BC Waterfalls, Lakes, and Dams Oh My!

As I gathered the photos for this post, I had a chance to reflect on all of the ground we have covered traveling in British Columbia over the past two years. I'm never complacent about all of the sights in this province, but they are everyday life for me now. I get to see the Fraser River daily, a thought I hadn't considered when studying elementary school geography textbooks. Funny how life goes - I now know exactly where the Fraser River begins (we've seen it!) and how it flows all the way down to Vancouver, passing directly through Prince George and the Cariboo Region on it's way to the ocean. 

Prince George, where the Fraser and Nechako Rivers meet

Mike moved from Vancouver to the Cariboo in early adulthood, and has extensively traveled the area so he knows it inside and out, from current population, culture, and mapping to historical exploration trails, geological details, and the local gold rush in the 1860's. He's been everywhere man! And now he's taken me to so many of these places. Whether we go by car or take our little RV, we always have an adventure and learn things along the way.

Wells

We have seen countless rivers, lakes, waterfalls and dams - yes, plural damS. I have always lived near water in some form, and northern BC continues to deliver. We camp on gorgeous little lakes all the time, or take drives to explore, find places to kayak or picnic (or kayak-picnic, one of our fave pastimes). One very remarkable lake we have explored in some of our most remote camping is Quesnel Lake, which happens to be the deepest fjord lake in the world, the deepest lake in BC, and the third-deepest lake in North America. *

Quesnel Lake

Mountains too! I didn't know there were so many different types of mountains and mountain ranges. Thinking of BC before I had the picture in my mind of Vancouver and the mossy coastal mountains, or the snowy Rockies from my Banff trips, but in our travels I have seen the many terrains and rock types of this diverse province, from the glaciated rock of the Okanagan, up through the desert hills of the interior, the bush-y gold-bearing river-covered Cariboo, and all the way north to the Yukon and mountains with even more varied rock types and colours. I'll be sharing stories from all of our trips, from the bustling lower mainland to the off-grid north north, but let's start in the middle, at home here in the Cariboo-Prince George region. 

This area is where we camp, explore, gold pan, and trip through historical trails 

(such as Mike's favourite, the late 1700's Alexander MacKenzie Trail). 

Prince George is at the intersection of highways 16 and 97, so we have quick access to 

amazing adventures in all four directions N-S-E-W.

The very first road trip Mike took me on once we settled in from the move was to Barkerville. Barkerville is at the heart of the Cariboo Gold Rush, and is preserved in a living, working "pioneer village" town waaaayy off the beaten track southeast of Prince George. It is stunning! I have visited several pioneer villages in Ontario of course, but this is totally different. It is quite large, and very dense with buildings and preserved like it would have been in the 1860's, with so much historical value and information (we've since gone several times and I learn so many new things every visit). 

There are museum-style exhibits throughout, packed with gold mining facts and history, including a portion of the original town buildings from Barkerville's China Town.  Barkerville is staffed with theatrical folks who actually run the town, ie. blacksmith shop, several stores and hotels/B&Bs, gold-panning lesson area, and I must mention the bakery, which makes the best sourdough bread in the world, serves a traditional "miner's lunch," and sausage rolls that taste like they are straight out of an 1800's gourmet cookbook! I can already tell our Barkerville trips will end up needing their own whole blog post, and at this point I honestly wouldn't even blame you if you left this reading right now to click off to Barkerville.ca - it is SO COOL!

But if you're still with me LOL, I'll move on through our travels. After our first day trip to Barkerville and Wells, we went on our first long-weekend camping trip, north to Azouzetta Lake, through the Pine Pass to where the Rockies begin from the northwest. We don't fish, but we always camping-walk and explore, have fire-building wars, cook amazing stuff, play games, and do whatever adventuring the area offers. On this trip we enjoyed the lake as a home base, and did a day trip to Chetwynd (major chainsaw carving area!) and up to Hudson's Hope and the W.A.C. Bennett Dam.

As autumn set in, we put the trailer away and the Camaro away, and took to flying instead. We spent a weekend in Vancouver to meet Mike's sister and family, get a tour of their childhood area in West Vancouver, and take a ferry to Bowen Island. I had/have flown over that area so many times, and had been to Vancouver, North Vancouver, and even East Van before, but this personal tour was as heartwarming and scenic as it could possibly get. 

So if you know me at all, you have probably started to wonder about the unusually high number of photos of myself appearing in this blog LOL. I have always been the consummate tourist, but Mike has converted me to a selfie and portrait taking photographer as well now too, eager to get photo memories of all the crazy stuff we do. There are literally more photos of me in existence now from the past 2.5 years than from all of my 44 years prior. As you saw previously from our trip across Canada we even pose for pictures at tourist landmarks like giant nickels or Ukrainian Easter Eggs, and I will even admit I now eagerly stick my face into every ‘face in hole board’ or ‘photo cutout’ we find!

I cherish all of this and enjoy getting those perfect shots with Mike at every chance. Could be part of our "live each day to the fullest" thing.

