Fraser Canyon - Tunnels, Old Roads, and an Old Bridge, Oh My !

 

The Fraser Canyon was created approx. 20 million years ago during the Miocene Period as the Fraser River cut its way into the uplifting Interior Plateau. 

Exposures of lava flows are evident along the walls of the canyon and the sub-canyons that lead into the main canyon. None of this is obvious to the modern traveler who speeds along through here at 90 km an hour.

Ken and I decided to spend a day geocaching in part of this historic canyon; we would be starting in the north at Boston Bar and working our way down towards Hope. Where we stopped for the day was TBD.

A number of caches in the canyon highlight the later history of the canyon, mostly the last 100 years or so. On this trip we would be visiting old roads on the side of cliffs before engineers bored through the mountains to replace the dangerous sections of road with a series tunnels, seven in all. 

 And, oh yeah, did I mention an old bridge? The "new" bridge was built in 1926 and was used by cars all the way up to 1962 when a new high level bridge was built. (Orange bridge seen in first picture).

It was really interesting to walk along the old, deteriorating roads clinging to the side of the mountains. And it was really cool when we found tunnel #8, which in fact was an early tunnel replaced by a newer tunnel which ran just below the original one.

The day's story is best told via pictures and the complete collection can be found here on my photo web site. 

This is only Part 1 of our trip; as the day ran long and many caches remained on our list, we ended our day at historic Yale.

The entire canyon has so much history contained within its short run, and Yale itself plays a key role in Canada's history.

It was in Yale where the leaders of the Colony of British Columbia met in 1868 and decided to create the Province of British Columbia. In 1871 the Province of BC came into being, and later BC joined the Dominion Of Canada, the forerunner of the country we know today as Canada.

Part 2 of the trip is still to be done and I for one cannot wait to get back on the highway for another geocaching road trip mixed with grand scenery and historical lessons about our Super Natural BC.

Drop a comment below if you liked this story or want to know more about the canyon in general.