The Mighty Fraser River Is One Of The Great Rivers Of The World

By Author: Bernie Fandrich
Total Articles: 11
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The Fraser River is huge and most famous for spawning salmon and whitewater river rafting BC. It is not dam controlled so anything can & does happen

The Fraser River is one of the great rivers of the world; in 1998 it was designated a National Heritage River. From humble beginnings as a tiny trickle in the Rocky Mountains, it is the longest river in BC stretching 854 miles and draining one-fourth of British Columbia.
When still 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean it can flow at almost 500,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) during spring freshet, carrying more water than the Mississippi River. Water from 34 rivers and creeks empty into the Fraser along the way, with the Thompson River its largest tributary.

Historically, the Fraser River is considered one of the world’s greatest salmon resources. Millions of Pacific salmon – Sockeye, Pink, Chum, Chinook, Coho and Steelhead - return annually to spawn in the Fraser River and its many tributaries. Some salmon swim as far as 1000 miles from the ocean to the gravel beds where they were born, to complete their life cycle. They are totally exhausted and beat-up ...
... when they get there.

The Fraser Canyon, as part of the Fraser River, is noted for its spectacular beauty, consisting of a deep rocky trench that runs almost due south geographically, and in a straight line for 47 miles from Lytton BC down to the town of Yale located about 125 miles north-east of Vancouver. The swiftest and most turbulent part of the river is the section through the geological formation known as Hell's Gate. At this location, the river becomes a white-water torrent, as it flows past rock walls 75 feet apart at the narrowest section at low water stage.

The Hell’s Gate rapid was transformed during railway construction in 1913 when blasting sent tons of rocks and debris into the river. The final devastation occurred on February 23, 1914, when a huge rock cliff-face above a newly blasted railway tunnel collapsed into the river. More than 100,000 cu. yards of rocks as big as houses entered the river. The slide material narrowed the canyon at that point from about 300 feet to 75 feet and for a while, it formed a cascade of water dropping more than 20 feet over a distance of less than 75 feet.

Realizing that salmon could not swim through the cataract, the Canadian and Provincial Governments basted away and were able to displace 60,000 cu yards of material and reduce the drop from 20 feet to 9 feet. Nine feet is today's elevation change. The biggest and strongest salmon made it past the slide but overall salmon numbers plummeted. Finally, thirty years after the slide occurred, a joint US/Canadian Government funded project constructed fish ladders that had an immediate positive effect on the numbers of spawning salmon that made it through the rapid.

Today, BC whitewater rafting through the turbulence of Hell’s Gate is the best way to experience the river. The most popular whitewater river rafting BC section of the Fraser is between Boston Bar and Yale, a distance of 35 miles, but more than 200 miles from above Williams Lake to Yale are rafted every year on five to 8-day expeditions. The highlight of the journey is the whitewater rapids in the Fraser Canyon near Hell’s Gate.

Large, motorized rafts with outrigger pontoons are used exclusively on the Fraser. Given the incredible size and volume of the river, it is imperative to have lots of floatation in the whirlpools and boils of the river, and the big boats provide lateral stability in big water as well.
Kumsheen Rafting Resort has operated BC whitewater rafting excursions on the Fraser for more than thirty-five years and although intimate with the different moods of the river, they always treat the mighty Fraser River with the greatest respect.

AUTHOR;-

Bernie Fandrich is a pioneer of the whitewater river rafting BC industry in western Canada and founder of the Kumsheen Rafting Resort in Lytton, BC. He has been sharing his love of the river with the world since 1973. Bernie co-authored Rafting in British Columbia: Featuring the Lower Thompson River and is currently working on his latest project, a chronicle of river running and other events along the legendary Thompson River.