July 15, 2012 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Sightseeing Tours
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For the first time in 10 years the WAC Bennett Dam in Hudson's Hope BC had its spillway open, and what a sight it was to see.
Apparently since the dam's opening in the late 60's it has only spilled 9 times, so those of us who were lucky enough to see all that water gushing from the side of a hill this year can count ourselves as special people.
I remember the very first time I got to see the dam spill, it was in the late 1990's and I was barely 8 or 9 years old - the excitement definitely has not been lost at all.
When I first heard that the gates were open, not only at the WAC Bennett Dam but also as the smaller Peace Canyon Dam, I felt like a child again.
There is nothing like seeing a man made dam, made from natural materials, and nothing at all compares to that sight of thousands of gallons of water gushing from a hole in the side of the hill. Naturally, given my love for the extreme, I had to make a trip back up Highway 29 to see!
So it was set, I headed up there with some wonderful ladies from work and we made sure to spend all the necessary time getting perfect pictures capturing the spill gates and of course we HAD to do the tour!!!!!!
Oh my goodness, I know I may have a nerdy side but the tour is AMAZING! I have never learnt so much in such a short period of time! The entirety of the tour makes you gaze in wonder at all that was accomplished in such a short period of time - relevant to the time period - and of course the amount of water that really courses through all of those turbines!!!
If you have an hour to spare, the tour is so worth it and if not the visitor center up at the dam site has some really neat displays of pieces from the dam!!
July 13, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Sightseeing Tours
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What a day in Hudson’s Hope was like for us. Well we started off by driving from Fort St John along the Peace River. What a beautiful drive. Along the way we saw a black bear and a few deer with their babies.
Once we got to Hudson’s Hope we decided to go the Visitor Centre to get some ideas of where we should go and what we should do. The staff there was very helpful and nice. They started us off by pointing out the museum and the great view that was over by the museum to see the Peace River. Then they told us to go on a tour of the W.A.C Bennett Dam. So we checked out the museum which had a lot of great facts and history about Hudson’s Hope and then we headed up to the Dam 22km out of town. The W.A.C Bennett Dam had a wonderful and interesting hour long tour of the dam with great tour guides.
Once the tour was done we thought that it would be a great idea to go for a hike up on one of the mountains. The staff at the Visitor Centre had given us a few choices of different places that we could go to hike. We chose the hike up Bullhead Mountain. It was a very nice day for a hike. As we walked up the mountain we looked back and we could see for miles and miles it was such an amazing view and as we got higher the view was even more spectacular.
By the time that we were done our hike it was lunch time we thought that it would be a great idea to have lunch out at the Torwood Lodge. On our drive out to the lodge we saw to sheep and two elk. The lunch we had at the lodge was very good plus as we ate our lunch we had a great view looking out over the Williston Lake.
Once we finished it was time for us to head back home. We had a GREAT time and can’t wait to come back and see and do more in Hudson’s Hope.
July 06, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Sightseeing Tours
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The first time I went to Hudson’s Hope to quad I had a blast! There is a wide variety of things to do on a quad. There are also lots of trails to ride. Everything I wanted to do on the quad I could. I have gone to Hudson’s Hope more than once to quad or dirt bike. I like to go in the spring for the mud, and if I get tired of that I can ride some trails and if that gets tiring I can go up to the moraine. This is a big sand dune with lots of hills. Lots of fun to do hill climbs and stunts.
Sometimes the family and I will go to Hudson’s Hope for the day and just do a day ride, we never run out of things to do. In the spring and early summer is a real treat. Along the shore of Williston lake there is a beach that stretches down the shore line for as long as you can see.
One of my favorite times to go to the beach which is called Geddes bay is during May long weekend. During this weekend I bring my dirt bike to Hudson’s Hope. Usually there is a drag stretch which everyone races on. The beach is really close to the moraine too. So last year we raced on the beach for a good chunk of the day then a bunch of us rode the bikes and quads over to the moraine to hit jumps and do some hill climb races.
When it comes to riding in Hudson’s Hope, there’s pretty much everything except for a race track. Out of all the places I have ever went riding Hudson’s Hope has to be one of my favorites.