The End of the Line : Into Princeton

 Although it was definitely chilly this morning, there was no snow or frost, which was a really nice way to begin the day.  There was a beautiful pink and gold sunrise as we packed up and got underway, making us appreciate anew what a privilege it is to be out here in this wide open, peaceful, quiet landscape.

As we set off down the tree lined gravel rail trail almost right away we spotted a sign post lying on the ground for the Swan Lake Nature Reserve.   It wasn't clear where it was pointing, but apparently we walked right past a 57 ha nature area that consists of a kettle lake surrounded by a riparian zone and grasslands.  Over the years, the Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists have seeded the property with native grasses, removed invasive plant species, and developed hiking trails throughout it.  Apparently, there are now two bird blinds, several benches, a picnic table, and outhouses in the reserve, and over 128 bird species have been reported there, along with a diversity of other wildlife.  Sadly, we didn't learn any of this until after we had walked into town, so we didn't stop to investigate while we had the chance.

It was a very short walk down into Princeton.  This community of just under 3,000 people is located at the confluence of the Tulameen and Similkameen Rivers.  Our first glimpse of it was from above, looking down on the small homes and buildings tucked into a curve in the Tulameen River, sitting very low down along its wide, rocky, shores.

Just last November this community was very badly flooded, with some parts sitting under 12ft of water.  Many residents are still without a permanent housing solution as they wait for the federal and provincial governments and the insurance companies to move forward with damage assessments, claims, and plans to rebuild.   12 months after this disaster befell Princeton many still live in RVs on the edge of town, businesses are still closed, the water is not potable and amid it all little help seems forthcoming.  As we looked down into the sun soaked valley below, where only a small stream of water flowed down the very centre of the wide riverbed, and the forested slopes on either side where ablaze with warm fall colours, the power and force of the water flowing through here in 2021 was difficult to imagine. 

The Tulameen River is a tributary of the Similkameen River, and both rivers are part of the Columbia River drainage basin.  The Tulameen originates in EC Manning Provincial Park in the Cascade Mountains, and it is the only known place in the world where deposits of both gold and platinum can be found side by side.  Currently, all known deposits are being or have been mined.

Just above the town site the Trans Canada Trail became paved, and we began to pass other people out walking.  On the edge of town we passed the Weyerhaeuser lumber mill.  Here, mindbogglingly large piles of logs, wood chips, saw dust, and processed lumber were stacked around an enormous plant.  There was a lot of activity going on in the mill yard, and it was easy to see that this industry is one of the town's main employers.  The other major employer is the Copper Mountain Mine, which extracts regional copper, gold, coal, and platinum.

We followed the trail along the sunny riverbank until we came to the Bridge of Dreams, which took us over the Tulameen River.  This award-winning pedestrian bridge was the final one to be completed along the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. The original bridge was built in 1909, and it was used by the CPR to transport passengers over the river until 1964, and freight until 1989. The Town of Princeton and the Vermilion Trails Society completed the covered wooden pedestrian bridge, with its artistically wavy wooden roof, in 2009 to welcome visitors to the Similkameen region and Princeton.  As we walked across it we certainly felt like we were making a very grand entrance!

Before European colonization, the area between the Similkameen and Tulameen Rivers was inhabited by First Nations People.  They valued the region for its rich ochre rock which they used for painting and trading.  The first settler, John Fall Allison, arrived in 1858.  Around the same time, the Brigade, Dewdney, and Hope-Princeton Trails were being established by fur traders, miners, and settlers, and shortly afterwards they linked Princeton to the Interior and the Pacific Coast.  In 1909 and 1915 the Great Northern and the Kettle Valley Railways reached Princeton, also linking it to both the Interior and the Coast of BC.

Princeton has now adopted the slogan 'Where Rivers and Friends Meet.'  The community was originally named Vermillion Forks, but was re-named 'Prince Town' in honour of the Prince of Wales, who visited Canada in 1860.  Over the years the name was gradually shortened to Princeton.

