Ghost Lake to Barkerville

The next morning we packed up camp and drove to Barkerville.   We stopped several times to try and photograph the mountains.

We crossed the Cariboo River

And stopped for a photo of this spruce grouse on the side of the road.

Bird of the Day

We had lunch at Whiskey Flats rec site along Antler Creek.  

To quote the Goldrush Circle Tour brochure:

Whiskey Flats was the site of a large early-century dredge operation near Wells and Barkerville. When standing on the shore, you can see the remains of the Kafue Dredge boat, a floating bucket dredge owned by the Kafue Copper Development Company, a Service Corporation of London England, which operated in the 1920’s close to Barkerville. Today there is a  small three-unit rec site that is a perfect base for those wishing to explore the back roads of Barkerville and Yanks Peak. Be sure to always call or stop in at the Likely Tourist Information located within the Cedar Point Park and Campground to check the road conditions before you depart on your trip.

We did not read the brochure so didn't look for the dredge.  We also didn't check the Road conditions but the Road was in really good shape, perhaps because there is active logging in the Antler Creek area.

The rec site was burnt during last year's fire that threatened Barkerville so it's likely not as attractive as it once was.

We're not sure if the concrete outhouse survived the fire or if it replaced a wooden one.

A few more kilometers and we arrived at Barkerville's Lowhee campground.

We drove into Wells and had a Slammer at the Frog and Bog gift store, recommended by Mark.  It's basically a coffee float, espresso with a scoop of ice cream,

Then we walked around Wells past this wedge-shaped building.

It started to rain so we took the Frog and Bog's advice and checked out the Wells museum.  Lots of photos from Wells' heyday and a cool core sample showing a layer of quartz with flecks of gold.

Later we walked to the Barkerville cemetery.  The highlight of the hike was

the bumper blueberry crop!  We ate our fill.

The next morning Mark headed home and Leo and I headed into Barkerville.  We caught the Barkerville tour

and checked out the main street.

Barkerville from the balcony of the Tong House in Chinatown.

We had lunch in the Wake Up Jake Cafe.

Waiting for lunch.

It was good but not particularly authentic (I had a Mediterranean wrap).

Then we walked up to the Richfield courthouse, just missing the court session.  We also checked out the Catholic and Chinese cemetery nearby.

Road to Richfield

We stayed another night and drove home the next morning.