Living in a household that appreciates an off-the beaten path travel experience, when we were
approached by Adventure Camp Tourism’s founder Hayley to enjoy all that Smithers and surrounding
area has to offer, we jumped on the opportunity.
Smithers is a town located in Northern British Columbia. It’s set against the Hudson Bay Mountain and supports views of the Babine and Telkwa mountain ranges.
The history of Smithers belongs primarily to the first nations people and is considered to be Wet’suwet’en territory. Rich in traditions and central to the Wet’suwet’en culture is the traditional style of governance based upon the five clans; Wolf, fireweed, beaver, big frog and small frog.
Throughout our journey in Smithers and the surrounding area, it was very apparent that Hayley wanted her visitors to experience the traditions that they may not be accustomed to. Each experience through the five-day journey was carefully selected, guides of the activity were versed in the history of Smithers and open to sharing their personal experiences growing up in the Smithers area. The ancestry was very clearly multi-generational.
Getting to Smithers is not inherently easy. The town is small, and flight patterns are not always convenient or in expensive.
Prince George or Terrace are the two likelier locations for arrival and departure. Hayley does provide transportation services from each airport.
We decided to take advantage of the sale that Via Rail was offering. Having never actually travelled in Canada on a train we thought it would be a historical experience and a new way to view travel. We landed in Prince George and took the train to Smithers the following morning. The train in some respects was magical, travelling with a busy three-year-old can cause anxiety no matter how experienced the traveler may be. The train has wide comfortable seats, doesn’t require seatbelts and along with the occasional “toot-toot” (as our three-year-old would describe) provides a soothing rhythmic chug, chug, chug sound. The windows no matter what class you’re in are large and provide ample opportunities for site seeing. A word of advice if you ever choose to take the train, don’t have arrival or departure expectations. Dedicate your day to travel and be prepared that arrival times could be determined by the occasional Canadian moose that won’t stray from the tracks. Be prepared to begin your vacation with no expectations on set times, this will save you and your train attendant sanity.
Bruce, our Via rail attendant who has occupied residency in employment for over thirty years relayed the information to us that his most often asked question is the adult form of “are we there yet”, “when should we anticipate arrival?”. To which he is likely to respond, “when we get there”. We were fortunate to arrive in Smithers approximately three hours after scheduled arrival and were personally greeted by Hayley who transported us to our hotel room at the Prestige Hudson Bay Lodge.
Hayley is the type of person who you can instantly build rapport with. She’s outgoing- charismatic, and inherently charming with her blue hair and Australian accent.
She’s adamant at respecting quiet time, and also encourages a family style environment.
After arrival we met the other families that would be joining us on our adventure and shared a meal with one another. We were briefed on check in times for the following mornings adventure and left to pursue our own activities for the evening.
The following morning, we met in the lobby to head off on our first adventure- a hike up the Hudson Bay mountain to crater lake. The hike was nothing short of spectacular. Being accustomed to the Rocky Mountains I have, in truth- become in a sense numb to the views of alpine lakes, green trees and rolling hills. This hike took me by surprise. The mountain range was obviously different than what I am accustomed to. Shades of red peppered through the tree line and throughout the ridgeline of the surrounding mountains. The valleys depicted glorious shades of wildflowers, tiny ponds and spongey moss.
The view was hypnotic. It’s the type of view that pictures don’t provide justice for.
Once we reached the lake, we decided that it was time for a swim. Be forewarned, the water is colder than any alpine lake that I have ever jumped into. Not only were the views breathtaking, the temperature of the water was LITERALLY breathtaking.
Following the hike we ventured into town for lunch. From there, we were taken to Bulkley Valley Hive and Honey where we donned bee keeper suits and were shown the ins and outs of bee keeping. This would rank as one of the most interesting experiences, where we learned of flight paths, queen bees and taught our three year old that you can’t pet bees.
The family hosting the event catered us to a horse drawn carriage ride across their sprawling 150acres of land to a hidden cabin in the woods where we searched for frogs, roasted local hot dogs and experienced the Smithers local beer that features drops of the Bulkley honey. This was one of those days that you didn’t want to end. A mixture of a casual family environment with a growing business, and a very definitive passion for what they do.
Day two came fast and furious, and amongst all the activities we were part of, this day will forever stand out. When we were collected from the lobby of the hotel, we were presented with the most delicious, still warm peanut butter cookies that were baked locally by a bakery called Two Sisters. From there we made our way to the starting point of our rafting adventure through the Skeena watershed. Upon arrival we were greeted by Colin from the Gitxsan Nation, who’s one of the ambassadors of the Skeena watershed conservation coalition, a not for profit organization who collect donations to help local people get out on the river that also funds research of the area. Being raised on the river and part of the first nations, he brings forward a sense of experience and love for the water and land that we were privileged enough to be introduced to. Colin not only provides information, and a guided tour of the river to tourists he also aids in the education of river experience to
teens in the area. Colin will stand out as being one of those people you meet, who’s gentleness, wisdom and passion is contagious.
The clearly described hope of the indigenous people that we met that morning is to educate, introduce and provide connection to the river. With this, there is a movement to prevent any potential damming that may occur, destroying the surreal beauty that’s experienced. Rafting down the river was not only exhilarating with the maneuvering of each small rapid, it was inspiring.
The views, the wildlife and the fact that on every bend the possibility of encountering a bear or at minimum a bald eagle soaring over the vista was enough to create an emotional connection to the area. We capped the day off by cliff jumping, bravely going higher and higher.
After the excursion we were provided with an educational walk through the village of Gitxsan, learning about some of the traditions and heritage of the area. The following two days comprised of mountain biking, a guided walk through to the twin falls by Charrine from the Wet’suwet’en Nation, who offered us education on some her traditions and an
opportunity to learn the healing powers of a select few local plants.
We finished the trip with an excursion to Kitimat, located out of Terrace BC, along the ocean. After spending the evening in the most luxurious B and B, we were transported to an Oceanic adventure where we jumped into natural hot springs (only accessible by boat), witnessed a humpback whale slapping the surface of the water with its fins and a sea lion catching its dinner.
This experience was not only educational in a sense that you were able to connect with the locals, it was fun, and provided an opportunity to connect with an area less traveled and much less regarded in the tourism sense.
Not only does Adventure Camp Tourism provide summer vacation tours, they are also experts on the ever-present Canadian winter months- providing alternate adventures to those of us who are not fair-weather explorers. Be it any of the four seasons, Adventure Camp Tourism is committed to providing a customizable experience to each of Smithers visitors.
This is a geographical location to add to your bucket-list.
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You can contact Hayley through instagram: Adventurecamptourism
