Beyond Barkerville by A.M. Westerling

 Those of you who know me know that I am an avid camper and that one of my favorite camping vacation destinations is northern British Columbia. Words cannot begin to describe the beauty of this area. Imagine towering, thick forests, tumbling white water rivers and soaring mountain peaks and you get the idea. If you like the wilderness and outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing and camping, this is the destination for you.

We usually set up a base camp just outside of Terrace on Lakelse Lake. 

From there, we’ll take day trips and for today’s post, I’ll share one of our more interesting tours and that was up the Nass Valley. As you drive north of Terrace, you follow the Nisga’a Highway which borders Kitsumkalum Lake. You can drive for miles in pristine wilderness, with the lake on one side and forests and mountains on the other and you’ll rarely see another vehicle or any signs of habitation.

Eventually you’ll reach Nisga’s Mem’l Lava Beds Provincial Park. The Nass Valley is the site of Canada’s most recent volcanic eruption, around 1750 and lava flows cover a large area.

 

From there, it’s up to New Ayiansh, which replaces the original town that was destroyed in the volcano. No one knows for sure but it’s estimated about 2000 people died during the eruption.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can head over to Kincolith, which until recently was only accessible by boat or plane.

 I was fortunate enough to be included in BWL Publishing's Canadian Historical Brides Collection. My contribution was Barkerville Beginnings, the story of Rose and Harrison set in the historic gold rush town of Barkerville, B.C.. On this particular trip, we stopped in at Barkerville on our way home which of course helped immensely with my research!

 

You can find Barkerville Beginnings and all my books HERE on the BWL Publishing website. 

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Websites I visited to write this post: 

www.nisgaanation.ca/volcano

https://nassvalleyeruption.weebly.com/