Welcome to the Chilcotin

The first thing you need to know about the Chilcotin is that the sky is bigger here than anywhere else in British Columbia. There are mountains everywhere you look, but they don't crowd you in the way the coastal mountains do. Your access to the sky is completely unfettered and it can be humbling to take it all in.

The mountains are everywhere, and grassy plateaus. Here you can see the devastation wrought by the mountain pine beetle. The damage done by these insects has rendered the trees red and lifeless. As you pass through the mountains, you can see entire swaths of red across the hills. One mountain was almost entirely red.

Things you will see on the drive from Williams Lake to where I live:

1. The Fraser River
2. Horses
3. Cows
4. Kids on ATVs
5. Out-of-the-way convenience stores and gas bars
6. Cows
7. Rednecks. Honest to god rednecks with camoflage pants, a wifebeater, a trucker hat, and a 70's moustache. It was like he just stepped out of a Budweiser commercial.
   
8. Two First Nations Reserves
9. RCMP pick-up trucks (my lovely car is severely outnumbered by trucks here)
10. Cows
11. The Chilcotin river
12. Numerous lakes and ponds, some partiall dried
13. Cows
14. A proliferation of trees, mostly pine and birch. This is new, as I am far more familiar with the cedar and the occasional maple.
15. A weather station with a very very tall tower
16. Free roaming cows with no fear of oncoming vehicles
    

It looks nothing like the pictures. It's better in real life - more vivid. I know that should go without saying, but I still think it needs to be said.

I sure picked a hell of a place to live.

I'm home now.