Farwell Canyon

The topic of the dunes had come up before at the Cabin. The idea, however,  of leaving behind the prime reclining territory of the lakeside dock proved too arduous and so the first ever Cabin field trip didn’t happen until this summer.

Leaving the Cabin, we drove through Williams Lake, heading west through town and then winding up onto the Chilcotin Plateau, a vast expanse of flat land seemingly perched in the mountains. A turn onto a dirt road sent us through fields and finally, down into Farwell Canyon.

The Canyon was strangely compact for the amount of geological features crammed into it. Behind us stretched large rolling hills, draped with coniferous woods. Before us was the pale green Chilcotin River, winding serpentine beneath a looming wall of hoodoos, sand towers intricately carved by wind and erosion. An immense sand dune clung to the hillside right of the hoodoos, formed by the wind blowing through the canyon walls and escaping over the hill, bringing with it silt and sand.

We walked down to the river, where a crumbling homestead rested in a field of yellow grass and flowers. We wandered in and out of the old structure. chasing grasshoppers and peering into darkened tunnels. These buildings were home to Gordon “Mike” Farwell, who lived here in the early 1900s, naming it Pothole Ranch.

We climbed out of the valley and up the side of the hill, soon reaching the fine sand of the dune. Pulling off our shoes and sinking our toes in felt wonderful– the sand was silky and clean. Soon we were running up and down the dune, laughing in disbelief at the incredible sight of the river and hoodoos before us. From the west came a great bank of dark clouds and soon the wind was whipping up the slope, the canyon crackling with the energy of the storm. It was a surreal moment, perched on the enormous dune over such a view, unlike nothing I’ve felt before. We lingered for a short while longer, taking it all in, then the sting of sand and wind became too much and with great amusement, we tumbled back down the dune to safety.

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