CHURN CREEK TO HISTORIC YALE "The Long Run" - 7 Day Expedition
Seven days on the river; six nights of wilderness camping. The Long Run 7-Day expedition takes you from desert to rainforest, from sage to cedar. We launch from a Secwepemc family fishing site at the confluence of Churn Creek and the Fraser River, the heart of the high plateau, in Caribou-Chilcotin country west of 100 Mile House. This unspoiled beauty of natural grassland habitat is one of the rarest ecosystems in the province. Its beiges and browns are relieved only by the blue of the sky, and the yellows, purple, silver, and mauves of the native plant species including bunchgrass, sagebrush, cactus, dogbane, and rabbit bush. Bighorn sheep thrive in this terrain; ewes and offspring move in large herds while the mature rams travel separately in smaller groups. September is mating season when the sound of rams jousting and butting heads echoes far through the canyon. Alan Haig-Brown describes this region: "the land is a geological and geographical treasure house of plateaus, ridges, gullies, hanging valleys, erratics, sedimentation, water and wind erosion, volcanic and glacial landscapes, and shiny black rock glazed by volcanic heat and cooled by glacial waters. It is a land all but untouched by human hand but showing the spectacular hand of nature around every river bend." Where the Fraser River slices through the volcanic rock, it cuts a path deep into the plateau with steep drop offs down to the water's edge. The variety of eroded formations creates surreal spectacular scenery. Simon Fraser, the first European to explore the Fraser River to its mouth, described the terrain with: "However willing I might be, I am not possessed of sufficient abilities to describe [the variety along this river]." We leave the plateau and camp at Leon Creek where in 1808 Fraser cached his birchbark canoes and headed overland. We stop to explore Big Slide Mine, a haunting derelict site from the 1880s built into the edge of a huge scree slope that formed at the bottom of towering rocky cliffs. As the Fraser continues its push to the sea, its whitewaters beckon. The many rapids are each unique, formed by different forces. Some are caused by giant rock rubble that has fallen from the cliffs. Others riffle around boulders carried by a tributary during feshet. Some roil up where the river is squeezed through a narrow canyon. Each has stories old and new. We bring inflatable kayaks for calmer sections of the river; some rafters choose to try to run the smaller rapids. These single and double kayaks are stable and fun for even the inexperienced paddler. The Long Run finishes at the south end of the scenic Fraser Canyon at our base camp in Yale, BC. You will conquer the unforgettable eddies at Hell's Gate and the rollercoaster action of Sailor Bar Rapids. August is a great time to raft the Fraser as the water levels are lower, many sand bars are exposed, and the rapids are more defined. It is also a great time for camping as the bugs are gone and the days and nights are warm.
| Dates: | July 31 to August 6, 2010 |
| Meet at: | Yale base at 7 AM on Day 1. Returning to Yale at about 4:30 PM on Day 7. |
| Cost: | $1,600 + Taxes (5% GST + 3% land use fee) |
| Click here for printable expedition details. Itinerary |
