Stephen keeps waking up at 0330 hours now to go fishing! And then he keeps the rest of us semi awake/semi asleep. So goes the early morning hours. We left Homestead RV just before 0700, had a quick stop at the Fred Meyers in Palmer (who knew?) and were really on the road headed East on the Glenn Hwy #1 by 0723.
Our road trip today found us in . . . road construction. We only had to sit for 20 minutes but fortunately missed the blasting since it takes 3 hours to clear the road of the rubble and stabilize the mountain once that’s been accomplished. The wildflowers and the scenery continue to astound us. We’ve not travelled this road before so are marveling at the newness and the sights. Have seen lots of great old vehicles from the 40’s and 50’s in the fields that brother Arnie would appreciate and tons of old Ford, John Deere, and other tractors that Dad would find amusing.
The roads were mostly okay although we ran into our fair share of perma frost heaves (and I experienced them first hand when I relieved Stephen of his driving duties late in the afternoon), potholes and gravel/rough road patches. Continuing in the transportation mode, we were amazed when we saw an Alaskan Rail train . . . with a caboose! We were so stunned that I failed to get my camera out in time to snap a historic shot.
One of the interesting things we noted on the trip up . . . and now back . . . are the numbers of folks that put their names in the hillsides of sand/dirt . . . using large rocks. Some leave messages, others just their names. No one knows how this started but it seems to be an interesting native/tourist innovation.
After a long driving day full of visual activities, we arrived at Tok . . . and the Sourdough RV Campground. This being our last evening on the cell we tried to make as many phone calls as possible, had dinner and then wandered down to the ‘Sourdough Soup Hut’ to listen to an ensemble of 3 who called themselves the ‘Leftovers’ (the other 2 primary members of their group were out of town for a funeral and to have chemo). They were an eclectic bunch from an ancient country fiddler/singer, a guitar playing 17 year old High School Senior (he likes Johnny Cash and John Denver) to a washboard tap dancing granny. It was a hoot and was followed up by the guests having to throw leftover pancakes (from the morning’s breakfast) into a bucket to vie for a free breakfast. Stephen was close on all 3 tries . . . I was all over the map. Bottom line – we’re paying for breakfast in the morning.
Weather was in the low 60’s, with lots of cloud cover, a bit of sun and then some rain sprinkles. Miles travelled today were 281.
August 5, 2008; Tuesday (Day 64), Sourdough Camp (Tok) to Cottonwood RV
We are really on the road home as the Canadian Border is a mere 90 miles away . . . a tortuous 90 miles away, but not nearly as bad as the road from Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory to our destination of Cottonwood RV Park just south of Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory. Just before our arrival at 1600 the following activities occurred . . . .
Breakfast was at the campground - $7.50 each for sourdough pancakes, fruit, biscuits and gravy and coffee. It was good to try this breakfast and the pancakes were great but now that is off our list of things to do and not repeat. Shortly after leaving Tok, Alaska (filling up at the Shell Station, $5.40 per gallon/diesel) we saw a black streak crossing the road . . . it was a long eared bunny!
The nitty gritty news was that the road construction was a piece of cake but the perma frost dips and ruts were reminiscent of a roller coaster . . . okay if anticipating it, not good at all if it surprises you. I finally figured out with Stephen’s help that Jesse’s panting had nothing to do with lack of water, rather motion sickness. Good thing we stopped often!
As we crossed the border, the time changed back to Pacific Standard Time. The other major change we noticed was the leaves on many of the plants beginning to change color. Think that Autumn is well on its way to the Yukon! One of the surprising foliage changes were the bloomed out dandelions – looking like cotton balls. The dandelions are in large patches, with no one to blow the white dandelion seeds, so they appear to be cotton in large masses. Absolutely unusual and very cool.
We were surprised when we arrived at our destination of Cottonwood RV Park, just south of Destruction Bay on the Kulane. The lakes water was an azure blue . . . and Stephen asked me just how far south we’d travelled this day as we thought we could well be in the Bahamas . . . and the sunny, breezy weather seemed to confirm that analysis. The weather today made a high of 70F in some of our travels, with rain sprinkles, loads of wind, cloud cover and then sun again. Miles travelled were 242.
