British Columbia. Depart on June 1, 2003 9 Days and 900 Kilometres Stewart, BC & Hyder, Alaska 16...
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Transcript of British Columbia. Depart on June 1, 2003 9 Days and 900 Kilometres Stewart, BC & Hyder, Alaska 16...
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.