Well what better way to start our year of travel & adventure than by heading out into the Canadian wilderness.... a couple of hours drive from our house. That is the thing about Prince George - some say it is not exactly the most beautiful place in the world; however, the wilderness that can be readily accessed from this small city with little effort in all 4 directions is truly astounding.
This weekend, Labour Day weekend, we took off out of town with some friends to paddle the Arctic Pacific Lakes. Whereas once the whole area was apparently contemplated for flooding to make yet another massive water reservoir for BC's hydro electric power needs, the lakes have now actually been made into a provincial park (thankfully!!)
To get there we headed approximately 75 km north out of town up the Alaska Highway to the mill town of Bear Lake. There we turned on a logging road and headed east for approximately 80 km... our travel took us over gravel, around potholes, through willow thickets, across rickety bridges and even over one beaver dam neatly constructed along the roadway. Thanks beavers for stopping the road from flooding! Very cool!
We then paddled several kilometers down the Parsnip River and turned into the beaver dam decorated creek that leads into Arctic Lake. As the name implies, the Arctic Pacific Lakes lie right on the Continental Divide at the height of land between the Arctic & Pacific watersheds. In between these 2 lakes is a smaller lake, Portage Lake.
The area has long been used as a fishing area for local First Nations. In 1793, explorer Alexander Mackenzie travelled right through these lakes on his search for a route to the Northwest Passage. His journals provide an interesting insight into how it was around there over 200 years ago... the tree and bird species and scenery have not changed.
Mackenzie also commented that he came across some native canoes & fishing gear where the short (and jungle-like) portage trail starts on its way from Arctic Lake to Portage Lake. We only came across some guys in a canoe with motor huddled under a blue tarp at the start of the portage there.
What a gorgeous area it is and I could not believe I had not yet checked out this gem in 12 years of living in the area... The nights were clear & starry & the silence of the wilderness is something to experience. Out there we become a part of our surroundings, the land & water.
We tried out our tent that we purchased for Latin America... it passed the test. It is a Drifter 3 and we like it. Easy to assemble & access. Just big enough for the three of us. The more challenging part will be the plan we have to share one sleeping bag .... well the fight was on for sleeping bag which was not quite big enough to cover the 3 of us fully... the temperature did drop down one night and we hope we will not have to camp in really low temperatures in Latin America. The only issue will be higher altitude locations up in the Andes mountains in particular. The nights will certainly get chilly in those places.
We enjoyed 2 nights out there at Arctic Pacific Lakes, and now we are back in Prince George. Next on the agenda: get the house cleaned & organized in preparation for our departure, but we do hope for a couple more local adventures before we leave.
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