Advanced Elements Ambassador Marco Esteban Perez-Page Paddles for 20 days on the Fraser River
Benicia, CA. – February 17, 2017 (Advanced Elements, Inc.) – Last August (2016) AE Ambassador Marco Perez-Page traveled with a friend to British Columbia, Canada to descend 298 miles of the Fraser River in two AdvancedFrame Expedition kayaks.
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain, in the Rocky Mountains, and flowing for 1,375 kilometres (854 mi), into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the 10th longest river in Canada.
In his own words: “We flew from Madrid to Vancouver and then from there to Quesnel where we loaded our kayaks with food for 12 days. With re-supply destinations planned out, our final destination was going to be the town of Hope, British Columbia.
In a few kilometers the houses disappeared and the forest covered everything; the only remains of civilization that we found were the old gold rush huts and some dirt roads.
The Fraser River is known for white sturgeon, all Five species of Pacific salmon, Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, Sockeye, as well as Steelhead Trout. We also saw hundreds of bald eagles, many deer, bighorn sheep, and occasionally bears…one of them gave us a good scare when he visited our camp at dawn.
When we arrived in the town of Lillooet we rested for two days and enjoyed the hospitality of the Canadians. The people of the country were surprised to see us because they did not know anyone who had descended the Fraser canyon with inflatable kayaks.
From Lillooet the arid climate of the canyon dissipated and the banks of the river became covered with moss and the landscape became greener.
Again we loaded food for another three days and 160 miles. As we reached the town of Lytton, the Thompson River joined us there with the Fraser flow already displacing 108,100 ft3 / sec and reaching 164ft deep.
The environment became more humid and the influence of the Pacific Ocean was beginning to be felt.
From time to time the rapids would rip off our spray skirts and fill us with the water but the most dangerous were the eddies.
Nineteen days into our adventure, we arrived at the fast of Hell’s Gate. We decided to portage around it but, before reaching the shore, my companion fell into the water and crossed the Hell’s Gate! Fortunately, we were always bound by a rope to the kayak, but the rope that held his paddle broke and it disappeared at the bottom of the river. With the loss of his paddle, we decided to finish our trip there.”
To learn more about Marco Esteban Perez-Page and our other ambassadors, visit www.advancedelements.com/ambassadors
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