Vancouver to Calgary

Today we boarded our busses at 7:00am for the 30 minute trip from Whistler to Pemberton where we boarded the train for our 550km trip to Quesnel. (The 's' is not pronounced). Today, we were in the second seating so we had a pre-breakfast of a hot scone and coffee. We also had a great late lunch with super food and plenty of wine, all included. Our trip took us through the Frasier River Valley, into the Cariboo region to Quesnel

The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, and typically describes the Fraser River basin downstream of the Fraser Canyon. This section of the Fraser River is known by local indigenous peoples as "Sto:lo" in the Halqemeylem language of the area, and this term has been adopted to refer to all of the indigenous peoples of the Fraser Lowland, other than the Squamish and Musqueam. The indigenous peoples of the area have long made use of the river valley for agricultural and commercial exploits and continue to do so today.

The Cariboo region is located in the central interior of British Columbia. It is situated between the Cariboo Mountains to the east and reaches west across the Fraser River plateau to the Coast Mountains. Major cities in the Cariboo region include 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Quesnel.

The geography of the Cariboo region is diverse and varies considerably over short distances. It encompasses the Cariboo and Coast Mountain ranges, the Central Plateau and numerous lakes and rivers. Major rivers that bisect the region include the Fraser, Chilcotin, Chilko, Quesnel, Cariboo and Horsefly. The vegetation of the region also varies ranging from dry grasslands to spruce, pine, and fir forests at low- to mid-elevations. Inland temperate rain forests and alpine forests are also found in the region. The Cariboo region is rich with the indigenous history and culture of the Secwepemc, Tsilhqot’in, and Dakelh First Nations.
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Long before the arrival of prospectors during the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1862, the Southern Carrier (Dakelh) people lived off the land around Quesnel, occupying the area from the Bowron Lakes in the east to the upper Blackwater River and Dean River in the west. The Southern Carrier Nation were known among themselves as ‘Uda Ukelh’, meaning ‘people who travel by boat on water early in the morning’.The name "Quesnel" is derived from Jules Maurice Quesnel, who accompanied Simon Fraser on his journey to the Pacific Ocean.

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