Today was a 95 km ride mostly downhill from Kitwanga to Terrace. We woke up overlooking the beautiful Seven Sisters across the Skeena Valley. Sonja rode with Colleen because her knees are hurting and a rest day seemed like a good idea.
This trip along the Skeena River is most spectacular. It is one of the last free flowing salmon rivers on the BC Coast. It is a large turquoise river winding through the mountains that sometimes rise steep from the valley and always new vistas of high snow covered massive mountain ranges rising from valleys. The Skeena river is the second largest BC river and it’s one of the cleanest and productive undammed salmon rivers in North America.
The Skeena and it’s tributaries are the most threatened waters if the Northern Gateway project goes ahead. This watershed has been habitat for Pacific salmon and many other fish, land animals and people for such a long time and any oil leak at the top would cause enormous environmental disaster for habitats and people downstream.
Sonja and I had many conversions while in this beautiful area and watching this wild river rapidly flowing towards the Pacific Ocean. It appears that many First Nations Communities have become solid in their solidarity against the Enbridge project, and their communities will not allow their environment to be threatened.
We contemplated about the great strength they have because their communities are working together. There really is a sense of a global village.
Colleen and Sonja had an interesting experience when they picked up a native woman who was hitchhiking on the road. She told them that her best friend has been missing for 14 years after she disappeared after a party. She talked about her loss and how much she thinks about her missing friend and the impact on the family and community. Sonja asked her how she felt about hitchhiking after that experience, and she said it was the first time she had hitchhiked in the 14 years since her friend went missing. She had missed her bus and needed to get to town.
After I arrived in Terrace I was greeted by two city councillors and the Executive Assistant /HR advisor at City Hall. One councillor spoke briefly about the Highway of Tears, its reflection of colonization, the difficulties to find (quick) solutions and the fact that the Highway of Tears goes far beyond this particular stretch of highway across Canada.
Then I went for an interview with the Terrace Standard. I enjoyed the sincere questioning by the reporter.
Later we had a discussion with Sonja’s friend who asked us about how to support a woman she knows who has obvious signs of physical abuse. We spoke with her about the Neighbours Friends and Families initiative in Ontario and how it helps identifying abuse, engage in supportive conversations about it with men and women and how to respond.
We had a great night with Sonja’s friends in Terrace, John and Sonja, camping on their front lawn and trying not to get blown away by the wind! We have met so many kind and supportive people along the way!