If you’ve read my two previous blogs, you’ll know that Craig and I explored Northern Vancouver Island and sailed the Inside Passage on BC Ferries (Port Hardy to Prince Rupert). This blog,will cover our visits to Prince Rupert, Terrace, Nishga’a Nation (The Nass Valley), Smithers and Lillooet.
Prince Rupert
We disembarked the ferry at about midnight. It was a short drive to the hotel in downtown Prince Rupert and it felt good to sleep after our 16 hour sail from Port Hardy.
We were lucky with the weather. A beautiful sunny day to walk to a few sites near downtown. First stop…a Starbucks located in the local Safeway! Then we wandered to Mariner’s Park which overlooks the harbour. There’s many tributes to sailors including the flags of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden recognizing the Scandinavian influence in the area. I loved the whale’s tail that Craig sat on while he enjoyed his coffee.
Along the harbour and next to the marina is a fun community called Cow Bay. You can read about the history of Cow Bay in one of the pictures below. The area is full of shops, restaurants, coffee shops and a great looking B&B. We had fun wandering through the shops and the marine museum, had a seafood lunch then saw a group of people on water bikes in the harbour. That looked like fun. Next time…along with many other things that we didn’t see during our 3 hour walk in Prince Rupert.
Back in the car to continue the journey. The drive from Prince Rupert to Terrace is spectacular. We travelled beside the Skeena River, which looked like a large lake in some areas. And the mountains were stunning. It was a pleasant 2 hour drive (we stopped a few times for photos).
We stayed in an AirBNB in Terrace about 10 minutes from the downtown area. It was a lovely house…great kitchen and lots of room. It was our home for two nights. I like Terrace. It’s a young city with a blend new and older houses with big yards. A great place to raise a family…if you can survive the winters!
Craig’s sister-in-law, Louise, was in town visiting her family so she dropped by for a visit. We haven’t seen her for a couple of years.
We spent the next day exploring the Nass Valley, heart of the Nishga’a First Nations. The Nishga’a treaty was the first modern-day treaty in BC negotiated between the Nishga’a nation, Province of British Columbia and Government of Canada and it came into effect in May 2000. The Nisga’a Final Agreement is the first treaty in British Columbia to provide constitutional certainty in respect of an Aboriginal people’s Section 35 right to self-government. It recognizes Nisga’a Lands and opens the door for joint economic initiatives in the development of the Nisga’a Nation’s natural resources. It took over 100 years to come to this agreement.
We headed out of Terrace on Hwy 113 (representative of the 113 years it took to finalize the treaty). Again, a spectacular drive. The mountains around Terrace are impressive. Our goal was to get to the Visitors Centre to understand all the sites to see. We’d heard about the Nisga’a Museum and the four Nisga’a villages along with the impressive lava beds.
The Visitors Centre is located next to the campground in Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park. This is the first provincial park jointly managed by a First Nation and BC Parks. We learned here that most of the “attractions” were closed because of COVID protocols. Disappointing, but we discovered that we could do a self-driving tour to points of interest and the four first-nations villages located in the Nass Valley.
First stop was in Gitlaxt’aamiks (home of people of the ponds). We picked up the auto tour map at the general store. The totems located at community building represent the 4 Pdeek (tribes) of the Nisga’a Nation: Raven, Wolf, Killer Whale and Eagle. This village is considered the capital of the Nisga’a Nation and overlooks the flow of the lava beds that erupted in the 18th Century.
Throughout the park are opportunities to see the lava beds up close. There is a tour that takes you to the lava cone, but wasn’t available during our time there. However, we were able to see several areas of the lava beds. The eruption happened over 266 years ago – Canada’s last volcanic eruption.. 2000 Nisga’a people lost their lives. This park serves as a memorial and a reminder of the importance of respect for both the natural world and the wisdom of the elders.
The next village we visited was Gitwinksihlkw (place of lizards) on the north side of the Nass River. The vehicle bridge is flanked by four totem poles (Eagle, Wolf, Raven and Killer Whale). In the village we were able to access the 400′ suspension bridge which used to be only access to the village. From the bridge, we could see two fish wheels which we think has something to do with fish counting.
Our next stop would have been the hot springs, dwelling place of Sbi Naxnok (supernatural spirit). The sulfur smell of the hot springs is said to be the smell of the spirit. This is a designated heritage site. Unfortunately, like many other places, it was closed due to COVID Next time we are in this area, it will hopefully be open.
