Rvìng northern BC

Well..the cultural benefit was a bust, for us, anyway. No-one appeared to be in sight, other than the vender's.

We had left town about 10, stopped in Terrace for some shopping and lunch and headed off east of 16. New Hazelton is a two hour drive for us. I just putz along at 90k`s, looking for bears and willow for hiking sticks. We stopped at Boulder Creek, 6k`s west of Kitwanga and had a fabulous 2.5 hour nap. It`s like a tonic...sounds of a fast moving creek and nothing more in mind than to be on the loose.

Motored on to New Hazelton and then down over the Hagwilget Riverébridge to the Ksan cultural centre where the `do`was to be. Checked it out and then went looking for a night spot. On the north side of the Hagwilget River, I could see a dirt road and that led down to the Skeen...I have seen this many times but could not find it, when looking on that side. We went looking and after asking..ta da..go to SouthéOld Tow..a turn off back on the highway a bit, and follow the dirt road down..down..down over tracks and lo and behold, a fairly new BC Provincial Park, Anderson Flats.

 From the BC Parks website..gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/anderson_flats/
Anderson Flats, also known as Mission Flats or The Forks, is located within the traditional territory of the Gitxsan First Nation (People of the River of Mist) and is identified as Lax Lit Hetwit House territory.

Anderson Flats Provincial Park, established in 2007, is a 99 hectare area situated at the confluence of two of the most important rivers in northwest BC, the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers.  The landscape of the park has been shaped by these rivers over thousands of years, creating the floodplain and terraced terrain.  The park includes 1300 metres of river frontage on the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers, 17 hectares of floodplain and the forested terraces comprise the remaining upland area of the park.

Anderson Flats Park offers scenic and recreational values including regionally and provincially significant fishery values.  The park provides highly accessible public access to the riverfront on both the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers with excellent recreational fishing, camping and day-use recreation opportunities from June through September for all visitors including children, seniors and individuals with limited mobility.

The Skeena and Bulkley Rivers are both Class II waters; this provincial designation is indicative of highly productive streams that are carefully managed to preserve unique fishing opportunities. Both rivers contribute significantly to the province's reputation as a world class fishing destination. Scenic values are exceptional and include views of the Rocher deBoule Range with the majestic Hagwilget Peak to the south.

Park Size: 99 hectares

These are our three views in the morning.

Maya can`t see over the dash so has to sit up....

The Hazeltons.

So..not finding the èvent`to our liking, we drove about Hazelton, looking at houses and stores....and then spied this place off on the west side of town.

A real find if you are in the area.

Okay..so, what to do, what to do....we headed back west on 16, turning north at Kitwanga and up 37 about 5ks past the Cranberry Connector to Bonus Lake.Rolled in about 3...just 3 campsites and no-one else there.Perfect.

A short walk and we see a wall of shale. I was wondering if there might be fossils in there. I was kinda distracted. This is serious bear country and I had brought my horn,so head was on a swivel. This is no place to be having a bear come between you and your stuff.

I carry all kinds of woodsman shit...axes and wedges and this and that..and by far,my fave combination is this..a wedge and small heavy hammer. I have 4 wedges and I just set one on a likely hunk of wood and start to pounding. Even green wood will split eventually and what I don`t have is an axe in my foot or leg.

Grilled up a nice steak...using a multiple wienie cooking thingie. Man..that was some yummy.....

The Cranberry Connector, that would have been a nasty bit of road in the past, but the resource based economy means exploration and that means trucks, that and they are running power up 37 and using the Connector as a part of the plan..so...the road is now graded and busy.

We had gone a bit past to get to the lake, so Sunday back down the 5ks and onto it, to Dragon Lake. Only a short hop really. 45k`s.

Maya..is a roller..rolls in dog crap...other dogs dirt. Man....I keep a pretty close eye on her because it is just so nasty..as I am sure you can imagine.However..while at Bonus Lake she had gone bush wandering and came across a wonderful pile...lets get right there, eh.....I had washed her right then and there, but that was using a bowl and some soap..not really a good job,although I thought I had had done so. fuk..missed lots of the really ground in deep stuff. So..next day at Dragon...she was going in, no matter.

Sign of days gone by...we saw this by Nass Camp, on our way out to the highway.

Down the Nishga Highway towards Terrace.

This is a lava bed...from an eruption 250 years ago.

A small lake, enclosed by a bed of lava.

The little shit roller herself....likes to be with us..and cannot be in a lap. So..I put her bed down close to the seats. And that bed too, is poopy smelly.....all into the wash when we got home.