British Columbia

The urban face of British Columbia

We leave at 7:30, the temperature is around 10°C, and as we drive through the outskirts of Quesnel, we realize that the town's economy is essentially based on wood and its processing. There are many trucks transporting logs to local factories for paper production. The smoke from the chimneys and the pungent smell in the air transport us back to a "civilized" era, even though we understand that without these activities, any human presence in this area would be meaningless. We drive for about 80 km in the direction of Barkerville, to visit the ghost town and meet a small donkey deer It has been renovated with the necessary sensitivity and gives a good idea of what life was like during the first period. gold rush, although here they were looking for silver.

Along the Cariboo Highway

We return to Quesnel on the Cariboo Hwy 97, arriving in Prince George and then heading towards Smithers via Yellowhead Hwy 16. The landscape is green but very monotonous: it consists of fields, cereal crops, and cedar forests similar to our own. The vegetation is limited by the altitude, which ranges from 700 to 1000 meters. Near a Buckley River Waterfall We stop to admire the salmon, which are swimming upstream against the strong currents despite the challenging rapids. The fishermen wait for them at strategic points; they are mostly Indian.

Local wildlife

At a stall nearby, we buy some smoked salmon, which will be our lunch tomorrow. At Hazelton We drop anchor at Robber Roost. For dinner, it's like returning to Europe; in fact, the Hummingbird is run by an Austrian, but the salmon is strictly Canadian. While we go for dinner, we see a sign near a beautiful canyon warning about bears.