David Hancock and Karen Bills of Hancock Wildlife Foundation View Eagles

And while you’re visiting the area, check out the scenery aboard a riverboat tour with Fraser River Safari.  For schedules and tour details visit www.fraserriversafari.com.

Sandpiper Golf Resort's Owner, Betty Anne Faulkner and eagle,Sonsie share a wink

The Greater Vancouver Zoo is working with the team at Xa:ytem Interpretive Centre  during the festival as well.  Drop by to see the live exhibit of the Great Horned Owl, Barn Owl and maybe, if you’re lucky, Meredith the Bald Eagle may be visiting.  Xa:ytem features local native art and gifts in their First Nations gift gallery too.  There are great gift ideas for Christmas.  For directions and hours of operation visit www.xaytem.ca.

Extend your eagle viewing adventure with an overnight stay at Sandpiper Golf Resort and Rowena’s Inn.  This exquisite heritage Manor is the former summer home of the Pretty Family. Filled with favourite family antiques and heirlooms, including a photo wall revealing the faces of the family behind the home, the ambiance is cultured and luxurious.  Enjoy a lavish hot and cold breakfast in the solarium located off the main dining lounge, or stay in one of the four west coast chic cabins – each complete with king-sized bed, soaker jacuzzi tub and river rock fireplace – a perfect retreat to relax with a glass of wine while admiring the view out over the river.  Whether you choose to stay at the Inn or in a cabin, the eagles will soar past gracing you with their majesty.  Visit www.sandpiperresort.ca for package details.

The Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society – OWL – is a dynamic organization comprised of people who care deeply about the safety of birds of prey.  The web site offers information on educational programs and special events, as well as contact information should you site a bird in need.  Please visit www.owlcanada.ca.

All Photos Courtesy of R. Bond, CtoC Productions

Interior cabin at Sandpiper Golf Resort and Rowena's Inn

In the Hope and Fraser Canyon there are literally hundreds of these geocache sites to be discovered and they range from simple to extreme.

During the summer of 2009 the New Pathways to Gold Society is launching the Chasing the Golden Butterfly passport/geocache program. The story concept follows three historic characters on their individual quests through the Hope to Barkerville corridor and adjacent areas, telling the stories behind several dozen gold rush era historic sites by using both a passport document and online geocaching clues. Visitors will be able to follow in the footsteps of three characters as they “chase the golden butterfly” throughout the corridor by locating the geocache sites.

These sites fall into three natural routes which served the First Nations for millennia before being used by fur traders, gold seekers and ranchers. Coincidentally, the routes look somewhat like a butterfly when traced out on a map. They are:

- Route One: The Cariboo Road/Gold Rush Trail (Highway One from Hope to Cache Creek, then up Highway 97 (Cariboo Highway) to Quesnel, then turning eastward onto Highway 26 to Barkerville.

- Route Two: Follows the route of the old Douglas Trail, constructed in 1858 from Port Douglas, Skookumchuck to Pemberton/Mount Currie, thence along Highway 99 to Seton Lake and Lillooet, finally rejoining Highway 97 at Hat Creek (providing a link with Route One and a Circle Tour route).

- Route Three: Cache Creek to Kamloops via Highway One (incorporating Walhachin, Savona, etc.) then down Highway Five to Merritt, then up Highway 97C to Logan Lake, thence to Ashcroft, rejoining Highway One at Cache Creek (another circle tour).

Each route has one character traversing it. One is a real character from history, the other two are composites inspired by real historic figures. Each in their own way is “chasing the Golden Butterfly,” a term used in a book about the gold rush era, The Mystic Spring, by D.W. Higgins. To quote Higgins:”Thousands came in pursuit of the Golden Butterfly but many of its admirers and devotees found it elusive.”

While the characters are moving through a landscape of mining claims and boomtowns, they are not looking for literal gold. Each of them has a different Golden Butterfly to catch. Harry/Harriett Collins: Travelling along Route One, Harriett Collins is a woman disguised as a man, looking for her husband, George, amidst the rowdy mining camps and instant towns between Hope and Barkerville. Eppa: A First Nations packer who has traversed the Gold Road up to Barkerville and back many times, Eppa is the visitor’s guide along Route Two. Nan Sing: Nan Sing arrived in 1858 and mined in Yale before moving on to Quesnel and Barkerville. He eventually ran a pack train into Barkerville and was a rancher and cowboy. His story unfolds along Route 3.

Through the use of the passport travellers will find an entertaining and educational way to travel through Hope and the Fraser Canyon and beyond, while learning about the Fraser River and Cariboo Gold Rush era of the mid-1800’s and participating in geocaching.

