VN #064: First Light over Ancient Grasslands
Posted February 23, 2025
First Light over Ancient Grasslands
One of my most profound experiences during the grasslands book project, was a series of nights spent out in the grasslands high above the Fraser River Canyon to await first light.
As the sun rose silently above the distant hills, grassland terraces across the valley slowly revealed themselves, one at a time. This was the first light over the grasslands; it was a spectacle I planned for and watched several times over the years.
Up before dawn, I would await the magic. The first light would come quietly, as if slowly pushing the darkness away.
Terrace by terrace, the sagebrush and grasses and all their colour and texture would reappear.
Within an hour, all the hidden features of the landscape would be revealed in the warmth and energy of a new day.
These multiple terraces were formed when the river cut down through sediments deposited on the bottom of ancient glacial lakes that filled the valley at the end of the last glacial period.
During this last glacial period, when the south flowing Fraser River was dammed by ice and lava, huge glacial lakes filled the valley. The terraces we see today were lake bottoms until the dams broke and the river flowed south, once again. Erosion from the streams, Fraser River, and gravity, continue to this day.
Each night before heading to sleep, I would walk, looking out over the landscape as the visual elements themselves disappeared into darkness. As I slept, the river would continue to work, carving the canyon still deeper.
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