This cache has been re-located: To
access the cache, cross the Bridge River and take the first road to
the right, this is the West Pavilion Rd, proceed up this road to
the first wide curve where you will see signs about the Big Bar
Ferry. Park here and start your walk up the ridge at the lower end
of the retaining wall. From the new cache location you will have
amazing views of the Bridge River and the Fraser River to the North
of the confluence of the two rivers. You can see for miles from up
here so take care as folks can also see you.
Enjoy the view of these very important
rivers and their bounty.
For as long as there have been humans
occupying the area around the confluence of the Bridge River and
the Fraser River there has been a bounty far greater than all the
gold so far mined along the Fraser and it's tributaries in this
region. Salmon was that bounty.
Drying racks at the confluence of the
Bridge and Fraser Rivers.
Before it was diverted into the Seton
watershed in 1958, the Bridge River ('Xwisten in St'at"imcets) was
among the largest (and most salmon-rich) of the Fraser's
tributaries, and filled this gorge with a rush of blue-white water
comparable in season to the Chilcotin or even the Thompson Rivers.
The Bridge River originates in a massive icecap some hundred miles
to the West of Lillooet that is the source of seven major Coast
Mountain river systems, and during it's course combines into itself
several other large glacial streams - the main ones being the
Hurley River (or "the South Fork of the Bridge as it often appears
on older maps), Gun Creek, Tyaughton Creek, and the Yalakom River,
each with its own canyon within the Bridge's large highland basin,
and quite large in their own right. At the Bridge's mouth at the
Bridge River Fishing Grounds on the Fraser, the river's waters
roared into and atop the Fraser's own cataract, both rivers
converging in a rocky double throat and sharp ledge. Forming some
of the worst water on the Fraser shy of the nearby Six Mile Rapids,
or even Hell's Gate itself. The rocky step where the Fraser and the
Bridge once so mightily converged was said to be of Coyote's own
forging - so that salmon would be easier for people to catch. To
this day it remains among the most important (and sometimes the
most contentious) of the native fishing grounds along the Fraser,
with today's families still occupying the particular fishing spot
and fish-drying camp used by their families for thousands of years.
Largely invisible from Highway12 far above the nearby Six Mile
Rapids had an equal (if not larger) concentration of native
fisheries shared by native families from throughout south-central
BC, including Secwepemc (Shuswap), Nlaka'pamux (Thompson and
Okanagan). The Six Mile Rapids and Bridge River Fishing Grounds
were also shared within the nearby St'at"imcets speaking peoples,
with chies and families from Pavilion, Seton, D'arcy and Mount
Currie having fishing privileges on the best fishing grounds on the
Fraser alongside the people of the Bridge River, Lillooet, Cayoosh
Creek and Fountain Peoples.
Drying racks on the East side of the
Fraser upstream from the Bridge River.
The Bridge River and it's confluence
with the Fraser - New First Nations fisheries information
signpost.
There is a First Nations concession and
interpretive center located nearby, however I am not certain of
their hours of operation, you can also arrange for guided tours of
the fishing rocks and have demonstrations of their methods of
catching the Salmon. If you are in the area in the fall be sure to
visit this location, it is certainly amazing to see, so come by and
learn far more than I can ever provide on this cache
page.
The cache is a 30 cal. ammo can painted
camo, containing trade items, pencil, sharpener and log book.
Please trade fairly, replace as found, and cover
well.