A Visit WAY Up North

We've just returned from a week long visit to Robyn, Chris and Gabrielle in Hazelton in northern BC.

It was fantastic to see them after such a long winter and even more fantastic to spend so much fun time with Gabrielle while Robyn and Chris were at work.  Gabrielle took us to all her haunts and by the number of people who stopped to chat with her it is evident she has stolen the hearts of the whole town!

Well, I should say 'towns' as Hazelton is actually three communities in close proximity and collectively known as 'The Hazeltons'.  Robyn lives out of town and does not have internet at her house so it was strange to go for a week and not be 'connected'!

The weather was what I'll call mixed.  We had sunshine every day- that was good.  But, we also had snow pretty much every day- that was weird.  Being in the mountains the weather changes hard and fast.  Fortunately the snow didn't stick and the temperatures were quite comfortable thanks in part to the low humidity.

The scenery was nothing short of spectacular.  Huge mountains covered in snow right in their backyard.  Robyn took us to her office which is located on the banks of the Skeena River almost at the confluence of the Bulkley and the Skeena rivers.  Add the peaks of the Rocher de Boule mountains for a backdrop and you have a pretty stunning  place to work!

Just down the street from her office is the 'Ksan First Nations village.  This is a view of the village from across the Bulkley River.

During the summer the village is open as an interperative centre but we were able to take these shots of the outside.

The area is rich in First Nations history and boasts dozens of totem poles.  The weather was not condusive to shooting them this trip and I hope to be able to better when we go up again in August.

We stopped at a few of the local lakes.  Some still had the ice on while others were only recently opened.

This is Ross Lake, only 6 km from Robyn's house and my favourite so far.  I'm looking forwards to putting the canoe into this one!

How's this for a picnic spot?

Another nice lake is Sealy Lake, with a marsh area that should be great for birding soon.

And the third lake is Hospital Lake where Robyn's friend Shannon took us on a short hike to.  Thanks Shannon!

This is a good birding lake and we saw a number of species including Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser and Common Goldeneye.  Flocks of Sandhill Cranes flying overhead, Black-capped Chickadees and a Ruffed Grouse rounded out the list.

We saw a fair bit of wildlife.  Coyotes, Mule Deer, Moose- but every time it was either poor light, no where to stop safely or they were just moving too fast.  We did however, get our shots of Moose on the drive home just east of Smithers.

This was one of those times when a 500 mm lens is just a tad too long!

Switch to the other camera with the 16-85 mm and try again...

Cattle guards don't slow Moose down at all by the way.

Driving past Lac la Hache Laura spotted a number of Eagles along the lake.  I got only this quick grab shot of one on the ice looking none-too-impressed.

A bit further down the road we spotted this one gathering nest materials in a field.  I got a few flight shots, notice the grass clumps in the talons.

I have a few more pictures to edit including a family shot and some of Gabrielle and I'll probably add more from our trip north.  Thanks Robyn and Chris for a great week!