Prince Rupert to Hazelton to Stewart

In Prince Rupert the weather continued sunny. We were only staying one day here so did the “whirlwind tour”. Unfortunately the Railway Museum was closed for lunch so we went off for our own lunch in a small but very good restaurant, visited the excellent museum and then drove to Port Edward to visit the old salmon cannery. We arrived just a bit late for the tour but hadn't missed too much so joined in for the remainder.

Back in those days of racial profiling and discrimination, the society was very structured. Fishing was done by First Nations, Japanese and white fisherman, but each group kept to themselves. Labourers were primarily Chinese. All management of course was white. And of course, each group lived apart from the others. Management each had their own houses and "naturally" the plant manager had the biggest house. Unfortunately for him, a few years later the fish waste rendering plant was built directly opposite. The smell must have been something else on a summer day!

Many of the old buildings are still standing and many have been fully restored.There was a company store where the company would offer credit to the cannery employees, thus ensuring they wouldn't leave--they always seemed to owe more than their pay brought in.

Next day we headed east on Highway 16 traveling to the Hazeltons where the Bulkley river flows into the Skeena. There are three towns here: Hazelton, often called Old Hazeton to differentiate it from New Hazelton a few kilometres away, and then there is South Hazelton which we didn't visit. Our campground was in the original Hazelton where we spent most of our time.

The road to Old Hazelton crosses a narrow deep gorge of the Bulkley River via a long, high single lane suspension bridge. This is the fourth bridge at this crossing. The first was built by the indigenous people before the arrival of the whites using poles lashed together with cedar bark rope. We are told by the historical stories that the women carrying packs crossed first to test the structure while the men scrambled about below with long poles reinforcing where necessary! After the arrival of the whites it was reinforced with steel cable, obtained from the crews building the telegraph cable. The bridge lasted 50 years before being replaced. The current bridge hangs 80 meters (262 feet) above the water. In the top right of the right hand photo you can just make out the supports for the previous (not the original) bridge. (click to enlarge)

The Ksan village is a reproduction of type of structures originally here. Ksan means “Place of the Mist” We took the tour here and found it very informative and interesting.

That evening we were able to use our Starchoice satellite system to view the TV news from home. (Note added later: this would be the last time for a while we would be able to get a shot at the satellite because of trees or mountains!)

In the morning we packed up and backtracked about 40 minutes to the junction of Highway 37, our route north to meet the Alaska Highway. We fueled here then began the run up the 37, almost immediately missing the turn to Gitwangak, a small village with the largest collection of totempoles still in their original location. There was no place to turn around on the highway so we carried on. A little further on we turned off the highway onto the Kitwanga North Road to see an Historical site, Battle Hill. This once fortified village was occupied during the late 1700's and early 1800's. It has close historic ties to Gitwangak, the history being depicted on those totem poles.

By the time we saw the sign ” Historic Site” it was too late to make the turn! We continued on for a few kilometers until the road re-joined the 37 and we turned south—to make another attempt at Gitwangak and Battle Hill! In the left photo Battle Hill is the mound to the left of centre. The Kitwanga River can just be seen to the right. It flows into the Skeena just west of the 37/16 junction. (remember click to enlarge the pics.)

A little farther up the highway was the turnoff to the village of Gitanyow, another village with a large number of old totem poles so we stopped once again for a look and more photos. Some homes even had their own individual totem pole.

Having finally seen the sites, taken some photos and learned a little about the history we were northbound once again on 37 with Trekker keeping a close watch on the GPS and Silverleaf while Gillian was busy taking pictures through the window.

We made one more stop about this time, 45 minutes at a rest area for lunch. Here while walking the dogs Gillian noticed a duck struggling near the far bank of the fast flowing river, its head barely above water and frequently falling below the turbulent surface. We suspect that its foot was caught in some obstruction. It was very fatigued and would not last long. Unfortunately, being on the wrong side of the river there was nothing we could do. Very sad.

Some 150 kilometers later we reached Meziadin Junction and turned west on 37A to Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska. It was a picturesque drive and along the way we stopped for a closer look at the first glacier. At a very reasonable 4:30 PM we pulled into the Bear River RV park just at the outskirts of Stewart. We booked in for 2 nights and got settled in. Art tried the Starchoice satellite but the mountains were in the way. Oh well, the campground was equipped with cable so we were able to see the Vancouver news at least.