Wednesday; August 6, 2008 (Day 65) – Cottonwood RV to White Horse, Yukon
Reluctantly we left Cottonwood RV just before 0900 after breakfasting on the picnic table overlooking our scenic lake. The weather was overcast but nice and as we travelled south we were less than 5 miles when . . . road construction. This particular project was in the Sheep’s Mountain area and the road work is being done in conjunction with the migration patterns of the Dall Sheep who reside there most of the year, and the Kluane Lake fish habitat. The project is current 24/7 as the sheep are summer grazing elsewhere and the fish just have to ‘bear’ it!
We stopped at Haines Junction Visitor Center to telephone doctors and found the center to be delightful. There were hands on exhibits – who knew that the long horn sheep never shed their antlers and there are rings that determine their age . . . and they are heavy! Another interesting tidbit was the overlook at a 1958 fire that burned and the forest is still long behind in its recovery. Scientists are puzzled at the slow growth, stating that the forest should have been rehabilitated fully by now.
We were delighted to once again notice bicyclist’s on the road . . . a riding club with better than 50 cyclists were in a road race, complete with a chase car. Shortly after passing all of the small clusters we saw a sign for the Old Alaska Highway Historical Mile 942 and of course snapped a picture. We arrived in White Horse early afternoon taking the time to obtain some fresh veggies and bread, fuel up and pull into High Country RV for the second time.
Lessons Learned: The microwave convection oven is a great item in the camper. Baking cookies however is a nonstarter so the chocolate chip cookie dough went into the freezer after 2 trial baking batches. (We were full hookups so power source wasn’t an issue.) After an initial cloudy day, punctuated by early morning rains, the sun did make an afternoon appearance, along with the wind. The high temps were 68F. Miles travelled today were 152.
Thurs; Aug 7, 2008 (Day 66); Hi-Country RV (White Horse) to BeaverDam, B.C.
We are headed for the Cassiar Highway – long rumored to be doom and gloom as far as travel is concerned. Whitehorse behind us, we have a day that starts out sunny, has spurts of rain in the morning, the bugs find us in droves at out lunch stop at Morley River and subside a bit(just a bit) at Beaver Dam B.C. where we stopped for the night.
It’s interesting that we’ve not seen any large animals on the roadside as we did on our journey up, until we realize that they are still in the high country and their summer hiatus, no matter that it’s started to turn autumn already. We’ve crossed the Yukon and Teslin rivers – beautiful and big. At Johnson Crossing (a Milepost member since its inception in 1949 – folks were traveling up here then?????); historical mile 836, we stopped for cinnamon rolls for tomorrows breakfast and a small guide on Alaska Sourdough. There is a nice RV part right there on the river but we did notice the bug population starting to grow (but then how spoiled have we been this summer with the cooler temp’s?).
Teslin Tlingit Heritage Center was our next stop where we visited with a nationally ranked artist whom carves totem poles, and paints the large kayaks. While nationally ranked he is also internationally known, was working on a couple of projects and generously gave of his time to educate us to the history of the kayak (up to 60 warriors would paddle these boats and then battle) as it was used by the Tlingit peoples.
Morley River Day Park is a great local for fishing . . . and insect population. The bugs drove Sharon and the pups early from lunch to the truck . . . not without Stephen snapping a picture of all three in front of a beautiful fireweed bush (Sharon looks & is ‘bugged’). We made Junction 37 and our fuel stop just before 1500 hours. We decided to press on for a few more minutes to get started on the Cassiar Highway before bedding down for the evening. The first 10 miles were pretty grueling but not as bad as we’d fantasized. The real news is that there are no shoulders, lots of perma frost heaves, gravel and blind corners. The scenery is even more stunning than most of what we’ve seen. After 46 miles & over an hour of travel we found Beaverdam Rest Area our perfect stop.
The weather was mostly sunny and hot in the afternoon, some breeze with a high of 82F. Miles travelled were 309.
Fri; 08/08/08; (Day 67); Beaverdam B.C. to Bell II Lodge/RV on Bell River
The secret to avoiding the insects are to get all chores done and be on the road prior to 0830, which is when the insects seem to become active. We were on the road from Beaverdam prior to that after giving the pups a good ‘play time’ workout. The lack of traffic in Canada and Alaska is noteworthy but becomes severely less on the Cassiar Stewart Highway! The scenery is stupendous so it’s no wonder it’s a Scenic Byway. The roads are narrow with lots of gentle curves a few grades but its generally a very pleasant driving experience.
