A Flame Born of Fire-rock

I was driving through British Columbia, when suddenly, Iceland appeared.

Or so it felt, because in my previous experiences the only time I've seen obvious evidence of a recent volcanic eruption was in Iceland, where they call this kind of jagged rock Hraun - you can find it all over that land, and you can tell how old it is by how much moss is covering the rock, or, if it's really new, by how warm the rock is or by whether it melts the rubber on your shoes. There's also a chocolate-rice-puff candy bar in Iceland called Hraun that I've eaten my fair share of, so I knew Hraun, but I didn't expect to see it here in west-central B.C.

All this came to mind when I drove through Nisga'a on a rainy morning in October. Here was something I hadn't seen in Canada before - a recent lava flow. Not recent in Icelandic reckoning, where significant volcanic activity happens every few years, but for the people of Nisga'a, this eruption that happened around the year 1700, thought to be Canada's most recent, is still fresh in memory, for it killed an estimated 2,000 people and buried two Nisga'a towns. The descendants of the survivors still live here and the lava beds are unmissable, covered only by a layer of moss after four hundred years..

I have to admit, I knew nothing about Nisga'a or the volcano until I saw the lava bed for myself. My knowledge of Canadian history has massive holes, a failing that was illustrated many times on this trip. I drove through here based on non-specific recommendations from fellow travelers I'd met in the Northwest Territories: "you need to visit this area of B.C., it's really pretty!", as they marked out some locations for me, one of which was Nisga'a. I had no planned destinations in mind for the long haul between Whitehorse and Vancouver. I was afraid to do research, because I knew the list of Things To See along this vast tract of land would take weeks I didn't have to explore, so it was better not to know. Knowing nothing and having only a couple of days to play with, I appreciated having a few pins on the map to give me a taste for this part of the country.

And so I found myself at the Nisga'a Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park, and learned that volcanic destruction was not foreign to my country. I wish I had more time to stop and explore and learn but this time I had to drive through. It's a beautiful area, even on a rainy day, and I photographed the lava, including this picture of a phoenix-tree, and a couple of waterfalls before carrying on my way, mentally marking Nisga'a to the list of Places To Spend More Time At Next Time, a list almost as long as Places I've Been. Truly there are not enough hours in the day, nor days in the life nor dollars in the bank to see all that one wants to see.

Click to see large - best viewed in Night Mode