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Go treasure hunting with a GPS
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 by GetawayBC.com
One of the fastest growing pastimes today is that of “geocaching” – an outdoor activity that involves treasure hunting, orienteering, the use of personal GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver units and the Internet to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches” or “caches”). A geocacher will place a waterproof container, containing a log book (with pen or pencil) and trinkets or some sort of treasures, then note the cache’s coordinates, along with other details of the location, which are posted on a website. Other geocachers obtain the coordinates from the Internet and seek out the cache using their GPS handheld receivers. The finding geocachers records their exploits in the logbook and online. Geocachers are free to take objects from the cache in exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value, so there is treasure for the next person to find.
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.