After yesterday's fishing expedition, we were looking forward to getting out and stretching our legs. A couple days ago, we had hiked along the Fraser River and looked down on Prince George. We were directly across the river from two of Prince George's many parks - Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park and Connaught Hill Park, pictured below. On Thursday, May 15, 2019, we decided to pay them both a visit.
We started our adventure at kilometer zero of The Centennial Trail, which is a 30 km network of trails that circumnavigates the City of Prince George. Our hike included a couple kilometers along the Fraser River in Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park before heading over to climb Connaught Hill. However, we couldn't resist a trailhead selfie!
It didn't take long to spot the scenic overlook across the river that we stood on to take the first picture in this blog. Kathy points out the platform.
In 2015, the City of Prince George changed the name of this park to Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park to acknowledge Lheidli T’enneh traditional territory and the presence of a village that once existed in this area. The Lheidli T'enneh Band is the First Nations band government for the Lheidli T'enneh, a subgroup of the Dakelh people whose traditional territory includes the City of Prince George. The name means "The People from the confluence of the two rivers" in the Carrier language referring to how the Nechako River enters the Fraser River at Prince George. This entrance pavilion had an artist rendition of what the original village might have looked like.
The Memorial Park is home to the Little Prince, a narrow gauge steam engine originally built in 1912. The little engine that could was built by the Davenport (Iowa) Locomotive Works. It runs on a 10 horsepower steam boiler. The Little Prince burns roughly half a cord of wood per day. This engine and others like it were used to build the railroad grade for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad right across the country. Once the railroad was built, the narrow gauge workhorses were "retired." The Little Prince sat in a CN Rail garden for 36 years before being turned into one of the Prince George's favorite attractions. The train begins its runs around the Memorial Park next week. The engineers were getting her prepared for the season.
After saying goodbye to the Little Prince, our trail took us along side the Hudson Bay Slough. The City of Prince George has embarked on a project to enhance the Wetland as an attractive natural setting. The goal is to create a showcase environment for bird, fish, plant and animal life, surrounded by an interpretive trail with numerous learning opportunities and features. From a small footbridge across the slough, we first looked back toward the Fraser River:
The Hudson Bay Slough was named after the Hudson Bay Company, the successor by merger with the North West Company, which had founded the fur trading post of Fort George, established in 1807 by Simon Fraser. This view was of the Hudson Bay Slough looking toward the city. The area is surrounded by so much green space, its hard to believe we are in the middle of a city.
After leaving the slough, we had a few city blocks to walk before entering Connaught Hill Park. The hill is made of a harder geological material than the surrounding sandy Prince George landscape, which is why it is one of the only high points of land in the “bowl” area providing a 360 degree view of Prince George.
The park has several terraced gardens.
Connaught Hill is named after Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who served as Canada’s 10th Governor General — and its first Governor General of royal descent. The main terraced gardens are a popular setting for photos, as Dave demonstrates.
Let's take in the views. This one looks south down the Fraser Valley. We drove this valley north on Highway 97 to get to Prince George from Lac La Hache.
Here we are looking north as Highway 97 heads through downtown toward the Hart Highlands were our present campground is located.
In an average year, City of Prince George garden staff plant approximately 500 shrubs, 600 perennials, and 3000 annuals in the gardens atop Connaught Hill. Things are just beginning to leaf out and blossom. We will be back in September and hope to see the garden in all its glory.
On the way back to the trailhead, Kathy had to stop and smell the cherry blossoms.
Our total hike was about four miles. We stopped for lunch at Crossroads Brewery. Dave appears to be at his own crossroad - take the Smokey Alt beer or the creamy brown ale on nitro? Decisions, decisions, decisions...
After lunch, we shopped for bread, coffee and groceries to provision for the next several stops, where services and groceries will be scarce.
As we continue north, we are entering the land of little internet. We may not be able to blog as frequently. Just because you don't hear from us, doesn't mean we aren't out there getting into trouble.
Until we meet again, stay thirsty my friends.
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