B.C.

Xats’ull to Sheep Creek

Our Fraser River adventurer-bloggers load for the first onto the big J-rafts and head to Sheep Creek and Lillooet.

By Glenda Newsted /

Credit: pentaboxes

Xats’ull to Sheep Creek, August 17


It’s 7:50 a.m. and in a few hours we will be loading our gear onto the big J-rig rafts operated by Fraser River Raft Expeditions for the first time.

We’ve spent the last two nights at Xats’ull Heritage Village learning about traditions of the Xats’ull people from Mike Michell and Elder Ray Phillips. Some of the participants woke early this morning to watch Mike dip netting for fish in the river.

Xats’ull Heritage Village sits on a bench above the river, and the participants have slept in tipis for the last two nights lulled to sleep by the rushing water down below. The air is dry, and unlike in the Goat River Valley, I can sleep out under the stars without waking to find my sleeping bag covered in moisture.

Tonight we will camp near Sheep Creek Bridge south of Williams Lake. From here, the next big community along the river is Lillooet—and it is this section of the river that may be one of my favourites, as the journey with the river becomes much more intimate as we float with just the river, the landscape and their inhabitants.