While driving the Coquihalla Highway is no In 1808 he described this narrow passage as doubt the quickest way to get from Kamloops to "a place where no human should venture, for surely Vancouver, the Fraser Canyon is the most beautiful. these are the gates of and noted that safe water Hell” With seven tunnels cutting through the rugged transportation through the 115 foot wide opening has mountains, magnificent views of the Fraser River and proven virtually impossible. historic stops along the old Gold Rush trail, this route is For centuries the narrow passage has been a well worth traveling the extra mile. popular fishing ground for First Nations communities in Along the way, be sure to take a ride on the the area and eventually European settlers started to One of the earliest explorers to congregate there in the summer months to fish. In the Hell’s Gate Airtram. navigate this area was Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 18 the Fraser Canyon became a route used by gold – 1860’s, August 1862). This fur trader, who charted much of rush miners wishing to access the upper Fraser Basin. In what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia, the 1880s the Canadian Pacific Railway built a was employed by the Montreal-based North West transcontinental railroad that passed along the bank at Company and was in charge of all the company's Hells Gate, and in 1911 the Canadian Northern Railway operations west of the Rocky Mountains. began constructing a second track. In 1914 a large He was also responsible for building that rockslide triggered by the railroad construction fell into area's first trading posts. The name Hells Gate was the river at Hells Gate, obstructing the passage of derived from Simon Pacific salmon swimming upstream to spawn. Fraser’s journal.
While driving the Coquihalla Highway is no doubt the quickest way to get from Kamloops to Vancouver, the Fraser Canyon is the most beautiful. With seven tunnels cutting through the rugged mountains, magnificent views of the Fraser River and historic stops along the old Gold Rush trail, this route is well worth traveling the extra mile. Along the way, be sure to take a ride on the Hell’s Gate Airtram. One of the earliest explorers to navigate this area was Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 – 18 August 1862). This fur trader, who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia, was employed by the Montreal-based North West Company and was in charge of all the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains. He was also responsible for building that area's first trading posts. The name Hells Gate was derived from Simon Fraser’s journal. In 1808 he described this narrow passage as "a place where no human should venture, for surely these are the gates of Hell” and noted that safe water transportation through the 115 foot wide opening has proven virtually impossible. For centuries the narrow passage has been a popular fishing ground for First Nations communities in the area and eventually European settlers started to congregate there in the summer months to fish. In the 1860’s, the Fraser Canyon became a route used by gold rush miners wishing to access the upper Fraser Basin. In the 1880s the Canadian Pacific Railway built a transcontinental railroad that passed along the bank at Hells Gate, and in 1911 the Canadian Northern Railway began constructing a second track. In 1914 a large rockslide triggered by the railroad construction fell into the river at Hells Gate, obstructing the passage of Pacific salmon swimming upstream to spawn.
28._why_not_soar_over_the_gates_of_hell.docx