Today Sharon and I went on a cruise up the Pitt River into Pitt Lake. This was recommended by a friend who had gone, and I thought it sounded like fun.
The boat was not a paddlewheeler, but had some wonderful seats up front so we could soak in the sights.
We began from the docks at New Westminster, and headed up the Fraser River.
The Sky train rapid transit bridge over the Fraser:
Then the Patullo Bridge for cars:
I think this is the rapid transit as well:
Houses on the river bank. Couldn't tell you the name of the neighbourhood:
There are still log booms and sorting grounds along the river, but no where near what there used to be:
This was so interesting. The castle like building in the centre is the old BC Penitentiary. The red building in front is where the prisoners would arrive when transported by river. Neither are used for this purpose anymore, and not sure what they are. I do remember working at a saw mill upstream from the Pen when I was 20something. I had to sample what was coming out of the smoke stack - a 6 story climb up an external vertical ladder attached to the stack. When I got to the ramp at the top (the climb was white knuckled but I was determined to climb because I think I was the only female on site at the time, and there were men standing around the bottom just waiting for me to fail) I could see all up and down the Fraser and into the centre compound of the Pen!
More log booms with the Port Mann bridge in the background:
One of the many dredgers which keep the river channel deep enough:
The Port Mann. The commentator said it is the widest and longest bridge in the world:
This is the remains of an old paddlewheeler which plied the river during the gold rush:
There was something going on involving oil spill clean up - possibly a drill:
Spill booms (the yellow things). Seems pretty low tech, but perhaps effective:
A couple of police officers on the beach near the spill crew - at the mouth of the Coquitlam River - so perhaps not a drill after all:
The mouth of the Coquitlam River:
Just a typical working boat on the river:
The Pitt River train bridge:
It's a swing bridge and we had to wait until the train cleared and the bridge opened for us:
The Pitt River Bridge and some weird thing in my photo which just appeared when I uploaded:
The Pitt River - still industrial at this point:
The Pitt River soon becomes quite rural and beautiful - and another remnant of downloading!
The dyke of 'poldar' along the Pitt River:
So far we had seen sturgeon (huge!) jump out of the water and a bald eagle sitting on a post in the Fraser River.
Now a deer swimming across the river - The most notable thing was her huge ears!
The building is a golf course owned by Japanese investors - people fly over just to play golf for the weekend. Sigh.
Another bit of wildlife - a mama bear and her cub. The cub is just behind mama. The banks of the poldar are lined with blackberries which are now ripe - I'm sure they were gorging themselves, and they looked very healthy!
A closer shot:
The scenery is spectacular now - and these pictures would be were it not for the weird marks.
A small marina
We saw quite a few osprey nests - this one has no osprey in it, but in some 2 or 3 large chicks could be seen (although not successfully photographed). According to the commentator, more nests had chicks last week, but they've likely fledged.
As you can see the weather was cloudy but the density of the clouds varied, as did the temperature. No rain though, and I scarcely paid attention - the mountains were so stunning. Here we are in the Pitt Lake.
One of the things which I found most interesting was the colour of the lichen on the rocks. Here you can see some lime green - which was the most common lichen - but there was also a vivid orange.
This cabin had a 'for rent' sign on it. I was tempted to stop the boat and get off. What a treat it would be to spend time there just at the mouth of this lake.
More vivid green lichen:
The water became quite glassy as we proceeded into the very deep part of the lake.
I loved this cliff! You can see the green, yellow, and orange lichen.
And then on a neighbouring cliff, the petroglyphs which we had come to see. Ancient drawings in red ochre - which look like they could have been drawn yesterday!
And more simply gorgeous cliff faces:
You can see another drawing on the squarish piece in the bottom left quadrant:
These cliffs boast some arbutus trees - the most eastern place they are found.
And a bit further down the lake a waterfall.
There was a gathering of folks at the beach below the waterfall - two boats, and this float plane came to join them. He had been practicing take off and landing while we made our way down the lake.
And the we made our way back down the river. We were on the water from 10AM until 430PM - they served a nice lunch. The crew were super - very friendly. The young many who gave the commentary did so without notes and was a masterful storyteller. We heard all kinds of tales about the Moodys and others who founded the Province and various cities along the river; about the gold rush days which took the Fraser River by storm; about the canal rush - a land speculation response to the Panama Canal completion; about the folly and misdeeds of politicians and investors alike. So nothing new under the sun. He represented the First Nations extremely well. He'd really done his homework.
If anyone is in the area, I'd highly recommend this cruise. I spent the entire day on deck on the front of the boat, entranced by the beauty around me and entertained by the stories.
Returned exhausted having negotiated Vancouver rush hour twice, but finding time to stop and pick up more seafood for my supper. Lucky me!
Then a rainstorm in my trailer in the night - which always feels very cosy.
