British Columbia

Depart on June 1, 2003

9 Days and

900 Kilometres

Stewart, BC & Hyder, Alaska

16 Days

June 251900 Kilometres

Climate

• British Columbia’s climate is influenced by several factors.– latitude, – The Rocky Mountains – Pacific Ocean

• The northern part of their excursion is in the area known as the Boreal Cordillera.

• Mountains, plateaus, lowlands, and valleys

• Near the Pacific Ocean and river systems drain the ecozone. There is an abundance in water.

• Mountains in the West Boreal Cordillera stop much of the precipitation, such as the Rocky Mountains and Yukon Sheep Mountain

• Less than 300mm of precipitation fall in the west, and 1500mm fall in the east.

Temperature Differences

Stewart BC June

14.05

Vancouver

BC

June

23.5

• This causes wide variations in average rainfall, snowfall, temperature and hours of sunshine.

• In general temperatures are warmer in the south than in the north, and rainfall is heaviest along the coast and lightest in the southern interior.

Major Cities & Towns

• Vancouver, B.C.

• Prince George, B.C.

• Stewart, B.C. (Just Tim & Julie)

• Cassiar, B.C. • Meziadin

Junction, B.C.

Vancouver• Vancouver is the largest city in the

province of British Columbia

• population of 578,000

• the third largest metropolitan area in Canada (2.1 Million)

Vancouver

• Recognized as one of the world’s most liveable cities (vancouver.ca)

• Within 45 minutes of the city core you can be part of British Columbia’s natural surroundings.

Depart on June 1, 2003

9 Days and

900 Kilometres

Stewart, BC & Hyder, Alaska

16 Days

June 251900 Kilometres

Prince George

• Northern “Capital”

• Traditional land of Lheidli T'enneh

• 76,000 population

• 2015 Canadian Winter Games host city

• Mascot is Mr. PG

Stewart & Hyder

• Twin towns that cross the border between Alaska and BC

• Forestry & Mining

• Salmon Glacier (5th largest glacier in the world)

• Stewart Pop: 700 (down from 1500)

• Hyder Pop: 100 (up from 70)

Meziadin Junction, B.C.

• This junction was the sight of an ESSO gas station

• As the highway built up and as Cassier became a ghost town Meziadin Junction became a more popular stop for RVs.

• Bear Glacier

Boreal Cordillera

• The majority of Colin, Tim and Julie’s leg through British Columbia was in the landform region of the Boreal Cordillera.

Animals

• The Boreal Cordillera comes with a wide variety of wildlife such as molluscs, mammals, birds, amphibians, and fish.

• Molluscs: valve snail, muskeg stagnicola, arctic-alpine fingernail clam

Herbivores

• caribou, moose, bison, mountain goat, woodchuck, beaver, arctic ground squirrel

Carnivores

• black bear, grizzly bear, lynx, wolf, river otter, muskrat, red fox

Birds

• snowy owl, red-tailed hawk, mallard, Canada Goose

Fish

• northern pike, pink salmon, sockeye salmon

Fauna & Vegetation• Much of the vegetation is

located in the lowlands.

• Trees (such as white spruce, black spruce, white birch, white barked pine) grow on lower slopes, but are stunted as elevation increases.

• Higher up there are some shrubs and plants such as cottongrass, sphagnum moss, and ericaceous shrubs.

• There are many fields overgrown with lichen.

• The upper rocks consist of bare rock, snow, and ice.

People

• Mines were economically important to the Boreal Cordillera, up until recently.

• Most have been closed down, but the environmental damage from the toxins still remains.

• Hydroelectric power and forestry are adding to popularity

• The population density of the Boreal Cordillera is approximately 1person per km2

Industry

• Tourism is the most important economic sector.

• About 15 million people visit British Columbia per year.

• Mountains & Coast

• Skiing & other outdoor

• BC's population is wonderfully diverse.

• More than 40 major Aboriginal cultural groups are represented in the region.

• The province's large Asian communities have made Chinese and Punjabi the most spoken languages after English.

• There are also sizeable German, Italian, Japanese and Russian communities – all creating a vibrant cultural mosaic in which distinct cuisine, architecture, language and arts thrive.

• 40,000 persons settle there each year, and its population is now over 3.8 million – 12 percent of Canada’s total.

• More than half of this population live in the Greater Victoria and Vancouver areas.

Obstacles

• Angus articulates many of the obstacles of the journey.

• For example: – Forest Fires– Wildlife– Rough Roads– Isolation

Other obstacles

• Wind • Mountainous

terrain. Although this is brought up in the book, I see that this would be an incredibly difficult element of the biking trek.

• Perhaps the most difficult element of this early stage of the tour would be the building of the team dynamics between Tim and Colin. Particularly given the inclusion of a third traveller (Julie) in the early weeks.