The village of Laxgalts’ap (village on village) was built on a series of Nsiga’a communities that occupied this site for milennia. The Nisga’a Museum is located near this village. It houses cultural treasurers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Again, we were unable to see inside due to COVID restrictions.
We followed Hwy 113 to the very end to visit the fourth village, Ginglox (place of skulls). In the past, invaders where met by Nisga’a defenders to protect their land and resources. Apparently they would display the skulls of the invaders on posts as a warning to others. Today, the village is famous for welcoming visitors from around the world to hike, kayak, boat and sport fish. We met a local man who was taking his child to the community centre. He talked about how the community was blessed with ample food from the sea, and fresh water from the mountains. It is a beautiful place.
Other stops of interest in the Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park that we visited during our 5 hour visit included:
Vetter Falls – just a short walk from the highway. The stream disappears under the lava 5 km downstream and traps fish such as steelhead. Apparently because they are confined to this short stream, they have developed snake-like bodies with large head. Locals call them Phantom Fish. We didn’t see them in the pools, but the falls were beautiful
Drowned Forest – When water levels are high, the Tseax River flows over the land and through the forest. I imagine this is quite the sight during the rainier seasons. It had been pretty dry this summer.
Lava Lake – Thousands of years ago a glacier moved through the valley and created the depression that holds the lake During the lava eruption, molten lava flowed to the creek bed, damming the stream and raising the level of the water by 30 metres. Not sure about the story of the car below but there was a young family enjoying a picnic on the beach. Pretty sure this was their car.
It was a great day spent in a culturally- and scenic-rich area. Highly recommended!
We left Terrace the next day, but not before seeing a site that Craig’s sister-in-law had recommended.
Ferry Island is located along the Skeena River as you head south towards Smithers. There’s a large campground and walking trails around the island. But the big feature is The Spirits of the Forest carved into the cottonwood trees throughout the park. They are the work of artist Rick Goyette. I think we missed a few at the beginning of the walk. We asked another hiker about them, and she gave us some hints. Once you find one, the rest are a little easier to find. I took pictures of about 35 of them, and I’m sure there were more that we missed. I’ve posted some highlights below. Definitely a fun morning walk!
Now on to Smithers. Again, the views were amazing. We stopped for a quick barbequed lunch at a rest stop…that had wifi (that made Craig happy). Then we continued on to Smithers for our next overnight stop.
By the time we got to Smithers, settled into the hotel and decided on where we would have dinner, we didn’t have too much time to explore. We had dinner at a locally-run family restaurant Steakhouse on Main. Craig and I shared a giant steak, and it was cooked beautifully. After dinner, we walked across the street to an ice-cream vendor then walked around the downtown area. Smithers adopted an Alpine theme in the ’70s and Alpine Al became the guardian of Main Street and official mascot of the town. It was quiet on the streets (as evidenced by the empty stage!).
Next day was a long drive to Prince George with a quick stop in Quesnel. Craig spent part of his early childhood here, so we had a quick photo at the water wheel next to the bridge.
Another quick stop in Vanderhoof for a picnic lunch at the Community Museum. The smoke from all the fires burning in BC was noticable.
We spent the night in an AirBNB in Prince George. It was a little cooler and rainier here, so other than a quick stop at Costco to gas up, we didn’t spend any additional time here.
The next day started out rainy, but gradually improved. We headed to Lillooet for our final overnight of this trip. When we turned off Hwy 97 to Hwy 99, we saw the local fire on the side of the mountain. Not close enough to be scary. We stayed at a lovely little AirBNB overlooking the river. Our host, Thyra, was fantastic. She picked fresh plums and grapes from the garden.
We decided to dine at the local winery, Fort Berens Estate Winery. We dined outside with a view of the fire on the mountain top and the firefighting helicopters coming home for the evening. Dinner was lovely, and the wine was good. A nice final evening of our fantastic “northern” trip
Our final stretch home was on Hwy 99 to Pemberton where we stopped at Mile One Eating House for a delicious and very filling late breakfast. Highly recommended if you are in Pemberton. We also picked up some famous Pemberton potatoes to bring home.
The final part of our journey was less than spectacular as we were delayed over an hour through Whistler due to road contruction, then being in the rush hour line-up through West and North Vancouver. It was good to arrive home!
We loved this trip. I feel there was so much more to see, so perhaps a repeat trip to some of these areas is in the cards for the future.
Hope you enjoyed our travel stories!
