Stepping outside of city limits, it becomes easier to imagine what places must have looked like before colonization, when the First Nations lived close to the land, undisturbed. In areas such as this, one can also see more clearly than usual traces of the first western pioneers who arrived in the area: railways, docks, bridges, anything to make the land more accessible for the area’s newcomers, keen on industrialization.

 

I came across this lake as I drove north out of Pemberton, British Columbia, on my way to Lillooet. Navy blue hills and filtered light shining down on sand fingers and the vertical remains of an old water crossing, a vision which echoed countless untold stories throughout history.