A hike in a land formed by ice, to a canyon conquered by paddle steamers

After an unexpectedly eventful beginning, the Fort George Canyon Trail offered some surprise lessons about this part of British Columbia.

An unforseen warm-up

Shoulder jammed into the number plate of a strangers car, with feet digging into the ground and pushing as hard as we could was not how we expected to start this hike.

None the less, that was where we found ourselves when we came across a group of hikers whose car had got stuck in the partially melted snow and mud in the single lane track that led up to the trail head.

Knowing that this could have easily been us, we dropped our rucksacks and got stuck in with the rescue mission. I offered some matting we had in our car to give the wheels traction and Jacob ran back to get it, while the rest of us dug the wheels out.

Car freed and feeling sufficiently warmed up, Jacob smiled and said “look at you, you loved that didn’t you?” Problem solving, with a team of strangers, in the back country, with no phone signal: what’s not to love?!

Hiking in a land carved by glaciers

The first section of our trail was in a dense forest, through which the path weaved until we reached a more open area. To our left was a long, high hill. A very distinct feature in the landscape which was otherwise gently declining towards the river.

Jacob explained that these elongated, oval ‘hills’, called drumlins, are formed by the streamline movement of glacial ice sheets. Staring at this ‘drumlin’ I could not picture the gigantic ice sheet which would have covered most of British Columbia.

We paused our hike so Jacob could show me what this area looks like on Google Maps. Immediately you can spot thousands of drumlins scaring the landscape; gigantic tear drops all moving in the same direction. Suddenly, the gigantic ice sheet, and the way the drumlins show the direction of the ice flow, was much easier to picture.

A canyon with a hidden history

Before long, the trail led us back into a forested area and then, after a while, more noticeably downhill towards the river and the canyon. As we approached the ‘beach’ an information sign with the title ‘The BX’ caught my eye because we had enjoyed a beer with friends in a pub called ‘The BX’ a few days earlier.

The sign explained that The BX was a stern wheeler, a type of paddle steamer, which carried people and goods up and down the Fraser river. The BX was one of twelve paddle steamers on the Fraser between 1863 and 1921.

When these boats reached Fort George Canyon, where we now stood looking out over the rocky islands, the passengers had, by law, to disembark because the Canyon’s large rocks and rapids commonly damaged and wrecked boats.

Jacob disappeared following the path of a Bald Eagle towards the islands, leaving me to get lost in thoughts of those paddle steamer passengers. It was easy to imagine them, tried from the journey, disgruntled at having to get off and walk. Nervously watching their paddle steamer battle the canyon before they were able to board it again for their journey onto Fort George.

It is no wonder The BX has been immortalised as the name of one of Prince George’s pubs. It became a popular choice of vessel after it proved to be so safe that it was allowed to travel through Fort George Canyon with passengers on board.

We left the canyon and regained the trail, grateful for the unexpected lessons it had given us; but also grateful that our biggest challenge today had been freeing a car from snow rather than a paddle steamer from a canyon.

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Come on another hike with us…

A teapot for a birthday: A spring hike in Bear Country

A snowy day hiking in the footsteps of First Nation traders and conquering my fear of the cold

Discover more about the history of Prince George…

First Nation, Fur Trade and a Train Station: How Prince George became a city.

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