Giant gold nugget pan in Quesnel

My first time panning for gold, in Likely

Mike in the Likely jail

We find all sorts of sassy photo ops!

And will climb into any mine

Or just goof around :-)

Okay back to the tripping. The camping season here runs from the start of May through to mid-September, which is about 18 weeks. In 2021 we were out by a campfire for more than 40 days through that time period, and we camped at all different spots - never the same one twice! We went to Hixon, Bear Lake, Whiskers, Likely (with day trips to Quesnel Forks and the Bullion Pit Mine), the Yukon loop (more on that later), Shuswap Lake, Barkerville/Lowhee, Valemount, Sowchea/Fort St. James, St. Maries, and 10 Mile Lake near Quesnel, with day trips to the Pinnacles plus gold-exploring in the Quesnel Canyon.  

Quesnel Forks

Our humble abode

McGregor

Sowchea, on Stuart Lake, at Fort St. James

Ghost Lake

Matthew River Falls

Off-roading on old tailings from gold mining

Kenney Dam

We harvest our own firewood too, just saying

We've taken a few trips south of the Cariboo as well, with Mike's son and family and friends to Shuswap for a week, for a work trip to Penticton, for the fun of driving on the Duffy Lake road, for an errand to Mission, and most recently to Osoyoos, wine country!

It was a bit smoky when we were at Shuswap

Salmon Arm

Seaton Lake, Lillooet area, you'll hear more about this later too

Near Mission BC, we stayed at the Sasquatch Inn

Chasm Provincial Park, near Clinton

Osoyoos

Fraser Canyon

Speaking of the Fraser Canyon, that kind of brings us full circle, back to the Fraser River and the route that goes along it from BC's northern capital all the way to the lower mainland. This year I've had the opportunity to drive up and down this route (hwy 97) a few times to varying distances for different events - a couple of times on my own even - so it has been a really great immersion into the landscape and culture. 

Hopefully our photos give you a glimpse of all of the water and terrain there is to be found here. We sure love it! 😁

Next stop - the Yukon loop story! 

~

Thought I'd share some links to more information about some of the interesting things I just touched on. If you'd like to read more about these places, here you go!

Fraser River

Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail

W.A.C. Bennett Dam

Bullion Pit Mine, Likely

Barkerville.ca

~

Working Toward My BC Citizenship

Over the last few days (months) I've been toying with how to title this particular blog - it could easily be "The Evolution of the Journey I Didn't Plan to Take... Ex-Motherhood, Melanoma, and still no Maserati" LOL  but I'll go with the move to BC header. :-) 

I do recall earlier this year promising to blog more - a promise to myself as much as anything - and here we are, a bit late but it is still 2022 after all. A health update from that same promising blog - I am happy to report that since hysterectomy and (occasionally reluctantly) increasing my iron intake, I have been determined no longer anemic! Cool! My hemoglobin is higher that it has been since my late twenties, and that feels like a really neat medical success. 

On the "Ex-"Motherhood front, as I've mentioned before, the girls are all grown up, living together in the GTA, both have graduated their college programs and are working toward apprenticeships in each of their fields. They finished high school the spring that covid took over our lives, and then they worked, bravely moved out on their own, completed college programs (one by online education and one travelled via the TTC every day - eeek) and found their next-step jobs all in a little over a year, and during the height of covid 2020-2021. 

I am so proud of them every day I almost burst! It was a really difficult transition to move apart from eachother, as our bubble of three was literally our way of life for 18 years. But as baby birds are supposed to do, they were ready to fly out on their own, so I sold our nest and we now chirp to eachother on skypes at least weekly if not more. As life goes, my new nest is across the country.  But they are so supportive.  And though we miss eachother greatly, we know we are only five hours apart (well.... plus an hour and two planes and airport time, but we won't get picky, I'm just saying, technically I can be to them in half a day if needed).  

They haven't yet been able to come to BC since I've been here, but I have gone to Toronto a few times to visit, be there for their birthdays, help them with mother-daughter and life things, augment the parent-from-a-distance that successful young women baby birds don't mind having the odd time, and in the most recent visit - get a tour of the Toronto Islands, which I had never done before. 

After living in a small town for 17 years then moving to a different province (a.k.a. planet) having my girls be my personal tour guides around their new city is really neat - though I'm NOT proficient at the TTC!! 

They do say that eventually the parent-child roles reverse - watch Cass try to get me on the subway and you have real-life evidence of this grown mother throwing a tantrum. With real tears. Not sure why I excel at any form of public transit in all the foreign countries I've visited, but the Toronto Transit system makes we quake with confusion. Blech! Anywaaayyyyy....

BC - British Columbia! About that! 

Also during the height of a global pandemic, I chose to move across Canada. Well to East-coasters I realize Ontario to BC isn't exactly across country, but with "TorOntario" being the centre of the universe and all, I'm taking creative license and calling it across the country. Meaford to Prince George - just a bit of a switch! 

