Monday, August 18, 2008

Historic Barkerville, the gold rush town of the 1860's!


In August, my family (T & J) and I travelled to Barkerville, BC, to rediscover and savour the flavour of history!







































Barkerville is a National Historic Park (http://www.barkerville.ca/newindex/index03.html) named after Billy Barker, a local miner who found the motherlode and sparked a gold rush to the mountainous Cariboo region of British Columbia.
























Barkerville is a living museum, with period architecture, artifacts, exhibits, restaurants, inns, shops and actors to help visitors get lost in gold rush life in the 1860s. A few of the buildings are original structures that survived the fire that razed the town after a drunken miner tried to gain a waitress' affections and ran afoul of the inn's stove!


























I found the design features of several frontier-era buildings of particular interest to the outdoorsman/survivalist who might endeavor to construct living space with simple hand tools.































We even managed a period-costume photo for the family!

If you have a love for history and love interactive exhibits, I recommend a trip to Barkerville!














British Columbia's North Coast


My gorgeous girl, T, and I travelled to Prince Rupert, to discover British Columbia's north coast region...and to have a little time together! What we found was nothing short of amazing! Rugged terrain, lush temperate rainforests, rain, mists, fog and the deeply heart-fulfilling peace that comes with time spent communing with God's creation.
























A two-day drive across the Peace Country of Alberta, through the northern Rocky Mountains, over the rolling interior plateaus and through the Coast (Cascade) Mountains was a voyage of delight and discovery all in itself!
Gently rolling forest & farmland of Alberta's Peace Country near our home.
Pine Pass and Azouetta Lake. The Pine Pass is the northernmost roaded pass through the Rocky Mountains.




























Many waterfalls along the Skeena river valley west of Prince George.




















Railway tunnel in the Coast mountains.














The Skeena River valley near where it flows into the Pacific Ocean.














Where the Skeena meets the sea.















Prince Rupert is called the "City of Rainbows"...and small wonder, given the mixed assortment of weather we experienced every day! Fog and rain in the morning. Midmorning sunshine. Light misty breezes in the afternoon. Patches of blue sky and forbiddingly dark stormclouds...All in a single day!

































Prince Rupert - famous for sport fishing - is affectionately known by the locals as "The little drinking town with a fishing problem." Fishing is the primary economic engine here, with a large container port (soon to expand again) and a growing eco-tourism industry. Many fishing charter ships are available for day or extended hire

The recreational and eco-tourist potential of the area is still relatively unknown, but there is so much to explore and discover! I could spend a couple of weeks kayaking about and not discover half of the sights around here.


























Arts and culture are growing in Prince Rupert. The Museum of Northern British Columbia (http://www.tourismprincerupert.com/museumofnorthernbc) is a world class facility, exhibiting historical and cultural artifacts from both pre and post-contact between Aboriginals and European settlers. Local parks, monuments, and a small shopping district lie adjacent to the cruise ship dock and the marina for the fishing fleet.

Citizen's Park adjacent to the museum.














Cow Bay Cafe. The best seafood in the town! Very small, very eclectic and always requiring reservations.
The seafood chowder is outstanding!











Two cruise ships visited Prince Rupert during our stay. This ship came from Seattle on it's way to Alaska's glacier & fiord cruise.












It should go without saying that the seafood was spectacular!














Discovering a new environment is always a balancing act. You must allow time to experience every environmental niche to have truly experienced the area...
Exploring wild places:































the not-so-wild places...















...and experimenting with various shelter systems!