Harrison Hut Workhike (Fall 2024)

Trip Leader: Duncan Maclntyre
Participants: Lyra Gui, Juliane Bonnefoy, Sophie Wigman, Joseph Chiao, Sara Bellman, Timm Rohweder, Zihan (Quintus) Zhou

Note: please refer to Duncan’s report which will be published shortly after this one for details regarding the hut and repairs done. The present report will be about non-technical information.

There were many unknowns going into this trip: How far up the FSR can we drive? How’s the trail? Is there a trail? But looking at gorgeous pictures of Harrison Hut and the approach stats, I knew it would be a fun time.

Day 1

Driving

The day started with the two cars meeting at the Pemberton McDonalds at 9:30 am. We had breakfast, paired up walkie-talkies, and left for the road. The first incident of the day was a flat tire on Duncan’s car a few minutes after we passed the first gate. Luckily the full-size spare tire I was carrying was only slightly larger than his tires so it fit without much issue. We were able to keep driving comfortably given we still had two more spare donut tires between us.

Changing the flat. PC: Juliane Bonnefoy

After driving through the open 24km gate, we took a left to begin the majority of our drivable elevation gain. We were delighted to find that the road was clear of snow all the way up to where it levels out at around 800m elevation. We encountered a large boulder blocking the road about three-quarters of the way up. After many unsuccessful and poorly coordinated attempts to move it by hand, Timm remembered that we’re a bipedal species with opposable thumbs and began using a big stick as a lever. This worked brilliantly. The road conditions started deteriorating after this point, mostly due to the overgrowth of alders. Fortunately, trees are softer than cars so we performed trail maintenance by driving over them. Eventually, we encountered some bigger stumps, so we spent about 30 minutes removing the bush with a hatchet, saw, and battle axe. We were able to drive another hundred meters or so this way but ultimately decided that getting to the hut was more important than clearing the trail so we parked at a wide spot and continued on foot.

Overgrown road. PC: Lyra Gui

This picture deserves a Mazda sponsorship. PC: Juliane Bonnefoy

Old Harrison Trail

Near the end of the FSR, we came across a ground fire. I suggested putting a tarp over it to create a steam sauna but Joseph insisted that we do the work hike instead of having a spa day. The coordinates were marked and later reported to the government.

The steam from the ground fire smelled like a rustic cedar sauna (that’s on fire). PC: Sophie Wigman

The end of the FSR leads into an annoying but short section of cut-block bushwhacking. Some devil’s club but not terrible overall, especially compared to what is yet to come. Once in the forest, the old trail is in amazing condition. We suspected that large animals were using the trail and keeping it clear because snow-covered sections on day 2 had frequent urine-stained patches along the trail. After 500m, we got to a lookout facing the Meager slide (Capricorn Creek).

Capricorn Creek lookout. PC: Quintus Zhou.

About 1.2km into the trail was the first cut block. This is where the bushwhacking began. Some cut blocks were restored to a reasonable condition (though slippery and hazardous, a clear route had been marked and steps were cut into larger logs) while others were not at all. Thorns, loose rocks and logs, deep holes, slippery creek crossings, and sections with no visible trail markers made our pace painfully slow. We decided to split up the group due to a difference in pace with Joseph, Sara, Timm, Sophie, and Juliane going ahead. This group did some serious trail-finding and marked the route with orange tape.

Joseph’s GPS track in one of the cut-blocks.

Joseph with the trail tape, clearly enjoying the bushwhack. PC: Sophie Wigman

A few hours later, it started getting dark, and we were nowhere near the next FSR section. It became increasingly apparent that we were unlikely to find a campsite on this trail. It was then decided that Joseph and Sara were going to run ahead until they found a suitable campsite, and Joseph was going to drop his backpack and run back to help Lyra, who was struggling as this was one of her first backpacking trips, carry her pack. About 2km from the end of the Old Harrison Trail was a ridge with a small clearing that could fit tents. It would have been a very uncomfortable night trying not to slide off our slanted sleeping pads. The people running ahead made the call to keep going. I think it was a good decision. The trail starts getting better for a few hundred meters before entering cut blocks again. The last couple hundred meters of the trail did not have any cut blocks and were in good condition. The last of us arrived at the FSR at around 10:30 pm. We sat around Joseph’s tarp discussing our plans for the next day and then went to bed. It was a cold night with little sleep for most people.

