Alpine Al and the Smithereens!

  Smithers, British Columbia, Canada
Monday, July 14, 2008

Erica's Fancy Shot

The drive from Williams Lake to Smithers was familiar by this point but very nice none the less, especially the section beyond Fraser Lake that we hadn't seen before.  As we approached Smithers the mountains came into view and we found the town nestled in a green valley below the peaks.
 
Our first night in town we stayed at the Storknest Inn, which was totally worth staying at just for the fantastic free breakfast including eggs any way you want, ham, sausages, fresh fruit, and unlimited coffee.  It was a nice change after our typical breakfast of cold cereal!  Smithers itself is an interesting town, it's heavily influenced by its Swiss history, and many of the shops and restaurants are designed in a Swiss lodge style with peaked roofs and detailed wooden shutters and trim.  It works perfectly with the mountainous backdrop and is topped off by Alpine Al, a wood carving of man blowing an alpenhorn right in the middle of Main St.  Another great thing about Smithers... the local residents call themselves Smithereens! 
 

The view was great

The following day we set up camp at Tyee Lake Provincial Park, which turned out to be one of the nicest campgrounds of the summer.  It had a big beach and picnic area, as well as a really nice trail along the lakeshore, through a little wetland, and then up into the woods and around the whole campground.  After setting up camp we went for a hike up what was called 'little onion trail', about an hour and a half hike up to a peak overlooking the valley.  It was a pretty tough hike but worth it for the view from the top (though we were chased away by the mosquitoes soon after we got there).
 

This is our job

The following morning we met with Anne to develop a plan for sampling the local lakes, several of which were too small for motorized boats.  We settled on using a canoe for those lakes, which was actually a really nice change after the loud motors on most of the boats we use (though if we always used a canoe we would still be on Okanagan Lake).  We completed Kathlyn, Bigelow, and Seymore Lakes by canoe, and then did Tyee and Round Lakes by motor boat with a local fisheries officer.
 

B & E's big hike

On Saturday I spent some time working on the computer in our favorite local restaurant-the Alpenhorn-while the guys went for another hike.    Looking at their pictures afterward, I was pretty happy to have sat out, apparently it was even steeper than the little onion trail.  On Sunday we made our way to Terrace to do some work on Lakelse Lake.  We stayed at Ferry Island Campground, right outside of Terrace, as this appeared to be the best place for fishing.  We left Brendan to his fishing and Eric and I did a short hike to a lookout point above Terrace.
 

This looks a little like my dad! Seriously!

Brendan didn't catch any fish, but the campground was definitely worth visiting just for the carvings.  Throughout the park there are trails, and along the trails there are faces carved into the trees.  After a while of hiking around and searching for the faces, you start to see them even in trees without carvings!  On Monday we had a great day with Troy collecting data on Lakelse and on Tuesday we had a chance to meet with a bunch of people interested in what we were doing including representatives from the Regional District and the Water Stewardship Society.  Joanne arrived in time for our presentation, which worked out well for us as everyone told her nice things and made us look good. 
 

Our Campground in Terrace

After our presentation we drove back to Smithers where we discovered that there had been a mix up at the hotel and our room was no longer available, so we scrambled around town and found what may have been the last hotel room in town.  The owner actually suggested that we look at the room first, so we expected the worst, but aside from the authentic 70's décor it was quite comfortable.  Joanne was very kind and invited us out for dinner (perhaps she felt bad because she got a room at the hotel where we were turned away), and so we suggested the Alpenhorn.  I highly recommend this place, it has great fresh and tasty food, a big patio, free wireless internet, comfy booths inside, and a very unusual ceiling fan (it's not easy to describe, you'll have to go there to see it).
 
After a good night's sleep we picked up the canoe to do one more lake in the area.  After finishing the final lake, we said goodbye to Joanne as well as Smithers and set off on a long drive down to Lillouette and, the next day, the Pemberton Festival!