For more information about The Chasing the Golden Butterfly passport program and geocaching in the region please see the staff at the Hope Visitor Centre & Museum Complex in Hope at 919 Water Avenue.

Hope is an ideal location for glider flying as a result of westerly winds which blow from the Fraser Valley and rise upon hitting the local mountains. Mount Hope is well known for creating strong upward columns of air which can keep a glider in flight for as long as six and seven hours.

Most days of the week from April to October, visitors to the community can catch a glimpse of the gliders soaring by the mountains over the town.

The pilots are members of the Hope Gliding Centre. The Hope Gliding Centre owns two tow planes and six gliders and offers week long and weekend training programs at the Hope Gliding Centre. The Hope Gliding Centre can be reached at 604-869-7211 or at hope-gliding@yahoo.com. More information is on the club’s website at www.vsa.com

For those interested in taking a  ride in a glider,  HGC pilots will take you up for a 20-30 minute flight for $150. Glider flights are held from the Hope Airpark every weekend and some weekdays, through spring, summer and fall. Bring a lunch and spend a day with the HGC.  Flying starts at 10 a.m.

There is a special program to fly the disabled through BC Mobility Opportunity Society.

The Hope Airpark is dubbed by some as one of the best grass landing strips in the Pacific Northwest. The Hope FlightFest takes off July 4th, 2009, with vintage planes, displays, radio-controlled aircraft, helicopter and glider rides, kids games, and a special performance by the Fraser Blues formation flying team. For more information contact the Hope Visitor InfoCentre at 604-869-2021.

To find the Hope Airpark take the Flood-Hope exit (#165) off the TransCanada Hwy #1, just west of Hope, and follow the signs to the airpark. Park on the service road near the white fabric hangar at the east end of the airpark and walk through the gate towards the airfield where the HGC has a red and white checkered operations trailer. Remember, always keep a careful watch for landing gliders while on the airfield.;

A spirited wind that hit in January 2007 resulted in the blow-down of 25 per cent of the aged stand of Douglas Firs that grace this land. And once again the community is striving to revitalize a park known as the spirit and heart of the community.

But in an effort to revitalize not only the aging chainsaw carvings within Memorial Park but the entire community, the Hope and District Chamber of Commerce unveiled a new program – the annual Hope International Chainsaw Carving Competition

From September 10th – 13th, top notch chainsaw carvers from near and far will arrive in Hope for the third annual event. Visitors can watch as massive blocks of cedar are transformed, in a single weekend, into new works of art for the community by these carvers.

Drop by the Brigade Days festival fairgrounds at the Sixth Avenue Park to watch the artists at work. For information on the event contact the Hope and District Chamber of Commerce office at 604-869-3111 or drop by the Hope Visitor Centre.;

Visitors, that follow a suggested walking and driving carving tour, will be able to photograph all of the carvings that have been completed to date, many by other renown carvers, thanks to the new Hope International Chainsaw Carving Competition.

Visitors can pick up a copy of the tour at the Hope Visitor Centre. Don’t forget to ask if there are any carvers currently working in the area.

For information on the walking tour contact the Hope and District Chamber of Commerce office at 604-869-3111 or drop by the Hope Visitor Centre.;

Eighty-six winter sports events have been announced as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The eight sports categorized as ice sports are: bobsled, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, and curling. The three sports categorized as alpine, skiing and snowboarding events are: alpine, freestyle and snowboarding. The four sports categorized as Nordic events are: biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined. Five sports will be on the Paralympic Games program: Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Wheelchair curling, and Sledge Hockey.

All of the Greater Vancouver venues are approximately 2 hours in driving time from Hope while Whistler is a further 74 km north of Vancouver.

Visitors to Hope during the duration of the 2010 Winter Olympics and the Paralympics Games should inquire about accommodation and transportation options at the Hope Visitor Centre located at 919 Water Avenue. Staff will be able to answer questions about local viewing opportunities and celebrations related to the 2010 Games and assist with travel plans to the venues in Vancouver and Whistler. They will also have information about the Cultural Olympiad 2010 which is 60 days of arts and culture celebrations from January 22, through to March 21, 2010.

Prior to the start of the 2010 Games the Olympic Torch Relay will make its way through the Hope region.

The sacred Olympic Flame will be lit in an ancient ritual in Olympia, Greece, site of the first Olympic Games. After a short run through Greece, the Olympic Flame arrives in Athens, where it is handed over to a representative from Canada. From there, the Olympic Flame will make a trans-Atlantic flight and arrive in Victoria, B.C. on October 30th, 2009 signaling the start of the longest Olympic Torch Relay to take place in a single country. The Olympic Flame will travel more than 45,000 kilometres across Canada – some by land, air and water; and some by other means. The national relay route will link together over 1,000 communities and places of interest.

