 |
|
Mountain Portage Rapids On the Liard River, British Columbia, Canada |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| - |
|
Up until relatively the recent times, rivers were the highways of the north. It is theoretically possible to paddle a canoe from Niagara Falls on the Great Lakes, via Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River system, to the Fraser River and down to Vancouver on the Pacific Ocean, with only two significant portages (where you have to take the canoe out and carry it). The fur traders and later the miners who explored and began settling this area were totally dependent on the rivers. The Liard River was the main route from the interior to the Yukon, both before and after the Klondike gold strikes, but it never had paddlewheel steamers, the way the Fraser and Yukon Rivers did. This was largely because of the rapids in Whirlpool Canyon, such as this one. The mass of driftwood speaks eloquently of the violence of the spring breakup, when the river is jammed with huge slabs of ice. Next: Smith River Falls |