I will share with you some fun facts in the next few blogs, such as: Prince George is "BC's Northern Capital", and it is also an hour away from the geographical centre of the province, check me out in the picture proof below. 

PG has about 80,000 people, a Costco, Home Depot, all the essentials - and most recently even a SEPHORA! The two main highways in the north, 16 & 97, intersect here - where you can find Mr. PG (more on him later) - and in any one of the four directions you go on those two roads you will find the most gorgeous mountains, trees, lakes, wildlife, history, camping spots, gold-mining opportunities, and even an ancient temperate forest with the giant cedars like on Vancouver Island. 

I have learned there are some language barriers between left-coasters and Ontarians (shrimp = prawns, rubber boots are gum-boots, escarpments don't seem to be a thing here...and don't even get me started on "ATV'S" vs. Quads and "Side by Sides" !?). I have learned that sometimes a miscommunication can simply be a language thing, and I often stop to ask Mike what something means, just to make sure we're actually talking about the same thing. 

And the time difference, OH THE TIME DIFFERENCE. You wouldn't think three hours would be that big a deal, but... it's just enough to make communication with home needing a strategic planner on it's own. You'd think I would have known that already, having worked from Ontario for a west-coast organization, I was always planning meetings based on the Eastern - Pacific time zone differences. Shoe on other foot when I got here and ugh.... 5am Pacific meetings suddenly became a norm. And on the days I'm not rollin' by 5am, half the day is already gone for the girls and my Mom by the time I've just woken up. We're slowly getting used to it, but it is challenging to keep in touch, especially with my friends who also work and have busy lives.

So I just realized I said "home" a second ago - this brings me back to the title of this blog and my reference to a BC Citizenship. There is not actually a citizenship change required to live here, it's more like a Mike-approval-phase I have learned I must pass before I can truly consider myself a British Columbian. 

Something about having to drop Ontario chip from shoulder, become a little more hardy in the wilderness (get 8,000 pairs of hiking shoes!?), drive according to their weird little road rule differences (and not complain about it - oh and probably not call it "their"), and in general just chill the eff out. Oh and stop telling everyone I meet that I'm from Ontario. 

Mike tests me regularly. I frequently "lose points," but then I get them back in sneaky-smart I'm-gonna-be-a-BC-girl ways ha ha - so fingers crossed for the five-year test. After being here for five years I should quite capably be able to call BC home.  

This is us with Mr. PG, the city mascot

It is super fun here, there is adventure around every corner - I totally give Mike credit for that. He is lovely in general of course, hence the being swept off my feet and moving here to be with him! But he is also a thoughtful personal tour guide, super fun and adventurous, knows everything about the area and still loves to explore everything. We have gone so many places after I tell you about all of them I really will have to re-name my blog - I won't have time for melanoma or Maseratis at all!  

We travel quite a bit around the area up here in northern BC and Alberta, either with our little RV, or in Mike's Camaro, depending on the destination, and the goal of the trip. Last year we camped almost every weekend May-October, and we did not go to the same place twice! There is so much to see and do camping all around here - waterfalls, hiking, checking out historical spots, and kayaking too. We are also quite interested in gold panning and there is a tonne of that here. 

(yes, for my Ontario friends... gold-panning - I didn't quite know if Mike was joking-slash-language-barrier when he first told me about it but nope - it's true! And we now have our miner's licenses and spend some of our spare time gold mining/panning, and checking out spots to potentially get a claim of our own. True story!)

The move itself to get here was super fun too. I had shipped my belongings on crates in advance from Meaford to PG, and then Mike flew to Toronto, got a few days whirlwind tour meeting some of my family and friends, we moved the girls and Reese to Toronto, and then we started driving west, in my Jeep, which is now a BC Jeep. (LOL that's become a big joke here as my cute little SUV is "not a real Jeep" - compared to the crazy tricked-out off-roading vehicles all over the place here, my Jeep is a dinky car)

Mike bonded with the Jeep over the six day drive from TO to PG, it was so cute. Being the trained race car driver Mike is, having the dinky power of a 4-cylinder grocery-getter added a particularly comical element to all that came with his inviting me to come live with him in the wild northwest, beginning with the looooong drive there. 

In any case, neither of us had done that full drive before; we had a great time, and of course hit a few of the main tourist spots that make Canada what it is - giant nickel in Sudbury, giant goose in Wawa, giant Ukrainian Easter egg in Vegreville. The Terry Fox monument of course too, and we also stopped to explore in the cities where we were born - the Sault for me, and Winnipeg for Mike. It was an awesome trip! 

And when we approached the BC border and drove through the mountains wow... I knew my next chapter was on a road I had always dreamed of, but thought I'd never find.

So now I keep at it, am learning the BC lingo, have chilled out considerably (which I especially notice when I visit Ontarionto), and have also learned to identify my BC drivers license from my Care Card (Health Card) - they look the exact same, it's painful. Honestly!

We camp and explore, and live every day to the fullest, and I have SO much to fill you in on...