When we reached the edge of town we saw evidence of a large-scale revitalization project that is underway.  Huge, beautifully carved wooden arches stand above the entrances to the main downtown streets welcoming visitors to the community.

In addition, life-size bronze sculptures depicting animals that are native to the region have been placed throughout the downtown.  The bronze sculpture walk is now one of the largest in Canada!

We took a few minutes to explore the small town, and to read the wealth of historical information provided at the trail side gazebo just outside the downtown.  One of the more sensational bits of history involved the legend of Bill Miner, a notorious American outlaw who purportedly coined the phrase "Hands Up!"

The story goes that a soft spoken southern gentleman going by the name of George Edwards arrived in Princeton in 1904.  This colourful character settled in at Baldy Ranch, becoming a respectable citizen who acted as master of ceremonies at village concerts and dances, led hymns at local church services, mixed with the best of society, and became a favourite with the ladies and a valued story-teller by all. He never seemed to work much, and occasionally disappeared for short periods of time.  When news reached the town that the notorious Bill Miner and his gang had been arrested trying to rob a train at Ducks Station near Kamloops, they discovered his true identity.  Over the course of his lifetime the American outlaw spent more than 29 years behind bars, was arrested twice, and escaped prison five times.

After our short explorations we stopped at Cool Beanz Coffee for a hot drink and a couple pastries.  When the owners heard about our hike they very generously donated an extra pastry to help fuel our adventure.  Our hike rapidly became the main topic of conversation inside the café, and as has happened many times before, we received the invaluable gift of advice from locals.

Several people in the café had explored the trail ahead of us, and one was involved in trail building and maintenance.  Collectively they confirmed that the KVR was blocked about 1 km west of Princeton.  They also provided details of the various washouts, land slides, and missing trestles between Princeton and Brookmere.  We were also firmly told that from Brookmere to Hope we would have to hike on the side of the dangerous Coquihalla Highway which would only become more precarious with the recent snow fall.   Their overwhelming consensus was that with two 'atmospheric rivers' that are each expected to drop > 100 mm of rain predicted for the next few days, it would be incredibly foolish to attempt the walk from Princeton to Brookmere on the KVR right now and a “death sentence to trek from Brookmere to Hope” on the highway.  Forest fires this past year have reduced water retention in the surrounding hills, and four months of drought have hardened the soil, making flooding a very real possibility.

Understandably, repairs have not yet occurred to damaged trail infrastructure as the communities are still struggling with the basics of restoring housing, sewage treatment plants, clean water delivery systems, and other priorities.  They heavily implied that we could well be endangering not only ourselves, but also local rescue crews if additional washouts or landslides occur, and given current conditions, there is a real risk of this happening. This is not something we are willing to risk.
Feeling rather disheartened, we decided to walk a bit further on the trail, and assess the situation for ourselves.  Around 20 minutes later we came to the tunnel at the edge of town.  As promised, just beyond that we came to the first trestle, which had been disconnected from the river banks when they were undermined by the flood.  As the locals had suggested, it was pretty clear that this wasn't going to be a safe and viable route, especially in light of the coming rain storms.

With heavy hearts we turned back towards Princeton to figure out what to do next.  Mel Vogel, who is walking the Trans Canada Trail about a week ahead of us, has very generously been sharing her experiences and advice with us.  We knew we were walking into a problem, but as much as we've talked about it, argued about it, and second guessed ourselves, we haven't come up with a plan to circumnavigate the trail closure between Princeton and Hope.  With the trail definitely out, do we walk a highway to Hope?  One option is Highway 3, which will take us right through the forest fires in EC Manning Park, where Mel encountered incredibly dense smoke and highly reduced visibility.  The other option is Highway 5 (the Coquihalla Highway), which we saw during our visit to Merritt. The bridges on both roads are under construction, both are heavily used by transport trucks, both highways become deadly in the winter, and there is already snow on the high mountain passes of both routes.  I have a feeling it will be a very long night as we try to find a way forward that hopefully doesn't get us or anyone else killed.

 

See you on the trail!

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