Trying to not fall off a wet log into a pit of devil’s club. PC: Lyra Gui

Day 2

Maintained Harrison Trail

The plan was again to split into two groups. The first group (Duncan, Joseph, Sara, Timm, Quintus) was going to take all of the construction materials and head up first to begin working on the hut while the second group (Juliane, Sophie, Lyra) could carry more of everything else and move at a slower pace. I gave Juliane my food bag and the hut first aid kit. We packed up together and left our tents, wrapped in Joseph’s tarp, on the side of the FSR.

Sophie and Juliane packing up the last tent. PC: Lyra Gui

The trail on day 2 felt like a paved road compared to the bushwhack on day 1. In addition to lots of yellow snow, we also saw numerous bear prints along the trail. Although we felt much more at ease walking on solid ground rather than stick piles, our pace still wasn’t as fast as we expected due to the slushy snow and heavy packs. We had lunch on trail with an assortment of shared foods – brownies from Joseph, candied salmon from Duncan, and gouda from Timm (the gouda might’ve been shared at the hut, I just remember having some good cheese). My VOC snowshoe snapped in half on one side shortly after I put it on. It was still usable but a bit painful because it just twists towards the broken side. We made it to the hut around 4:30 pm. The final creek crossing was also the sketchiest as it was difficult to discern solid ground from very-not-solid snow bridges as we hopped from boulder to boulder. Joseph and Duncan went for a swim (unintentionally). I unfortunately was not there to see it, as I had sprinted ahead for the hut. They promptly removed their wet clothing, started a fire, and dried off. The second group announced their arrival on the radio at around 6 pm, well after sunset. I went out to greet them at the creek and to make sure that no more people went swimming.

Sophie, Lyra, and Juliane looking very happy to be on a trail. PC: Sophie Wigman

Final creek crossing before the hut. PC: Sara Bellman

How do we get on the roof?

Shortly after a nice warm dinner, Joseph and I went out to look for the ladder. It was not found despite our best efforts at excavating around the hut and both outhouses. Fortunately, Joseph carried up the gear to set up a 3 to 1 hauling system. We spent the evening testing out various configurations, including trying to ascend the rope with 2 prusiks (which turns out does not work against a slippery metal surface if you want to get back down), and settled on the one pictured below (picture taken the next morning):

3 to 1 hauling system. PC: Quintus Zhou

We wrapped a sling around a tree, clipped the rope and prusik into it, and threw one end of the rope over the roof (to tie in with a figure 8 on the other side). To pull someone up, we’d use alpine butterflies on the hauling strand (that was the plan, but we ended up having enough people to just yank on the rope). once the person has reached the top, the progress capture prusik would catch and we’d clove hitch the hauling strand to a tree via another carabiner and sling. To lower, someone would tie into the hauling strand with a belay device, pull enough slack so that another person can loosen the prusik, and then lower as usual. This system worked remarkably well. There might’ve been better ways, but we’re quite proud of our (mostly Joseph’s) invention.

We then realized that there was a ladder sitting right in front of us in the hut: the one that connects the loft. The following morning, after everyone had gotten what they needed for the day from upstairs, we unscrewed the ladder and took it outside. It wasn’t long enough to reach the top, but it significantly reduced the height we had to haul.

Day 3

Hut shenanigans

I slept through the night warm and cozy next to the fire while a blizzard raged outside. The downstairs bench was quite wide, so it made for a more comfortable sleeping arrangement than squishing everyone in the loft. It got cold at one point so I restarted the fire with a small log. People upstairs reportedly did not enjoy that because they had just zipped up their sleeping bags. In the morning, Joseph taught everyone alpine butterflies (which we thought we needed). We cleared out some flat areas around the hut. I tried to set up the ladder by jumping on it so that it would set itself in the snow, but this broke the bottom step. Another fun project for later along with fixing my snowshoes.

