August 10, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Historic & Heritage Sites
Join me on a tour of the Driftwood Canyon fossil beds in Smithers, BC!
August 10, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Prince Rupert, Car / Truck / Motorcycle
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I recently found myself with 2 days off of work and no plans, so I decided to take a trip to Prince Rupert. This is only a 4 hour drive from my home in Smithers, and it's one of my favourite highways in the province to travel.
With a cold drink in my cupholder and good tunes in the cd player, I began my trip west on Highway 16. There is rarely a stretch of road that doesn't give you spectacular mountain views, but my favourite spot in particular is the small pullout shortly after the turnoff to Hwy 37 where you can get a great view of the peaks of the Seven Sisters (see photo). Between Terrace and Prince Rupert, the scenery only gets better. The road is squeezed between the Skeena River and towering mountains, so you're never without beautiful scenery - it's so pretty it's almost distracting! The fishing in the Skeena must be great right now because the road was lined the whole way with parked vehicles and whenever you got a clear view of the river you could see fishermen lined up along the banks.
I arrived in Prince Rupert and headed directly down Bill Murray Ave passed Pillsbury House to the nice waterfront access park. I found myself a comfy spot among the big rocks at the water's edge and watched the fishing boats pass by. During a previous visit, I saw an otter come up on shore here but sadly he didn't come see me this time. It was then time to check in to my room at the Crest Hotel and get cleaned up for dinner. I met a friend at the Crest's restaurant and we had dinner on the patio with an awesome view over the water - can't beat great food with a great view! We then decided to head over to Moresby Park, a really nice creekside trail through a cool mossy forest that's right on Moresby Ave in town.
After a comfy night at the Crest Hotel, I woke up early the next morning and had breakfast at Cowpuccino's, a coffee shop in Cow Bay (mmmm apple carrot raisin muffin and caramel latte!). There were a few really cool little shops in Cow Bay to check out as well. After resisting the urge to spend toooo much money, I met again with my friend to hike the Butze Rapids trail. The trail was 5.4 km long with a few short steep hills, but was overall moderately easy and took about 1.5 hours. The trail leads you right to a lookout over the rapids (caused by uneven water levels during tide changes in this narrow area), and we were also able to walk right to the water over a rocky beach from a couple of points along the trail.
The hike had really worked up our appetites, so we had lunch at Breaker's Pub with another great waterfront view before I had to head for home.
There are tons of other fun things to do and see in Prince Rupert - the Northern BC Museum, tours to Pike Island, the Cannery, and lots more - so I've still got lots to do the next time I visit!
August 04, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Car / Truck / Motorcycle
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On July 30th, I attended BioBlitz in Smithers. This event, hosted by the BV Naturalists and the BV Research Centre, featured 24 hours of flora and fauna fun out at Twin Falls!
My friend and I arrived at BioBlitz to find a large crowd of people of all ages filling the parking lot of Twin Falls. There were local experts who were conducting different presentations throughout the day, and for each presentation, they needed help to gather samples. As we arrived, there was a group of kids heading off to hunt for insects, and there were a couple people returning to one of the tents with a frog in each hand. The researchers recorded the species of every plant and animal found to compare to past and present BioBlitz years. We attempted to find a frog to add to the list, but instead found a really cool jelly fungus! Well, we didn't know it was called that at the time - we were pretty sure we'd uncovered a new scientific discovery of an alien species! Apparently this year has been a great year for fungi growth, so the list of fungi was getting pretty long. My photo is of a HUGE mushroom that somebody had added to the collection - I'd never seen one this big before!
After looking at our jelly fungus under the microscope, we joined the fun at the art table. They had Foxtail plants that we used as paintbrushes and we placed juicy berries all over our pages before placing a board on top of the page and jumped on them to create "Squished Berry Art". I think the 7 year old next to me made a prettier picture than I did, but I still had fun making it!
At about 10pm, I returned to BioBlitz to see a demonstration about bats. The experts set up nets and used a neat sonar-detecting instrument to try to catch a bat or two and while we waited, the experts told me a bunch of neat facts about bats. Unfortunately bats don't like rain, so we didn't manage to catch any to look at, but I really enjoyed talking with the experts about their past research experiences and learning about the bats in our area (and we also ventured into talking about owls and other night-time animals).
If you get a chance to attend next year's BioBlitz, it would definitely be a lot of fun! Whether you're interested in plants, fungi, mammals, insects, or birds, you'll be able to learn something new about the different ecosystems around Smithers!
August 04, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Museums
Having trouble spotting Northern BC's elusive wildlife? A trip to Adam's Igloo 8km west of Smithers on Hwy 16 will give you ample viewing opportunities of all the region's animals! Just look for the big white igloo alongside the highway!
I recently visited Adam's Igloo and was surprised at the huge variety of wildlife that is there! He has specimens of every animal from a bumblebee to the biggest moose I've ever seen! The animals are all displayed in a very natural looking setting, often interacting with each other against the beautifully painted mural backdrop. Be sure to look in every nook and cranny of the scenes, because there's sure to be some little animal poking out to say hello! I especially enjoyed the lynx that's trying to swat a bird out of the sky!
The museum is open 9am-7pm daily, but even if the open sign isn't on and the silver truck is in the driveway, feel free to ring the doorbell. If the owner's around, he'll happily let you in and tell you all about his collection!
August 04, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Fishing
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If you're travelling west of Smithers on Hwy 16, be sure to stop at the Toboggan Creek Fish Hatchery! I visited yesterday and was surprised at how much there is to see and learn.
The Toboggan Creek Fish Hatchery is located 13km west of Smithers. It was really easy to follow the big signs welcoming visitors to the site! The hatchery was established in order to increase the number of Coho and Spring salmon in the Bulkley River system, as well as monitor local salmon populations. Young salmon usually only have a 1% survival rate, but here at the hatchery, that increases to 96%!
I was greeted by the girl who usually provides free tours to visitors, but today she and the other few staff members were busy "clipping" young fish - this is how fishermen identify the hatchery's fish and can report the location where they caught the fish to help track the salmon's journey. It was really interesting to watch the clipping process and how quick but gentle the staff are when handling the fish! I viewed the swarms of young fish in the tanks inside the hatchery (the water flowing through these tanks actually comes from the stream outside) and checked out the large depiction of the salmon's life cycle on the wall. I then wandered outside to the trail along Toboggan Creek - this creek is so nice, I could have happily lounged on its banks for a couple of hours but it was time to hit the road once again.
I really enjoyed my visit to the hatchery and I think it would be interesting to visit at different times throughout the year to see all the different jobs they do. Make sure to drop by any time you're in the neighbourhood - the folks at the Toboggan Creek Fish Hatchery will happily welcome you!