2014/06 Haida Gwaii trip - Augier Lake |
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Sandie had heard that the area around Prince George, being volcanic in origin, was a good place for agates, so as we headed north we were stopping at rest areas and parks like Ten Mile Lake for her to rummage around on the gravel roads. There was more jasper than agate but she was starting to fill buckets and boxes with her finds.
We turned west in Prince George onto the Yellowhead Highway, which would take us all the way to Prince Rupert on the coast. This part of the highway is pleasant enough with its forests and lakes, but it lacks the mountains and views. We passed through the mining town of Vanderhoof, famous(?) as the geographical centre of British Columbia, and then we were driving through showers around massive Fraser Lake and visiting Beaumont Park for more agates. 
The scenery was getting hillier and more interesting when we reached the town of Burns Lake and started looking for a campsite. We drove through clearcuts to Augier Lake, waved to some campers at the entrance, and drove around the lake and found the ideal isolated and open spot on the lake shore.
We prefer sites with more light; heat from the sun is rarely a problem in the north. This site had flowers, squirrels and loons, a great view, and plentiful agates underfoot; it 
was almost perfect, but it had bugs too. The shore was littered with driftwood so we braved the bugs and cooked over a fire. We had daylight until nearly 11.