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A Safari in Canada's Wilderness |
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by "J.P.R." I had ordered a strong coffee in the hotel café. It was 7:45am Sunday morning and my head was still on Eastern Time as I looked out on the Pacific Ocean from my window. Mixed feelings of apprehension and excitement mingled as I waited for the guide. What had I signed myself up for this time? An adventure in Canada’s wilderness had held all the answers for me a few months ago when I first found the website…
As the shadows receded the next morning it was apparent there was a little cowboy or cowgirl in each of us. As we trotted along the trails, our party of first-time horseback riders began to look like real ranchers. Threading our way through a golden expanse of wild grass shimmering in the gentle breeze, we reached a hilltop and stopped for lunch. The vast Chilcotin Plateau was framed on every horizon by small mountain ranges. Back at the ranch in the late afternoon, a few of us tried our luck lake fishing. The pure country air and a fantastic meal had relaxed me to the core.
Leaving the ranch with a long trail of red dust in our wake, we crossed the Fraser River again in the late morning. The sandstone canyon walls in this semi-desert habitat have been sculpted by the elements into eerie ‘hoodoos.’ Later we passed through an historic working ranch where free running horses cantered and pranced all around us. By late afternoon we had moved off the western edge of the plateau and the mountains closed in around us once more. After a stretch of very rough track along the clear waters of Chilko Lake, we arrived at a lodge, which would be our home for the next three days. All the comforts of gourmet meals, after-dinner drinks and a soothing jacuzzi were gifts from paradise.
For
more information about Canada's Wilderness, visit http://www.canadian-expeditions.com
for details of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Safari and other adventures
in British Columbia. |
A
few hours later the atmosphere in the 4X4 vehicle was alive with
an animated blend of personas from around the world. We passed
through Vancouver, British Columbia, and north along Howe Sound
-- the most southerly glacial fjord in North America -- into the
lush temperate rainforest of the Coast Mountains. Conversation
became subdued on the short drive on forest roads along the wild
Elaho River, all eyes watching the whitewater rapids in the deep
gorge below the road. Excitement built a tight knot in my stomach
during the safety talk on the riverbank. 
The
yellow 8-person rafts sat innocuously at the edge of the river
while bald eagles circled on July thermals. As we paddled along
under the direction of our guide, the glaciers high on the mountains
above were blindingly bright against the deep azure sky. All my
senses were heightened as we approached the rapids. Swirling foam
and writhing power carried us for minutes on end, the ice-cold
spray refreshing from the 90-degree day, before we emerged into
a calmer section.
Over
dinner that night the camaraderie grew as we shared our stories;
a married couple in their mid-fifties from New Jersey, a retired
stockbroker from L.A. and his wife, two gregarious women from
Belgium and myself; a semi retired dentist from Virginia. The
next morning we left the log cabin in the sleepy mountain valley
of Pemberton, and passed out of the Coast Mountains towards the
settlement of Lillooet, following the trail of the Gold Rush of
the 1800s. Over lunch at Cache Creek in the Fraser River Canyon,
we learnt all about the history of the Gold Rush and the old wagon
road in the Cariboo Mountains. By late afternoon we were many
miles from paved roads, and the guide navigated rough 4x4 dirt
tracks through the rolling hills studded with lakes. We arrived
at a guest ranch near the Fraser River in the southern Chilcotin
Mountains -- the heart of cowboy country. 
Our
last day came. A couple of us fished to our hearts’ content on
the lake while the others hiked along the lakeshore. I spent the
morning relaxing on the deck of my cabin, alternately training
my binoculars on the golden eagle over the mountainside, and across
the higher slopes where I hoped to spot an illusive Grizzly bear.
After lunch, a chartered airplane landed on the grass strip behind
the lodge, momentarily disturbing the peace. The last leg of this
journey of discovery took us over the lakes, ice fields and lofty
peaks of the Coast Mountains during the two-hour flight back to
Vancouver. That evening we all met at a fine seafood restaurant
for a farewell dinner overlooking English Bay. We exchanged emails
and discussed plans for another Canadian Expedition next summer
-- a sailing trip through the coastal islands in search of the
majestic Killer Whales…