Duncan took the first shift on the roof since he was the most familiar with the hut and understood what needed to be fixed (reminder to please see his report on the repair details). We took turns hauling him up, holding the ladder, and staying in the hut. Joseph was on lowering duty with the only other harness. People in the hut organized things and took inventory. It was at this point we realized that the hut had many of the tools we brought up, including a hammer and lots of screws. We also did not need the three Dewalt batteries we carried up – we didn’t even get through the first one. Sophie and Julianne constructed a pair of knee pads using cardboard and ski straps for Duncan since he had to kneel on the cold metal roof. They reportedly worked very well. I tried to pass Duncan a screwdriver by tossing it up to him but after 3 unsuccessful attempts, it got buried in the snow and was never seen again. I excavated the entire area without much luck.

Duncan on the roof. PC: Juliane Bonnefoy

Makeshift kneepads. PC: Sophie Wigman

We had lunch around noon. All the work inside the hut had been completed by this point, so people were getting into some mischief throwing snowballs and trying to summit a frozen boulder. The storm clouds were finally beginning to clear, revealing the vast valley below and the furrowed glaciers at the edge of the Pemberton ice field. It was a chill time hanging around the hut and the blue sky made it all the more dreamy. Besides enjoying the immaculate vibes, people on the ground also made quick work of filling the panel gaps with sealant tape.

Here comes the sun! PC: Juliane Bonnefoy

Halfway through the afternoon, Joseph took over repairs on top of the hut and I put on a harness to lower him. Not long after, the storm clouds rolled in again. Idle people quickly found themselves sitting around the fireplace, but not wanting to waste firewood, intensely discussing how long they should wait before starting the fire. Sophie and I decided to install the new latch on the outhouse door so that it could be kept shut from the outside but discovered that we had forgotten the latch at the car along with the VOC journal. We improvised using a U-shaped nail, some flimsy string, and a long screw. The hand-placed screw was a bit slanted and was later improved upon by Joseph. I then started fixing my snowshoes without much success. Half of the snowshoe frame had snapped clean and there wasn’t a good way to tape or strap it. Then Joseph came in with the impact driver and we found a way to use a long screw to hold the frame together.

Joseph going on the roof and people in the back filling panel gaps. PC: Juliane Bonnefoy

Improvised outhouse latch. PC: Sophie Wigman

The fire got started around 5 pm and we had a nice and warm dinner inside the hut an hour or so later. The hut smelled amazing from the surprisingly creative dinner menus everyone had. Also, I’ve never seen better backcountry food than what Duncan brought on this trip – whole oranges, a big bag of fresh snap peas, whole raw eggs, and more. Every meal he’d take out a new surprise item from his bag and share it with everyone. Joseph went back on the roof after dinner with Duncan’s help while everyone else stayed cozy inside. I had a jam sesh with the surprisingly nice hut guitar. Construction for the day finished just past 9 and the ladder was brought back inside. Using a piece of scrap wood we sawed to length earlier as reinforcement, Sophie and I screwed the broken step with the intact side up into the scrap wood and then into the ladder. Since the impact driver bit for the long screws was attached to the screwdriver I lost, we had to drive these screws by hand using other screwdrivers. Sophie was way better than me at this and did most of the work. At the same time, the smell of popcorn and cheese powder filled the hut as people were cooking up Sophie’s dried corn kernels in a hut pan. After the ladder was screwed back into the hut, we made it upstairs and discovered that the source of the leak might’ve been found as the sealant we put in the roof now rests on Joseph’s sleeping bag. It appears to have dripped through the screw holes. Joseph wanted to stay up a bit later and write an entry in the hut journal, so we swapped sleeping spots. We decided to keep the fire going all night to dry out the hut, which turned out a bit fruitless as we got it wet again the next day.

