The Prince Rupert Shoe Tree

I love to visit Prince Rupert.

A sunny summer day's drive from Terrace to Rupert is second to no drive offered in Canada. The narrow road way is hugged by the train tracks. On one side of you is the mighty Skeena River, ever widening as it spills into the Pacific Ocean. On the other side is lush forest, hiding uncountable waterfalls. The whole area is surrounded by the most beautiful of snow capped mountains. This is truly a case of a journey being a destination.

However the destination does arrive, and with a thud. Once you get to Prince Rupert you can't go any further, at least not by car. This is actually a great thing, as it will give you time to explore one of the most unique places in BC.

It is immediately obvious that the City of Rainbows is different from anywhere else in the beautiful British Columbian north. Houses are built on stilts on top of rock faces. The two main streets are like travelling back in time. Sidewalks include steep mazes of stairways. You have to take a boat to get to the airport. A former dairy farm welcomes cruise ship passengers. Prince Rupert is definitely not your normal place.

Rupert is what I call pleasantly oddball. I will get into individual details of the aforementioned attractions and many more later on, but right now I'd like to focus on one of the most offbeat exhibits - the Prince Rupert Shoe Tree.

For some reason, Rupertites and tourists venture just outside of the city (about 4km down the highway, near a recent mudslide) to nail their shoes to the Prince Rupert Shoe Tree, an old western red cedar also known as the Home For Lost Soles II.

The possible origins of this tree are mythical and plentiful. One legend has it that someone was killed in a car accident beside the tree and their shoes were placed on the tree in memory of this person. Another story suggests that students who found summer employment building near by trails started it in honour of their summer together.

However Prince Rupert city archives believes resident Crystal Fitzpatrick started it in 1994. She got the idea from a similar spot in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.







Some may scoff and think this is rediculous. But I admire Ms. Fitzpatrick and the people who have embraced this wacky idea. They have created a truly unique tourist destination, conversation starter and a community right of passage all in one.

I think the following quote sums it up really well:

A shoe tree starts with one dreamer, tossing his or her footwear-of-old high into the sky, to catch on an out-of-reach branch. It usually end there, unseen and neglected by others. But on rare occasions, that first pair of shoes triggers a shoe tossing cascade. Soon, teens are gathering up their old Adidas and Sauconys, families are driving out after church with Dad's Reeboks and grandma's Keds. The shoe tree blooms with polymer beauty. A work of art like this may last for generations, tracing our history by our sneakers . . . as long as the tree doesn't die.

For more on Shoe Trees, visit Roadside America.com