The Olympic Flame passes through the Hope region on the 101st day of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay on Sunday, February 7th, 2010. The Torch begins its day in Merritt and then travels to Hope via Princeton and along Highway #3 though Manning Park, and past Sunshine Valley before entering Hope. From here it continues on to Seabird Island and Harrison Hot Springs plus Agassiz via Highway #7 before traveling on to Rosedale and Chilliwack, finishing its day in Abbotsford. Route details and celebration plans will be released closer to the flame’s arrival so check with the Hope Visitor Centre & Museum Complex at 604-869-2021 as this date approaches.

Throughout 2009 and the start of 2010, the Spirit of BC-Hope Region Committee will be holding a variety of events to mark the countdown to the 2010 Games so be sure to check with the staff at the Hope Visitor Centre & Museum Complex at 919 Water Avenue for details about memorable occasions that you can include in your visit to the Hope Region during this final countdown year to the 2010 Games.

See www.spiritofbc.com and www.vancouver2010.com for additional information.;

It was March 23rd, 1858, when 15 unemployed firemen from San Francisco paddled up the Fraser into the heart of First Nations territory, and stopped for lunch on a gravel bar between Fort Yale and Fort Hope. They were following rumours of gold that had reached San Francisco just weeks before. As they ate their lunch, one of them – Edward Hill – casually panned the sand and gravel at his feet. He quickly discovered gold, and the men began feverishly sifting and washing gravel from the bar. Later named ‘Hill’s Bar’, its discovery triggered the Fraser River Gold Rush, and the bar would become the richest gold producer on the entire Fraser River.

However, Edward Hill was not really the first person to profit from gold on the Fraser. First Nations had been quietly mining gold in their territory for at least a decade prior to 1858. Sto:lo and N’laka’pamux people traded gold, furs, and salmon with the British forts at Hope and Yale, in exchange for valuable goods such as hunting rifles, cooking pots, and steel tools.

Although the British laid claim to the BC mainland as a fur-trading territory they called ‘New Caledonia’, First Nations held real political power on the ground. They vastly outnumbered Europeans in these early contact years, and aboriginal economic and cultural traditions still flourished in collaboration with the fur traders. But all that changed in the spring of 1858.

When news of the gold strike at Hill’s Bar reached San Francisco, thousands boarded steamships bound for Fort Victoria. By the summer of 1858, thousands of American miners were pouring into the narrow confines of the Fraser Canyon and over-running First Nations villages. Some of the miners stole food and property, and assaulted or killed Sto:lo and N’laka’pamux people. First Nations of the canyon naturally retaliated in defence of their security and sovereignty, and so the “Canyon War” began.

The war was short and bloody, causing the deaths of dozens of miners and natives. It was only brought to an end thanks to the diplomacy and peace making of N’laka’pamux Chief David Spintlum. Chief Spintlum gathered thousands of First Nations people together at Lytton in August of 1858 and spoke eloquently to them, convincing them not to pursue open war with the Europeans. As part of the provincial BC150 celebrations, Chief David Spintlum Week in Lytton, will be celebrated this October.

The Canyon War, and the sudden influx of American miners into British-claimed territory, forced British authorities to act. James Douglas, the Hudson’s Bay Company Chief Factor and Governor of Vancouver Island, had witnessed the loss of the Oregon territory years earlier under similar circumstances. He acted quickly, requesting a company of British soldiers and lobbied London for full colony status. Thus, the crown colony of British Columbia was formed in 1858, as a direct result of the Fraser River Gold Rush.

Last year also marked 200 years since the explorer Simon Fraser, for which the Fraser River was named, battled rapids and terrifying terrain in an attempt to confirm the belief that the river was actually the headwaters of the Columbia River.

The party of twenty-four left Fort George in four canoes on May 28, 1808. The canoes had to be abandoned in Lillooet, and with the help of the First Nations people, Simon Fraser made his way down through the Fraser Canyon and to the mouth of the Fraser River. In recognition of Simon Fraser’s journey, Hell’s Gate unveiled ‘Simon’s Wall’ where you can step back in time and into a recreation of John Innes’ painting of Simon Fraser traversing the walls of the Fraser Canyon on First Nation’s rope bridges.

The war was short and bloody, causing the deaths of dozens of miners and natives. It was only brought to an end thanks to the diplomacy and peace making of N’laka’pamux Chief David Spintlum. Chief Spintlum gathered thousands of First Nations people together at Lytton in August of 1858 and spoke eloquently to them, convincing them not to pursue open war with the Europeans. As part of the provincial BC150 celebrations, Chief David Spintlum Week in Lytton, will be celebrated this October.

