The Fraser River near Mount Robson, British Columbia, Canada

Fraser River near Mount Robson, British Columbia, Canada

The star of today's image, the Fraser River, the longest river in British Columbia and the 11th longest in Canada, flows through half-a-dozen climactic environmental zones. The stream makes its meandering way from the Rocky Mountains, travelling more than 1,374 kilometres over slopes and flatlands before it merges with the Strait of Georgia, just south of Vancouver.

In the 1860s, the basin of the Fraser River was home to thousands of prospectors looking for gold, a part of the Cariboo gold rush, which is probably the most famous gold rush in British Columbia's history. In 1998, the Fraser River was designated as a Canadian Heritage River.