Top this!!

Mount Cheam…YES you can!  The top of our world!

Mount Agassiz…Don’t underestimate it…getting to the top is tough!  This is our answer to the Grouse Grind!

Mount Woodside…once you get to the top, hang glide down!

Bear Mountain…summit and see forever…this hike is tops in our book!

The top of the lake…bring out your quads and 4 x 4’s or twice yearly by boat with Shoreline Boat Tours

The top of Mount Breckenridge…Glacier helicopter tours…you know you want to!

Top up my coffee… Miss Margaret’s, Marius Café Deli, Oasis Coffee & Bistro, Beach Bites Café, Chantilly Ice Cream, Chuck and Kitty’s Country Café, and, Muddy Waters Espresso Bar & Cafe

Take the top off the beer…Sand, sun, beer, music, great food…need we say more?

Take your top off…highly recommended if you are going swimming!

Top up your tank…the Husky Gas Station for all motorized vehicles and Killer’s Cove Marina for all boats.

Top up on groceries…for all your picnic and camping needs The Husky Gas Station, the Harrison Lake Market, Papples Market and Marius Café Deli.

How about some amazing toppings for the best pizza in town??  Check out the Village Pizzeria.

Topping the ball…Need some help with that?  Ask one of the Pro’s at the Sandpiper Golf Resort or the Harrison Resort Golf Course

 One of the Top fish for sushi?  Salmon!!  Kitami Restaurant and Yukiya Sushi

Take the top down…the perfect drive if you’ve got a convertible.

Unscrew the top of the wine bottle and toast yourself for your discerning good taste in choosing a place like Harrison!

North of Highway 7, running along the west side of the Harrison River, lies the village of Sts’ailes, whose traditional territory includes Harrison Hot Springs and Harrison Lake and includes the watersheds of Harrison Lake and River, Chehalis River and the Fraser River.  The name Sts’ailes, meaning the Beating Heart, comes from halfway up the west side of Harrison Lake.  In this area, Xals, the Transformer, battled a once-powerful shaman called the Doctor and turned him to stone.  In an effort to preserve and limit him, Xals broke apart pieces of his body and spread them throughout the territory, creating landmarks.  Where his heart landed became known as the village of Sts’ailes.  The usual English name Chehalis is identical to that of the much more numerous Chehalis people of southern Puget Sound in Washington.  By Sts’ailes tradition, the southern Chehalis were separated from their homeland as a consequence of the Great Flood.  Fish and seashell fossils found in abundance near Mystery Creek (cited as one of the meeting places of Sasquatch) deep in Sts’ailes territory, seems to support this Native American Hypothesis.

The culture in Sts’ailes runs very strong.  They take great pride in what they do and how they carry themselves particularly through their ceremonies and in their spirituality.  They “live” the culture.  The people of Sts’ailes perform many ceremonies such as The First Salmon Ceremony and Ground Breakings for new buildings.  The drummers of Sts’ailes have  vast knowledge of traditional songs and their artists are well known in the territory and beyond.

With a focus on traditional teachings, personal growth and high academic standards at all levels, the Sts’ailes education department is a model of educational achievement. From pre-school age, Children of the community are gently guided through an education curriculum that includes cultural education and the Halq’emeylem language.  Through workshops, children and teens are being taught traditional skills such as drum making, drumming and singing.  If Sts’ailes village is the Beating Heart of the territory, the community school is the Beating Heart of the Village.

What today is known as the Sasquatch Crossing Eco Lodge, was first a private estate built on Sts’ailes traditional territory in 1903.  About 15 years ago, it was remodeled into an Eco Lodge.  Then in the spring of 2009, Sts’ailes purchased the beautiful building and the Eco Lodge is now fully owned and operated by the band.  Recently, the band opened a renowned retreat facility known as Lhawathet.  The new building provides accommodations, catering and meeting space for conferences and gatherings, business retreats and meetings.

Archaeological findings indicate that Sasquatches were known by humans up to 10,000 years ago.  The word Sasquatch comes from the Coast Salish word Sasqac, which is the name of a spiritual creature who is believed to have the ability to change to human form at will.

Pictures courtesy of http://www.stsailes.com/whats-new/photo-gallery, see also www.lhawathet.ca

Thousands of years ago, a huge blanket of ice covered everything in sight except the highest mountain peaks.      As the ice mass slowly receded, it bulldozed tones of earth and rock lying in its path, carving out a lakebed.  As the earth warmed and the glaciers melted, these scooped out trenches filled with water creating Harrison Lake.

The lake is tidal.  Ocean tides influence water levels in the Fraser River, the Harrison River and even Harrison Lake.  As far back as 8000 years ago, local Stolo people have harvested trees here for use in building enormous long houses, dugout canoes and carvings.                                                     

 From 1931 to 1937, Green Point was used as a base camp by the Green Point logging company.  Massive trestles were built and steam locomotives were used to access the wilderness for further tree harvesting.  Remnants of these trestles still exist today near the entrance to Sasquatch Provincial Park, less than a kilometer away.  The modern road network in Sasquatch Park follows much of the original logging rail network

 In the autumn months, migrating salmon fill the waters at Green Point and Eagles and seals follow.  Wildlife abounds from squirrels and rabbits to deer and brown bear, although they are keenly sensitive to human activity and make themselves scarce during the times the park is in use.

 Only a five kilometer drive from the four-way stop in Harrison Village, the park is beautifully maintained and offers a boat launch, a large parking area, washroom facilities and picnic tables.  The beach  is a mixture of sand and pebbles and is a wonderful place to explore and a child’s paradise filled with nature’s wonders.

Amazing!  Having never visited the Weaver Creek Spawning Channel before we were absolutely blown away.  Hundreds upon hundreds of salmon can be seen swimming and leaping in the gently winding channel – a truely incredible site to see.  At one point, my daughter and I were both delighted and startled when a large determined sockeye jumped right out onto the grassy bank in front of us.  We watched transfixed as it franticly wiggled itself back into the channel then cheered uproariously when it’s efforts found it safely back in the water. 

30,000 sockeye, chum and pink salmon return to this channel each year to lay the eggs of their offspring.  Each nest holds 2,000 to 4,000 eggs depending on the species of fish with each female digging more than one nest.  That’s alot of baby fish!  In fact, since 1996 more than one billion sockeye fry, 40+ million chum fry and 20+ million pink fry have been released from the channel.

That said, there is just as much data gathered at the channel as there is salmon and for those interested in the science behind it all the visit is not only visually stunning but informative and enlighting.  The channel will continue to be open until Nov 01 with peak spawning activity starting today till Oct 20th.

This past Monday, Aug 09 the waters opened for Sockeye Salmon.  Fishing enthusiasts of all ages and ability are flocking to the Fraser River in hopes of reiling in their very own prize catch.