Day 5 – Thursday, July 5, 2018
Barkerville Day 2
The day started with me sleeping in a tad—it’s that fresh mountain air, I swear, but we skipped an in-trailer breakfast and made it to the first presentation at 9:30 a.m. where yet another performer briefly choked after ingesting cottonwood seeds. I think this may be listed as an occupational hazard for anyone who works in Barkerville.
The weather was once again quite nice early on, with temperatures rising into the 20s and feeling downright warm at times. Fifteen minutes later we were donning jackets. This is perfectly normal. Overall it was a nicer day, with no showers as I write this entry at 7 p.m. If it takes me longer than 15 minutes to finish this, it could be pouring.
After the first presentation we had some breakfast wraps at a local eatery, which were sufficiently yummy. I had tea, Jeff had coffee and when Jeff finished his coffee he was asked if he wanted a refill. He said yes. When I finished my tea, I didn’t even have to ask, I got a refill pronto—of coffee. This didn’t go to waste, though Jeff did spend the rest of the afternoon peeing.
At noon we went on a guided tour of the Chinatown area of Barkerville and to the tour’s credit, there was no attempt to minimize the racism and general inequality accorded the Chinese citizens. The tour guide also choked on cottonwood, as expected.
The intermingling of two very different cultures was for me the highlight of the day, and the story of the Chinese is ongoing as current archaeology projects are unearthing terraces that were used for growing vegetables. The terraces were built into the hillside of Chinatown, helping to shelter the gardens and extending the brief growing season.
We had time after this and before a tour of the cemetery to do a little freestyle touring, so we checked out a trail with some vantage points, as shown below.
We returned to Chinatown where Jeff grabbed a snazzy-looking anklet. I grabbed a Coke at the confectionery. It required a bottle opener to open. How quaint. Fortunately the cooler had one built-in. I haven’t seen such a cooler since the 1970s. I think this one actually was from the 70s. Groovy.
The cemetery tour took us along a path outside of the town, along the hillside and past the former location of the only local hospital (primarily located in its seemingly odd location because it handled a lot of typhoid patients). The hospital burned down, of course. Twice. The closest hospital now is in Quesnel, about 80 km away.
The cemetery is a mix of new and old. The old part is only maintained by those family members who choose to maintain their sites. Considering the remote location, that doesn’t happen very often. The more famous markers have been recreated. Several graves have giant trees growing out of them, due to the abundance of water and, as the guide put it, “available nutrients.” This was the only guide that did not get attacked by cottonwood, probably because we were out of town.
The tour ran late and the court session at 3 p.m. was located in Richfield, located 1.6 km out of the other end of Barkerville. Without teleportation there was no way we were going to get there in time, so we’re going back tomorrow to see the court session and, of course, get more fudge.
We also got more fudge today because I have a rule that every time we go to Barkerville we must get fudge. It is a delicious rule, though not kind to the waistline.
We addressed this, in part, by riding our bikes later. We did a circuit of the campground to see how long the loop was (1.34 km), then toured the other two campgrounds of Forest Rose and Government Hill, had a brief peek at the road to Bowron Lake—a future destination—then watched a plane take off from the Bowron Lake Airport. Bowron Lake Airport is a strip of pavement in a small field. I shot video of the plane taking off but cut it short as standing still is the signal for mosquitoes to devour you alive.
We came back for a dinner of BBQ pork chops and corn on the cob. Yum.
Our neighbors with the dog and remote control truck are gone tonight, but have been replaced by new neighbors with another dog. We have yet to hear a new remote control truck.
I skipped the Off! today and got a few more bites, so it’s pretty much a wash with or without repellent. Such is the life of an indescribably tasty mosquito meal.
UPDATE: After turning in around 10 p.m. we heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof of the trailer. This turned into incessant pounding rain, with flashes of lightning lighting up the interior of the trailer while thunder rumbled across the valley. It was impressive, made even better by us already being tucked in for the evening, just the way I like it.