Experience Northern BC
This compilation of video ( aerial) and photos will cover off the highlights of last years tour to Five remote Northwest BC Ghost Towns. Anyox, Alice Arm, Kitsault, Dorreen and Port Essington. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to visit ( and sleep in three) ghost towns in 5 days in some of Northwest BC’s most scenic and remote locations.
Ghost Towns of Northwest BC
The Skeena River is a photographers dream as it can be sunny and beautiful out or misty with cloud draped mountains. One of the days on the tour we explore the Skeena River above Terrace and the mighty Kitselas Canyon and home of the Kitselas First Nation. The canyon was has one of the most difficult parts of the river for the paddle wheelers to navigate as they did not have the power or maneuverability to get through it. They used large ringbolts that were bolted into the an island in the middle of the canyon to winch themselves through the canyon. We will explore ringbolt island and view the petroglyphs on the top of the island. Another highlight of the day will be a tour of the historic totem poles and long houses of the Kitselas Historic site. This day will be another amazing experience!
On last years Ghost Towns of Northwest BC Tour we invited Joanne Campbell from Northword Magazine to come along. She has published an article on one of the Ghost Towns that we visited – Anyox.
Link to Northword Magazine
Online Version of Magazine
http://issuu.com/northword/docs/apr_15/1
With the Jet Boat Photography Tour we try to bring new and unique photo opportunities to the participants that they would not otherwise have. Unless you have a jet boat and you are very familiar with the rivers and ocean of Northwest BC then these locations would be inaccessible. We utilize two jet boats for the tour with upto 5 people in each boat which still leaves room for all the camera equipment and personal gear. If you have not been on a jet boat before it is an amazing experience as the boats allow us to reach remote and untouched locations. The rivers we navigate are picture perfect with a new surprise and photographic opportunity around each corner.
On our Ghost Towns of Northwest BC we will get you excited to see modern day businesses. We will travel by boat across Alice arm to the modern day Ghost Town of Kitsault. Our exclusive access to this site will include a tour of the site and the many buildings that have sat vacant as is since 1981. This will include the shopping centre, swimming pool, school, theatre and much more. We will spend the night in this ghost town in one of the 1980’s style apartments.
Here is an 16×9 short documentary on the town that is quite interesting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX2MvCnyRTo
One of the nights we have the local first nations community provide a Salmon BBQ for the group. We host this on an island in the middle of the Skeena River where the only thing that bothers us are the Moose.
Coastal wolves are abundant but elusive as we did not have an opportunity to photograph any but we did do some wolf foot print casting on some fresh tracks up one of the remote rivers we visit. Everyone in the group gets an opportunity to make their own cast of a foot print and take home this unique keepsake.
One day of our Jet Boat tour is specifically targeting the photographing of Coastal Estuary Grizzly Bears. We jet out to a remote estuary in search of feeding grizzly bears. The bears come out late May and June to feed on the sedge grasses of the estuary. We will also be on the lookout for other marine mammals and wildlife enroute. At the end of the day we will jet boat up another river.
All five nights of our Jet Boat Photography Tour and three nights of our Ghost Towns of Northwest BC will be spent at the magnificent Yellow Cedar Lodge. The lodge is just a few minutes outside of Terrace BC on the banks of the Skeena River. All of our dinners and breakfasts will be served here as well. Red Seal Chef Alf Leslie will provide gourmet dinners int he beautiful Yellow Cedar Dining Hall. We will depart each morning for our next adventure from the lodge. The lounge area in the lodge will be the location for our evening social and guest presentations.
Alice Arm is another of our stops on the Ghost Towns of Northwest BC Tour. It is home to the historic Dolly Varden mine which operated from 1919 to 1940 and the North Star mine which ran from 1919 to 1921, and the Torbrit mine from 1949 to 1959. We will cruise along Observatory in our chartered yacht and begin exploring this eerie community. The Alice Arm Schoolhouse is one of the structures still standing and it is full of stories from the past. The names of the kids still remain above each coat hook where they were to hang up their jackets. Hundreds of old textbooks from the 30’s scatter the shelves and remnants of the past can be found everywhere.