The Canyon War, and the sudden influx of American miners into British-claimed territory, forced British authorities to act. James Douglas, the Hudson’s Bay Company Chief Factor and Governor of Vancouver Island, had witnessed the loss of the Oregon territory years earlier under similar circumstances. He acted quickly, requesting a company of British soldiers and lobbied London for full colony status. Thus, the crown colony of British Columbia was formed in 1858, as a direct result of the Fraser River Gold Rush.

Last year also marked 200 years since the explorer Simon Fraser, for which the Fraser River was named, battled rapids and terrifying terrain in an attempt to confirm the belief that the river was actually the headwaters of the Columbia River.

The party of twenty-four left Fort George in four canoes on May 28, 1808. The canoes had to be abandoned in Lillooet, and with the help of the First Nations people, Simon Fraser made his way down through the Fraser Canyon and to the mouth of the Fraser River. In recognition of Simon Fraser’s journey, Hell’s Gate unveiled ‘Simon’s Wall’ where you can step back in time and into a recreation of John Innes’ painting of Simon Fraser traversing the walls of the Fraser Canyon on First Nation’s rope bridges.;

The Sto:lo First Nations people are the original inhabitants of the Hope region and all of the Fraser Valley They traditionally speak Halq’emeylem, the “Upriver dialect” of Halkomelem, one of the Salishan family of languages of the Coast Salish people. Sto:lo is the Halkomelem word for the Fraser River. The Sto:lo are thus the river people. It is from the river and surrounding land that their cultural traditions are derived for the river provided a transportation route, a food source and the location for settlements all along its banks.

The first European to see this region just over two hundred years ago, was the explorer, Simon Fraser, who passed through in search of a waterway that would open up a trading route to the coast.

Last year marked the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Simon Fraser.

In 1858, the discovery of gold at Hill’s Bar prompted the Fraser River Gold Rush which brought thousands of hopeful prospectors into the region. When this excitement abated the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Canadian National Railway and the Kettle Valley Railway spurred building booms that brought pioneers from all over the globe to work in the fledgling forestry and mining industries.

Open from May Victoria Day weekend through to the September Labour Day weekend, the Hope Museum, is a step back through time into all of these various periods of our past. There are displays of native artifacts and early logging equipment as well as historical settings that include a parlour, kitchen and schoolroom. Admission is by donation.

The Hope Museum is located at 919 Water Avenue (along Hwy #1) in the same complex as the Hope Visitor Centre. Call 604-869-7322 for more details.;

Take a break and stop at the Francis Harrington Park, in downtown Boston Bar, for it makes a perfect Fraser Canyon rest stop. Built by dedicated volunteers, the park is home to a restored ’swinging’ aerial ferry, that once was the only connection over the river between the two communities. The ferry last operated in 1986 when it was replaced by the Cog Harrington Bridge. After months of dedicated research by the volunteers, visitors can now trace the history of the ferry and the communities it served through a series of storyboards that border the park.

To learn about the fascinating history of Boston Bar & North Bend be sure to visit the Heritage Room in the Old North Bend Primary School. This facility is operated by community volunteers who are always happy to talk about old times!

A visit to the new “Zoo Art Gallery” located on a unique historic site, 4 kilometres north of Boston Bar on Hwy #1 (just south of the Canyon Alpine Motel) will allow you to view the works of over 10 Boston Bar/North Bend artists. The artwork ranges from original paintings & photography to silk scarves and handcrafted glass beads. Call 604-867-8815 for more info.;

The Dan Sharrers Aquatic Centre, at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Kawkawa Lake Road features the indoor leisure pool with a Lazy River, spray bar and tots pool plus an indoor competition pool with one metre and three metre springboards. There is also a steam room, sauna and hot tub to enjoy. Murals inside the pool facility depict Hope’s early railway history and west coast scenery. Everything is wheelchair accessible.

In the same complex you will find the Hope branch of the Fraser Valley Regional Library and the Hope and District Fitness Centre. The gym has cardio equipment ranging from treadmills and stationary bikes to a rowing machine. There are also strength machines and free weights.

Alongside the aquatic centre are the Hope Arena and the Hope Curling Club. During the winter season these are busy places with hockey, figure skating and curling events.

Behind all of these buildings you will find the Skate Park for boarders and BMX bikers and the motor-sports bowl. Our premier softball diamond has lights for night time play as well as a concession stand with washrooms.

Other recreation facilities in Hope include playing fields, softball diamonds, a bowling alley, tennis and racquetball courts.

During the summer months, if you are taking a trip through the Fraser Canyon stop off in Boston Bar and enjoy a dip in the outdoor pool. Visitors are invited to take advantage of all of these recreational facilities.

Contact the Hope & District Recreation and Cultural Services department at 604-869-2304 for operating times and fee schedules.;