August 1--Terrace to Fort Telkwa, BC

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Monday, August 1, 2011 starting mileage 13560. 60 degrees out. The Queen’s Birthday Holiday—Long live the Queen!. Left Terrace, BC, Wal-mart parking lot at 10:30.

Valerie needed to refill her prescription and since it was a holiday the Wal-mart pharmacy didn’t open until 10.
Drove out of Terrace on the Yellow-head Highway heading toward Prince George. (The Yellow-head Highway was named after a blond trapper that worked this area for many years, and the natives called him “yellow-head.”) Jim, Diane and Rocky took the lead.

We are now going through land that is much more populated and the traffic has increased greatly. Near a pull-out, we spotted a black bear. We were able to pull into the pull-out to look at him more closely. He was grazing on what looked to be grass---yes, bears eat grass. I wanted him to look up so I could take his picture so I spoke to him. He looked up and then promptly took off before I could get a good picture. Valerie reminded me to have the camera to my eye BEFORE I spoke to him. His muzzle was a light brown.

Stopped at the tourist center in Hazelton and took pictures of statues of a miner, horse packer, and logger; all important historical/traditional occupations of this area. There was a group of people selling baked goods and jams and jellies set up around the visitors’ center. The baked items looked good so we bought a date square cake and some fruit bread. Jim and Diane bought an apple pie, but thought they were buying a raisin pie. None of the things we bought were good tasting—too little sugar used for one thing so the pie had no juice and too much crust in relation to the amount of apples. The date square was really dry. Guess we won’t buy from her again!!! So, there.

Following our driving tour guide, we drove toward the Bulkley River and crossed the Hagwilget Canyon Bridge, at one time the highest suspension bridge in Canada. The area of the confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers have been the traditional home to several First Nations tribes or clans for centuries. It was also where one of the oldest pioneer communities in Northwest BC was established in 1866. Up into the 1900, the community of Old Hazelton was the furthest point up that steamboats could travel from the Pacific Coast and was, therefore, a supply and administrative center.

We parked in the small town and looked at the neat old homes and walked along the river walk. The town is located on the Skeena River and Valerie and I ate our lunch sitting on a bench along there as it was a pretty day. They had an old totem pole that was carved in 1800’s set up next to the town library. Saw a couple of bald eagles circling and riding the thermals.

We drove up the Kispiox Road and turned off to the village of Glen Vowell or in the Gitxsan language Sik-e-dakh. This village was founded by Kispiox Village residents who had become members of the Salvation Army. The small church was built by the natives during the era when the missionaries competed for converts among the residents of the Upper Skeena region. The church was holding vacation Bible school this day and as we looked around on the outside we were invited to tour the inside of the church. Before getting back into Rosie II, I looked out toward the river and spotted a bald eagle sitting in a tree on the other side of the river.

We continued back up the Kispiox Road to the Gitxsan village of Kispiox and turned down through this village of 600 residents toward confluence of the Kispiox and Skeena Rivers. There was placed a line of 16 very old totem poles carved by master carvers. Some of the carvings have begun to wear away, especially on the fireweed totem, as they are so old. The Gitxsan are organized into four clans: wolf, frog, fireweed, and eagle. The history of the people is recorded on the totem poles. After admiring the totem poles, we drove back down the road to Highway 16 or the Yellow Head Highway and continued on toward Prince George.

Had planned to stay overnight at a municipal park in Smithers. We drove through this pretty town and found the park, but it was rather like staying in a gravel parking lot and they wanted $25 to spend the night. We decided to drive on, and finally pulled into a full service RV park at Fort Telkwa for a cost of $28.00. They had wifi but it was limited to how much you could use and only one computer could have access. It was enough to check e-mail but that was it.

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