www.bridgerivervalley.ca
the Chilcotin
B
ritish Columbia’s last frontier invites you. The Chilcotin – this vast,wide-open spectacular landscape is located between the Coast Mountains and the Fraser River. Unlike the Cariboo, the Chilcotin was never invaded by swarms of gold crazed prospectors, so consequently it developed much differently. It’s a world of few roads, little industry and pockets of people, the majority of who are First Nation. It has an impressive diversity of wildlife, including Canada’s largest population of bighorn sheep, rare white pelicans, trumpeter swans, bears, wolves, mountain caribou and hundreds of wild horses. This makes it the perfect place for anyone wanting to explore the pristine Canada of their imagination. The Chilcotin’s vastness is linked to the Central Interior by Highway 20, which crosses the Chilcotin Plateau and Coast Mountains stretching 456km/283mi from Williams Lake to Bella Coola. Highway 20, or the Freedom Highway, connects wildly different landscapes ranging from grassy plateaus and vast meadows to dramatic canyons and high mountain peaks. Not a single traffic light breaks its entire length, though there may be brief stops for ranging cattle and wandering moose or bears. Roads off the highway provide access to excellent views of the Coast Mountain Range, as well as to significant backcountry lakes, fishing resorts and specialty lodges.
Much of the region is composed of the high-elevation 50,000km2/19,305mi2 Chilcotin Plateau where thousands of cattle roam. There is tremendous geographical diversity here, from hot, dry grasslands to ice-covered heights of more than 4,000m/13,123ft, where glaciers descend to azure-blue lakes. Towering above those glacier-carved valleys is Mount Waddington, the highest peak that lies entirely within B.C. at 4,016m/13,176ft. Three major river systems, the Homathko, Klinaklini and Dean, run westward through the Coast Mountains, while the southeast is drained by the great Chilko, Chilcotin and Fraser river systems. The grassland canyons found on the Chilko and Fraser are desert landscapes similar to those seen in the south-western United States. Nothing reflects the spirit of the region more than the completion of Highway 20, at one time known as the Freedom Road because its completion freed up access to the central coast. Until 1953, the road ended at Anahim Lake, 137km/85mi short of Bella Coola on the coast because the provincial government refused to extend it - claiming the mountainous terrain was too difficult. So local volunteers working from opposite ends with two bulldozers and supplies purchased on credit finished the job. This determination and independent spirit remains in the fabric and character of the Chilcotin and Coastal residents today. The rustic road was not
really considered a highway when first completed (taking more than 9 hours to drive from Bella Coola to Anahim Lake), but it was enough to convince the government to take over maintenance and improvements in 1955. Those who settled this isolated region had to be tough - like Nellie Hance, who, in 1887, became the first white woman to travel into the Chilcotin by journeying 485km/301mi riding side saddle on horseback to reach her husband Tom’s trading post near Lee’s Corner (also known as Hanceville). Others were not only tough but, perhaps, a little crazy. Rancher Norman Lee, after whom Lee’s Corner was named, set out from his spread in May 1898 with 200 head of cattle on a 2,500km/1,553mi trek to the Klondike goldfields. None of his cattle survived the journey, but Lee did, arriving in Vancouver five months later with a roll of blankets, a dog and one dollar. Borrowing enough money for the train to Ashcroft and a horse to ride home, Lee was soon ranching again and by 1902 was well on the way back to prosperity. His descendants are still ranching in the Chilcotin today. The communities of the Chilcotin are strung along Highway 20 like beads on a necklace, each one with its own story and general store. These hospitable
1-800-663-5885
| www.landwithoutlimits.com
29