New trail leads
up to lava cone |

By DAVID TAYLOR
WORK IS JUST about fin-
ished on what will likely be
one of the finest hiking
trails in the northwest.

The new trail leads to the
lava cone in the Nass Val-
ley’s Nisga’a Memorial
Lava Bed Park, and it’s part
of a series of improvements

. financed by Forest Renewal
B.C,’s forest recreation pro-
gram.

The unique lava beds are
steeped in Nisga’a history
and the improvements will
aid in explaining Nisga’a
history and the natural beau-
ty of the park,

It’s the first park to be
jointly managed by a native
group and the provincial
parks ministry.

Nisga’a Tribal Council of

. ficial Harry Nyce is happy
the trail is one of the first
major co-operative projects,

“The cone is a very
unique feature,” he says.
“Tt could be the only one of
its kind in the province, or
even the country. And it is
very important to the history
of the Nisga’a pcople.’?

The cone erupted 250
years ago, killing more than

_ 2,000 Nisga’a, and: burying
the valley in a thick layer of
lava rack,

According to Nisga’a lore,
the cone erupted when chil-
dren treated salmon in a dis-
respectful manner by stick-
ing buming sticks in their
backs as the fish migrated

_ upstream to spawn.

Today, a lava plain snakes
from the cone down to the
Nass River, which it follows
for more than 20 kilometres,

There have been a number
of different access routes
from the highway to the
cone in the past, but those
have been long and hap-
hazard, wandering all over
the delicate vegetation that
grows on the lava, especial-
ly around the cone.

BC Parks area supervisor
John Trewhitt says some
people had been scrambling
up the sides of the cone,
leaving scars that will stay
visible for many years to
come,

*‘One of our top priorities
was protection,’’ says
Trewhit, ‘We felt that a
high-grade trail would pro-
vide access without eroding
the cone, which was hap-
pening.”'

The new tail begins at the
6km mark of the Ross Lake
forest access road, near the
park's boundary. About half
of the $200,000 from Forest
Renewal was needed to
build the trail. The other
half is being used for
bridges and — interpretive
sigus.

The trail is about 4km
long, winding  throngh
dense, old growth forest and
meandering across a lava
dam that holds back a small
lake. It then opens up onto
an immense lava field near
the edge of the cone, Steps
will lead hikers to the top of
the 70 metre volcano.

Designers and builders
wanted the trail to be as nat-
ural as possible to minimize
environmental Impacts. That
meant most of the work had
to be done by hand,

‘It’s really hard work,”
says sight manager Keith
Moffat. ‘‘But we weren't
happy with the work the ex-
cavator was doing. It made
too much of a mess that we
just had to clean up after
ward.”’ ,

All that physical work was
accomplished by a crew of
some 42 trail-builders, many
of whom were Nisga’a,

“T think that it's a very
rewarding project to work
on,’’ Moffat says. ‘‘These
guys are really proud of the
results,”’

Even the trail surface
. blends into the surroundings

and adds to the feel of the

park.

"We trled a variety of sur-
faces on areas where the
ground was soft,”’ says pro-
ject manager Rob Seaton.
Seaton wasn’t happy with
using gravel, which had to
be trucked in, or wood chips
which required a lot of
mainicnance. Then he dis-
covered a solution right un-

 derhis nose,

‘Just under the surface of

the forest floor is a layer of
crushed lava rock, which
makes an ideal trail sur-
face,” he says.

With the trail nearly com-
pleted, work will focus on
the interpretive signage that
will explain what hikers are
seeing along the way, and
remind them to stay off th
cone’s steep banks..- -

“The interpretive value
along the wail is really
high,” says John Trewhitt.
“So we'd like to develop
thal,”

Trewhitt also says that the
trail might not be complete-
ly open to the public be-
cause of continued concerns
about erosion and public
safety — since there are a
number of hazards, like
caves, in the lava field. That
Incans that trail access
might be limited to guided
hikes only,

“‘If we could provide free
access and not have erosion
problems and damage to the
cone, then that would be
ideal,”’ Trewhitt says. ‘But
in ali ikelihood it will be
coatralled in some way.”’

The third project, which
Should be completed by next
summer, is the completion
of a $150,000 visitor centre

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 23, 1996 - AQ -

s

also funded through
Forest Renewal.

The centre will be built of
logs, and modelled after a
taditional Nisga’a long-
house. Ii will provide space
to display material on
Nisga’a history, culture and
mythology, as well as ex-
plain special geographic and
biological features of the
18,000 hectare park,

Kid’s Ka Jal
14 Korner 52-4,

presents...

The Holidays®
| LL Beth It 20 fe |

pretive trail winds through dense forest and
meanders alongside streams before reaching the
cinder cone, That's Henry Azak working on the trail,

a ill 4
a call parks menterabilia o/ | UTTEGIRLSFASHIONS LITTLE BOYS FASHIONS
and native arts and crafts. F aur nay AMIUTe
A total of nearly $400,000 ' . ONE DAY ONLY! > i .
in Forest Renewal money: \
was used for the projects, = HAouse ¥
The money was made eh
available through the crown ®
corporation’s forest recrea- November 3 at 2:00pm
ti , th se Of :
which ie to enhance forest 4819 McConnell Ave, Terrace
eae ities rie vince For more information, call
PiThis year, mest of the Michelle at 628-0781 or
available money went to ’ Deb at (250)627-8859
parks, In fact, FRBC fund- + ity ‘
ing in the region was 11
times more than the Parks Ke Kid S Korner y
Department’s annual budget 4 #30 Cow Bay Road, Prince Rupert ;
for the same area. Boe ™ ey ,
But Amy Hart from Forest _ ne 3
Renewal is quick to point A NEW, FIRST-CLASS trail is being built to the lava SNe CUSTOM ORDERS,
out that non-government or- Cone in the Nass Valley. The $200,000, 4 km inter- AVAILABLE ie

ganizations are not being
excluded,

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