dust. We watched several bald eagles lazily riding the currents above us. 
 On the way back, I did spot the short parallel trail and took it, popping back out on the main road just ahead of Cedtia. Can I subtract a strike? Wow, was it EVER dusty. Glad I was leading! Everyone did a great job helping each other out over the obstacles. Shorty, you did AWESOME for your first ride. • Discussion thread |
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