Hell's Gate
This Hell's Gate is the only tram that goes down to reach the destination. Every other tram goes up first. This whole trip it has been difficult to dress for the weather. In Seattle I needed a jacket, and I thought I would definitely need one here, but as we got out of the car and started walking... sheesh, it was hot outside!
This is the view as you ride the tram down to the river. I'm a little afraid of heights, so Chris was in charge of taking these pictures.
Here we are on the bridge that crosses the river. It is a very narrow swift river at this point. This area got its name from the explorer, Simon Fraser, who came through here and wrote in his journal, "We had to travel where no human being should venture, for surely we have encountered the gates of hell."
Both Chris and I tried our hand at panning for gold, but all we found was ordinary rocks. I think we would have been one of the many hundreds of people who never struck it rich in the gold rush.
The Best of Wells, B.C. We stayed in Wells for a night before seeing Barkerville. We came in fairly late after driving all day and stayed at the Hubs Motel. The owner of the motel makes these delicious cookies everyday from her secret recipe (the most I could get out of her was a confirmation that there was cinnamon in the cookies). She was very friendly and even though we only stayed one night she gave us cookies at least three different times :)
Another of our favorites in Wells is the Bear Paw Cafe. The night that we drove in late we found ourselves very hungry in a small town that shuts down fairly early. The only thing open was the Bear Paw Cafe. When we went in, the owner gave us the menu and told us there were three things she could make for us. None of them struck our fancy, but she had mentioned the Thai dish was good. Skeptically, we ordered the Thai dish. Turns out it was
amazing! We dreamed about this food while we were on Bowron. After we got off the circuit we wanted to eat there one last time before we hit the road again. To our dismay the Bear Paw Cafe was closed because of a huge festival that had gone on while we were on the circuit. It was sooo busy that they closed the cafe to give everyone a day off and some time to recuperate. We sadly had to leave Wells without our Thai food.
Barkerville
This is a picture of Barkerville. I found it a little humorous to learn that many of these buildings were originally located a mile or so away... but they brought them all here for our walking convenience. So, the original town didn't look quite like this :)
We had fun going around to all the "shows" put on by actors that represented and explained the people and lifestyle at the time Barkerville was a lively mining town.
At Barkerville they have a real blacksmith there working. You can buy some of the things he makes. It was fun to watch.
