Pemberton BC

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	Pemberton BC
	A Canuck's misadventures in returning home \| Nature Journaling \| Jetlag \| Islamabad \| Karakoram Highway \| Gilgit 1 \| Hunza \| Naltar \| Polo \| Schools \| Gilgit 2 \| A Tale of two Frisbees \| Fairy Meadows \| India \| Egypt \| Istanbul \| Portugal \| Surviving Ontario \| The Peg \| The Skatch \| Pemberton BC \| Olympic Fever \| Tofino \| Northward Bound \| The Haida Gwaii

The Little Mountain Town The first place I set up camp for the night in British Columbia was Golden BC. A quick walk around town made me realize once again how little I know about life across our country. One look at the fire department told me that; the small firehall is dwarfed by a towering wooden lookout that has 360 degree sightline of the surrounding red pine forest that sits like a bowl around the town. Almost all of these mountain towns are also cut by a small lake or rivers that find a meeting place before setting back down to the coast through the mountains. It is an obvious example of how our lives and jobs are vastly different across this great country. You can't realize the geographical differences and influences any better way than to stand here and witness it. Golden was just a taste of what was to come. I was excited to drive on the next day to Pemberton BC, my first real destination on this journey. There I would fully explore a small mountain town while I help celebrate the wedding of a friend. A friend good enough to offer his house and everything he had to me for the week of his wedding. Who better to treat me to a taste of mountain life than a childhood friend who has lived out here for over a decade. Besides the river, highway 99 snakes southwest into Pemberton from Dead Mans Creek; a pretty phenomenal drive if you don't mind navigating a windy mountain road. Pemberton station is about 2000 people, there is almost one of everything, and the whole town is walking distance from end to end. Mount Currie looms above everything from any place you find a chance to enjoy the view. The Pemberton valley sits at the south end of a lake and once again forests of huge red cedar trees surrounds the town. I investigated into two perspectives of town life during my stay; I played the role of tourist to a tee in the Pemberton Museum, and I also played the paparazzi role at the wedding of the now happily married couple Ryan and Tara Powers. I can reflect and smile at how both evolved and flourished within the good spirit of small town people coming together to make things happen. I have been in many museums along my travels and I am very impressed with the program here. We are very fortunate in Peterborough with the level of historical opportunity we are afford in Peterborough. An example of this is how the Sir Sanford Fleming College Program for Museum studies is known nationally; I know this because I asked people. Both Niki and Margaret were incredible helpful and accommodating for a museum with a staff of two that exists primarily based on local donation. The oldest house of the museum is a hundred year old log cabin that holds a portrait of each of the four previous owners. The story goes that the wooden joints that hold the structure together are so fixed that at one point the home was floated down the river to relocate it to a better site. They don't build em' like that anymore; they don't move them like that anymore either. The founding of the museum sprung from the best intentions of good hearted small town people who recognized a desire to preserve their history and heritage. They have done so in a very inviting manner given the wealth of historical evidence that exists on such a tight budget. I have seen bigger museums in my day, but here you can see the whole town behind the two people who are standing there today to tell you there story. So much of the actual town reflects the historical changes that have taken place over the last decades. The Market Hall of the valley is the Pemberton Hotel, dominating the main street, across from it is the rail station. Both transport the meandering tourist back to a time well before the dawn of this new millennium. The Greyhound bus out front of the station also helps transport more than a few meandering tourists as well. The downtown core (all one block of it) is a living example of preserved small town values, with a general store, one 4 way stop and plenty of helpful smiling faces. We have all had that 'its a small world' moment in places. Well imagine how small that world is in a small town. Everywhere we went you could attach a person to new place or event. Everyone knew about the wedding in town for the whole week that we congregated there. Everyone I talked to was friendly and accommodating, I was even invited to a breakfast at the local elementary school. And isn't it a small world, one of the bridesmaids was from Courtice, so I had a free bed to sleep in as the parents of the bride arrived and took the room that I had otherwise claimed. A community of two families coming together for a period in time to join in union their respective son and daughter in matrimony was something I experienced in Pakistan many years ago. I attended a Mendie, which is the sixth day of a traditional seven day Islamic marriage ceremony and last year another luncheon as part of a four day ceremony in the north. Being invited to Pemberton for that week to watch and assist as both families travelled there and came together to create the wedding was very special. Everybody helps out and things get done. Those small town values that are alive in the museum, the town, and the families and people that came from all over to event. And once again there is no better way to realize that, but to stand there and witness it. Ivy Lake is found about 20 minutes of the main highway and then about another 20 minutes off the beaten path after that. The wedding was held on a point on a small isolated lake in the mountains. The lake was crystal clear and calm as a skating rink in the morning. It was an easy 20 minute dog paddle across the lake from the main house to our lodge. It was nice to bust out a paddle again after years of neglect. The houses were giant log homes, and the word giant log means something bigger in BC than we can imagine. I was fortunate enough on one day to get a back of the cab ride in from Dan, one of the grooms mens trucks as we drove up to the house along the alternate fire road access to move tables. If we think the roads in Ontario are not maintained, you should drive your car around here for a month and then complain. One last thing needed to get accomplished in Pemberton. I had to climb something. I stole away one day from the wedding to camp out and hike around One Mile Lake Provincial Park, located just 10 minutes south of Pemberton. I needed to get a day away from the hustle and bustle of small town life and charge through the woods with a camera and notebook in hand. The Park was very beautiful the a trail to One Mile Lake off one end and an easier trail to a waterfall area at the other. No mosquitoes at this place but there were a few signs that stated there were bear in the area. Unfortunately a walk in the park is not exactly what I had in mind, at the end of the week I still craved something more. Small towns have a way of providing the answer for things. On the morning that I was to depart, I was at the museum dropping of some photos to the staff there and coincidentally Ryan was working on the roof across the road. His parting advice to me after the fantabulous week he was still celebrating was, "dude climb the Chief on your way down to Vancouver, peak number two." Why not; I could use a break in the drive. And that was the end of my week in Pemberton BC; a week that lasted more than ten days.
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This is one of my favorite images I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking.
This is one of my favorite images Place anything like pictures, sketches, logos or products on this page!
This is one of my favorite images I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking.
This is one of my favorite images Place anything like pictures, sketches, logos or products on this page!
This is one of my favorite images I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking.
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