Falling in love with BC all over again.

I have spent many moons traveling the globe and I regularly fall in love with different lands but BC will always be my first and strongest love. Nothing beats hanging out in an arbutus tree in a field full of camas, or laughing by a campfire on the edge of the ocean, or trekking for a spectacular view in the mountains, or swimming in a pristine lake miles down an old logging road. It is the natural, rugged, beauty of BC that makes it the incredible place that it is. I feel so fortunate to live and have access to such amazing landscapes. On my trip up to Prince Rupert for the rally I decided to go by land as I hadn’t spent much time up in that area. I took a bus up to Prince George and then the train up to Rupert. The train was amazing! In the winter VIA Rail puts the glass observation car on that route and you can ride in it for no extra charge (in the summer it is first class). It was like watching a live IMAX show for 12 hours! I saw moose and eagles and mountains and rivers and just the most spectacular vistas ever. I actually didn’t take many photos on the train as I was just soaking it all in. I was adamant about protecting BC wilderness before the trip but after the journey I began to understand the true impact that unchecked industry growth would have in those areas.

On the train trip up I was adopted by a group of friends that I loved immediately 🙂 They were from the Hazelton area and it was great to hear their perspectives on industry growth in their neck of the woods where industry feeds many a mouth. Hazelton is pretty close to the Sacred Headwaters where Shell had begun drilling for coalbed methane before the local community got together and fought it, resulting in a temporary moratorium. The Sacred Headwaters is the birthplace of three major salmon bearing rivers (which are hugely significant to the livelihoods and economy of the whole area). I really appreciate Wade Davis’ perspective on the situation. He knows the importance of the energy industry and the fact that it is necessary however he believes that there needs to be more discussion and legislation around WHERE and HOW they happen. It is important not to develop in sensitive areas that will devastate cultures and other industries. I am not against development and growth, I just think we need to be smart and forward-thinking about it.

While I was up in Prince Rupert, the weather was uncharacteristically mild and gorgeous for that time of year and I got some spectacular sunsets 🙂

After the rally, my new adoptive family invited me to come to Hazelton where I spent a night sleeping next to the Skeena river. So blissful!

I ended up flying back from Smithers which was not my initial travel plan but in the end I was happy I did. The BC mountains are so gorgeous. I adore seeing the different formations and imagining how they were created. Seeing the landscape from that height puts interrelationships into a whole new perspective. Everything is connected. Work done on a mountainside is going to effect the valley. Development upstream is going to have extensive effects downstream. Nothing happens in isolation.

I’ll leave you with images from the trip up and back. I went a little overboard with the mountain shots but I couldn’t help it. Mountains are so cool!!