B12 - Friday, May 25, 1984 - North Shore News

The Past is Present.
This summer why not go ume-travelling?
In Fort Steele, at the end of the old
Dewdney Trail, it's still the turn of the
century. The schoolmarm there can fill
you in on some of the history you've
missed. Or you can play hookey and catch
the vaudeville show
in the Wildhorse

while, up in
Barkerville, it's the
1870's — past the
height of the Gold
Rush, but theyre sull
panning for nuggets
at the Eldorado Mine
and spending their pokes
at the Wake-up-Jake Cafe. And if you go
farther north, to Fort St. James on Stuart
Lake. youll be at the heart of B.C’s
hustory. It was furs, not gold. that sent the
explorers Stuart and Fraser into New
Caledonia (that’s Bnush Columbia now,
of course) in 1806. Here at the fort stands
the first capital. You dont have to read
a book or visit. a museum to find the past
1 B.C. You can find atin the town of
Nelson, in more than 300 restored Vic
tonan buildings. You can see itin the
whuispenny grass of the OReefe Ranch in
the Okanagan once one of the bizyest
cate empires in B.C. Its aboard the
SS. Moye. the last paddle wheeler on
Kootenay Lake (now a one of a kind
museum); and its definitely in the any
village called Craigellachic. where they
hammered home the last won spike to
youn Adantic and Pacific Canada by raul
Wherever you find the past you'll
discover that Botush Columbia is a ume
less place to explore

Hit the Heights.

Lhrete are core Ubu 6wo dhoweny wakes

hess /recreauon areas. as well as tive
Oatonal parks and) $20 provincial parks
to wander in Lash forests yvlacers
watertalis, vast street hes of beaches ane
Capuvaling mountains Lake a hike lt wall
oyu a world ot groudh espe. nally apo
EVs Pagehe comatry Pyc terre yaar e Irie

Pemberton up in Garibaldi Park ... in the
mountain meadows watching as the
morning alpenglow leaves the top of the
Black Tusk. Or in the Kootenays’ Valhalla
Park. pausing on a trail to look down at
suvery Slocan Lake. Or 1n Strathcona
Park on Vancouver Island, amid the thun-
der of Della Falls tnple cascade. In

Wells Gray Park by the Thompson River.
looking up at an exunct volcano nmmed
with Douglas firs, you'll be surrounded by
icehelds and mineral spnngs. Getung

to these hugh places can be challenging.
CGsolden eagles and alpine meadows...
waterfalls and glacial lakes... panoramic
views and crystal mountains... they dont
come easy. But they are
the rare finds of our:
high Country
Once seen, never
forgotien.

But True.

Call them
fantasuc
Call them fabulous. (Some people
have even made up tables to ex
plain them?) But make sure to answer
theu call Botush Columbia's geologi-
cal wonders Come in many breath-
taking forms There are the
boulder Capped pillars in our
mountain valleys known
as hoodoos Think
about the ghostly
shadow of a man
on a horse that
appears on Mount
Hosmer at sun
set On Srwash
Rock off the shore
of Stanley Park
Theres also the
Stew.annus (hiet as
vourenter Squishy
West of (Soyo
vou ll see mineral pools
Ua Cvap orate dato an
ides cit sea of holes Called
Spotted Lake Then there is the geo-
hoy al phenomenon Chat fects too
porto anabse whether is bulb
bolas weap Che Row kics on by
thre abaore of Ren oterauiy | uake

Tro abe Peat Tae ot spor it agess

Just Coasting.

We've got coastline to suit every mood.

If you like your beaches big and panoram-
ic, cross Vancouver Island and meet the
Pacific Ocean at Long Beach —a dramatic
sweep of shoreline and port-of-call for
sea lions, driftwood, and the odd
Japanese glass fishing float. Or ifa
pirate's jigsaw of coves and isles
uckles your fancy, meander
up the Sunshine Coast to
Pender Harbour. Go ahead,
explore the Gulf Islands one at a time.
Each has a disunctive character and
charm. Youll also find mystery in the
Queen Charlottes... majesty in
Howe Sound...cozy anchor-
ages from Lund to Sooke.

And then there's a tour that a

dehes descnption with sights that seem
from a long forgotten age, the Inside
Passage. Its an incredible journey that is
unparalleled anywhere else on this earth.

They Went That-A-Way.

‘The old trails are sull there. Waiung to be
explored, as if for the very first ume
The “Mile f louses” along f hgh
way 97 sull mark the way to
the gold diggings of the
1860's. Some of
them are

now more down home cozy than ever.
Plan to stay a while. The Dewdney Trail
sull crosses the border country, poinung
toward the Kootenay Gold Rush.

At Soda Creek you can almost see the
sternwheelers that once churned up the
Fraser, taking thousands of prospectors
to Quesnel. Take your ume when you're
in these parts. There's lots to see And on
the road to Barkerville youll pass 4
miners cemetery with a lot of history
behind every marker It goes with the ter
mtory. And so do some very memorable
sights. The hardrock LeRoi mine in
Rossland. The silver ghost towns of the
Slocan The general stores. Lasten hard
You can hear the echo of saloons and
stagecoaches from the Kootenays

to the Canboo

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch.

Open country Open to the eye stretch
Iny away to the horizon, Uhousands of
square kilometres of unfenced grassland
Open to the imagination — the catue
drives of the 1860's, from the Thompson
Plateau up to the Canboo Open to pos
sibihues. Lake slayiny ala guest ranch
and helping with the ropiny, the brand
ing, and the roundup — or getuny in a

few rounds of golf betore the dinner bell
This is BCls ranch country, the (hikeoturn
the (anboo, and the Nicola Valley oper
to all Cowboys, even the Walter Mittvs
And when you come, leave the July Ist
weekend open Thats when Willams
Lake opens its doors wide for the
Stampede four days of rodeo,
barbeques square danc
iy and Cowboy break
lasts If you cant make
then dont you tre
there are festivals
and rodeos almost

ve roms io Chas

here COnriboony