Popcorn! PC: Sophie Wigman

Culinary masterclass taking place on the wood stove. PC: Lyra Gui

Day 4

Leaving the hut

The final day at the hut greeted us with a gorgeous sunrise. We took a group photo outside after breakfast and prepared to leave in three groups. Lyra, Sophie, and I left first to break trail, Timm, Juliane, and Sara caught up not long after, and Joseph and Duncan stayed for two more hours to finish up roof repairs and clean up the hut. I had a lot of fun getting a taste of the coming ski season by semi-controlled falling through knee-deep powder. The trail was really pretty with the sun peeking through the trees as the storm had transformed the slushy nightmare into a winter paradise. Joseph and Duncan didn’t get to take as leisurely of a walk as we did, having to basically run down with no breaks. We had lunch in the creek bed of the last river crossing.

Group photo before departure. PC: Sophie Wigman

The way down was pretty and fun. PC: Sophie Wigman

Joseph and Duncan arrived at where we left the tents 5 minutes after everyone else. Here, an important decision was made: we were going to take the closed FSR back instead of the bushwhack. Duncan can probably give you a better breakdown of the reasoning behind this decision as the trip leader. But to me, it boiled down to this: no amount of other reasons should make us compromise on safety. And with only safety in mind, it was clear the FSR was the much safer option. The bushwack was much worse than we expected prior to the trip. With the additional rain and snow, as well as more fatigue, the risk of injury was much too high. Extraction would’ve been incredibly difficult for even an ankle sprain (which almost happened a few times on day 1): helicopter rescue likely wasn’t possible given the weather and the lack of a flat surface, and overland extraction would be very difficult. While we did not have a precise precipitation history, we assessed that the landslide risk was likely in the “Low” risk situation identified in the March 10, 2012 engineering report. That report recommends that it is safe to access the Meager Creek area in these conditions. Rockfall hazard was a concern but we felt that we could manage this risk by being aware of our surroundings, moving quickly through rockfall areas, and spreading out. We put our helmets on and steered clear of the Meager Creek hot springs. As we hiked out, we admired the dramatic landscape while also watching for rockfall hazards, stopping for breaks only in safe areas. We got to the 24km gate junction half an hour after dark.

Some of the biggest rockfall on the FSR. PC: Duncan Maclntyre

I was getting quite sleepy near the end so Duncan and I planned to wake up early the next morning to run up and grab the cars. But it started pouring at dinner time and Joseph decided that he didn’t want to sit in a tent for the rest of the evening so he convinced Duncan, Timm, and Sara to run up 500m of vert with him so we’d be able to pack up quickly the next morning and hopefully have a nice breakfast in Pemberton. I tried to stay awake to answer their radio calls but the warm sleeping bag was too much. I turned the volume on the radio all the way up so they could wake me if needed. I drifted in and out of sleep, checking in a few times, and two hours later I heard the beautiful sound of dinosaur juice being combusted as I turned off the radio and fell sound asleep.

Day 5

Back to civilization!

The next morning, I woke up to find my side of the tent and everything in the vestibule in a puddle. Thankfully we had the cars so I just threw everything in the trunk. My car didn’t start at first but I had a portable jump starter so we got it moving pretty fast. We made our way into Pemberton just when Mile One opened. We spent two hours there with lots of laughs and way too much food (which we finished). Joseph bought the table an apple pie after breakfast. I was way too full but how could I say no to pie?

We stopped again in Squamish so Duncan could return the gate keys and pick up his new shiny Teleski set up at VPO. We got lost in the VPO like kids in a candy shop. Finally, after dropping everyone off I got home at 5 pm, I quickly unpacked and showered, because I invited everyone over for hotpot at 6! Duncan and Sophie couldn’t make it, but the rest of us had another oversized meal (Joseph brought another dessert) and stayed late into the night playing Cards Against Humanity.

Celebratory hotpot! PC: Joseph Chiao