Fort St. James

Another historic site, this one though is a Hudson's Bay Company trading post.  Gabrielle loves the 'old-fashioned clothes' and really gets into the era. 

"Long before Alexander McKenzie came west of the Rocky Mountains in search of a navigable route to the Pacific Ocean, the Nak'azdii had their home here.  Part of the Dakelh or Carrier people, the Nak'azdii nation depended mainly on the salmon for sustenance over the long winters.  It was their territory that Simon Fraser built the first trading post, Stuart Lake Outpost, in 1806.  The post formed an important part of the North West Company's expansion west of the Rocky Mountains.

Stuart Lake Outpost was renamed Fort St. James in 1821 with the amalgamation of the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company.  Today is what the was the fourth building phase in it's original location.  As a place for trade, the post was alive and active until 1952."

Last time Gabrielle discovered GOLD! and now it's FUR!  My but she has expensive tastes!

The fort has been restored to the 1896 era.  Many of the buildings are original and the storeroom even has original floorboards.

Furs were the commodity that the HBC wanted and these were traded for all manner of supplies.  One of the most desired and valuable even today were the HBC blankets.  Note the black lines.  Three and a half lines meant that it took one Beaver pelt for this blanket.  One would think that an unfair trade but if you know what an HBC blanket costs today perhaps it would be cheaper to trap a Beaver to trade for one!

Winter furs were considered the most valuable.  Here is a Coyote and a Wolverine. 

Fort Fraser

After a stop in Clinton where we picked up Gabrielle we headed north towards Barkerville. 

Barkerville is truly one of British Columbia's gems.  An 1862 gold rush town it is now a living museum where many exhibits are interactive and period actors make the town come alive.  I was worried that Gabrielle would get bored but I was very happy to be wrong!  She became so immersed in the 'show' and quickly became known by name by all the people of Barkerville.  Miss Gabrielle was greeted everywhere.

Mrs. Houser invited her to a cooking lesson where they made soda biscuits in a wood stove.  Gabrielle got to wear an apron which made her feel even more a part of the history.

Gabrielle even tried her hand at gold panning and came away with 5 flakes of gold from the bottom of her pan.  She now has gold fever and wanted to rush in and get another pan of 'pay dirt'!  At 5 years old she's well aware that gold is good and gold with diamonds is even better!  Someone's going to have to have money in her future!

I've been visiting Barkerville since I was young and this is my fourth visit here.  I must admit the while privitisation doesn't usually sit well with me it certainly is working very well here.  The town keeps getting better and the exhibits are increasing. 

While Barkerville started out mining for gold it really hasn't changed much other than shifting from gold nuggets to gold loonies!  Not much panning now, it seems to be more focused on strip mining wallets!  Ah but what are grandchildren for but to empty out your wallets occasionally!

Main street is still possible to photograph if you're careful about timing.  Early morning is the quietest.  This view is only halfway down the street, an equal amount is behind me and is comprised of Chinatown which is much more restored now than it was on our last visit.

St. Saviour's Anglican Church

Looking closely allows one to see some interesting pieces of history.  Here are two examples.

We dry camped while we were at Barkerville.  Campfires making S'Mores and Doughboys rounded out an experience that Gabrielle will not soon forget!

I'd like to show more pictures but internet up here is not very consistant or fast!  

Time to start thinking about packing again!

One more week and we're off again.

Another trip to the north country again.  We have a bit more time this trip and we'll be starting out with Gabrielle travelling with us.  We're planning to stop at Barkerville and perhaps even Fort St. James on the way.

We'll really be looking touristy as we'll be carrying the canoe on board for some fishing in some of the lakes along the way.  I didn't get the canoe racks I wanted for the truck yet, the kitchen reno ate up more than it's share of the money.  Ah well, I'll just leave the Tonneau cover at home and carry the canoe with the canoe blocks and tied down inside the truck box.  It's better than leaving the canoe at home!

We'll be travelling a tad heavier this trip than when we went to Moab.  Laura's been packing all kinds of fun stuff to do with Gabrielle.  We'll see if she wants to go fishing instead...

One more week at work though...

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!