In an effort to escape the heat last weekend, my son Jake and I headed for North Idaho’s Harrison Lake via the Myrtle Creek-Pack River Divide. The route was treacherous, the rain steady, and the snow deep. And it was awesome.
The headwaters of the Pack River. Photo by Jake Bragg.
Harrison Lake, looking northwest. Photo by Jake Bragg.
Jake surveys the Pack River drainage and the Selkirk Crest as he ponders the descent.
Since the huckleberries aren’t yet ripe, now’s a good time to go if you like to avoid bears. But the black flies are positively relentless. And don’t forget a map: the trail—boggy in some places, completely underwater in others due to the high runoff—disappears into a boulder field about a quarter of a mile from the lake.
by linda witherup