View source for Bendor Range

{{Short description|Subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains}}
{{for|the French island in the Mediterranean|Bendor Island}}
{{no footnotes|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox mountain
 | name              = Bendor Range
 | photo             = Bendor_pan.jpg
 | photo_caption     = Northwestern Bendor Range seen from [[Tyaughton Lake]]. Mount Truax at left.
 | country           = Canada
 | region_type       = [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Province]]
 | region            = British Columbia
 | parent            = [[Pacific Ranges]]
 | area_km2          = 728
 | border            = 
 | geology           = 
 | period            = 
 | orogeny           = 
 | range_coordinates = 
 | length_mi         = 
 | length_orientation = 
 | width_mi          = 
 | width_orientation = 
 | highest           = [[Whitecap Mountain (British Columbia)|Whitecap Mountain]]
 | elevation_m       = 2918
 | coordinates       = {{coord|50|43|00|N|122|30|34|W|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
 | map_image         = South BC-NW USA-relief BendorRange2.png
 | map_caption       = Location of Bendor Range
}}
The '''Bendor Range''' is a small but once-famous subrange of the [[Pacific Ranges]] of the [[Coast Mountains]], about It is approximately {{convert|7,000|km2|mi2|abbr=out}} in area and about 40&nbsp;km long (NW to SE) and about 18&nbsp;km at its widest. It lies between [[Anderson Lake (British Columbia)|Anderson Lake]] on the southeast and the [[Carpenter Lake]] Reservoir or the [[Bridge River Power Project]] on the north, with the gold-rich valley of Cadwallader Creek on its southwest.

The range's western flank is the site of a series of now-semi-abandoned mining towns. One of these, [[Bralorne, British Columbia|Bralorne]], is among the deepest mines in Canada and in its heyday was the third-richest gold mine in the world; it has waned from a peak population of 8,000 to less than 300 today. Its shafts plunge a mile beneath sea level under the range, starting at 3500' above. The name "Bendor" is believed by some locally to be a Gaelic-French hybrid - ''ben d'or'' - ''mountain of gold'' (note Welsh: Pen d'awr means the same thing) - and while it does mean that, more or less, the name was conferred in honour of [[Bend Or]], a famous racehorse of the 1890s.

The range has only a few small icefields, but a number of extremely high and (for climbers) difficult peaks. The highest is [[Whitecap Mountain (British Columbia)|Whitecap Mountain]] {{convert|2918|m|ft|abbr=on}}, which is visible from the [[Lillooet, British Columbia|Lillooet]] end of [[Seton Lake]] but, as it is located near the heart of the range, invisible from the towns and lakes around its perimeter. At the northwest of the range, but mostly invisible from the towns below because of the terrain of its flanks, is Mount Truax {{convert|2870|m|ft|abbr=on}}. East of it are Mount Williams {{convert|2775|m|ft|abbr=on}} and Mount Bobb {{convert|2821|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

Note: some classification systems assign the Bendor to the [[Chilcotin Ranges]] subgrouping of the [[Pacific Ranges]], but this is incorrect as it is on the south side of the [[Bridge River]], which is the limit of the [[Chilcotin Ranges]].

==References==
*{{BCGNIS|3381|Bendor Range}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051123143507/http://www.cayoosh.net/ Bridge River-Lillooet Country Archive]}}
*[http://bivouac.com/ArxPg.asp?ArxId=149 Bendor Range entry in the Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia]

{{Pacific Ranges}}

[[Category:Pacific Ranges]]
[[Category:Bridge River Country]]
[[Category:Lillooet Country]]


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