This morning Stephen saw a grey fox walking along the highway – it promptly headed out of photo range when the brakes were applied. We were disappointed to find that the ghost town of Laketon, situated on Dease Lake across the highway, is accessible only by boat. The lake is so wide that pictures weren’t possible even with the telephoto lens. The wildlife, aside from noted fox, are the large amounts of chipmunks busy scurrying across the roads with their hands full of nuts – readying themselves for the winter.
Rabid Bear Rest stop seemed a ‘must do’ stop. While no bears or scat were noted, the pups had a good run, we stretched and Ruger even found a large stick with which to fetch. Our next stop was in Dease Lake to fill up our diesel tanks since fuel on this highway is not abundant. I smelled the unmistakable aroma of fried chicken and soon we were back in our rig with a fried chicken snack and our tanks topped off. (Canadian Petrol & General Store, chicken is up at 1100 hours!).
Gnats Pass Summit (no idea about the origin of the name & were reluctant to test the theory of massive gnat waves by rolling down the windows!) is the highest on the Cassiar Stewart Highway at 4102 feet. Kind of a no big deal after some of the summits we’ve been through on this trip! The town of Izkut, a small Tahltan native community, brought an interesting stop, literally. Several horses were on the road, unwilling to move, until Sharon stepped out of the vehicle clapping her hands and calling out to them. After we and two other vehicles passed through, they resumed their stance on the highway!
Eddontenajon Lake – reportedly great rainbow trout fishing in July & August - was as still as a mirror and gin clear. The picture opportunities with the mountains in the background were stunning; can’t imagine the fishing was good this day as the trout could clearly see everything and one trying to catch them! Stephen was a champion flower spotter for me, stopping the truck again several times so I could take close up photos of the various wildflowers we are seeing.
Having enough of the scenic but winding roads (2 patches of gravel/dirt, each about 12 miles in length) and we were ready to call it a day at Bell II Lodge on the Bell-Irving River. It’s a nice resort facility complete with sauna/hot tub, exercise room, TV and pool
room – all amenities available to the RV guests for the full hook-up (15 amps only) price of $31.50. The 10 sites are pull-throughs, there’s a great restaurant, activities, coffee shop and petrol. Sounds wonderful no? Well it is . . . if you can get through the biting flies that have descended on this lovely spot. Apparently this isn’t a ‘normal’ thing but the pups were frustrated by them and spent as little time outside as possible (not normal for them) to avoid the flies! Think we’ll wait for another trip to enjoy the amenities!
The weather was mostly sunny with some spots of overcast. Light breezes, fair amount of insects everywhere and highs of 72F. Miles travelled today were 251.
Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008; Day 68; Bell River, BC to Glacier View RV, Smithers, BC
The biting flies weren’t out early this morning but the mosquitos sure were! We left our pretty but ‘buggy’ locale at 0830 this morning traveling in early morning sun which an hour later gave way to rain the rest of the morning and early afternoon.
The mornings highlight (other than the gorgeous scenes played out for us with the wildflowers and the drama of the mountains), were the sightings of three different bears within a 2 hour time span. The first and third bears were small black bears but the middle one was a huge Black Bear. We had no ability/time to take pictures of the first two but the third one we did capture a mediocre photo … look close through the windshield reflections and you’ll see him! Quite exciting.
We stopped at a native village just before leaving the Cassiar Highway to head east on the Yellowhead Highway to see authentic and historic totem poles. The town also boasted an old church whose original bell tower and bell from the 1800’s are located beside the church. Stephen was excited to see the great steel heading river, Skeena, and of course we stopped to see and photograph it.
As we travelled the Flora and Flauna Express (Stephen’s name for the highways we see in Alaska and Canada) we stopped to see a historic river falls. Some of the natives were netting the salmon as they travelled up the falls – pretty amazing as the positions of the netters were pretty precarious. Soon we found our stop for the night at Glacier RV just west of Smithers. We decided to do some sightseeing in this tourist town and found the parks along the Bulkley River (the city owns a nice RV park on the river with many full hookups) and exercised the pups.
A stop at the Harley Davidson Shop in Smithers (celebrating 105 years) then led us back to our ‘home’ for the night. Glacier RV does have a front seat view of Hudson Glacier, has WIFI and is a nice small campground to overnight. Mid afternoon was very pleasant with a light breeze, temps topping out at 72F, & few if any bugs. Miles travelled = 230.
Sunday, August 10, 2008, Day 69; Smithers to Blue Spruce RV (Prince George, BC)
Pitter patter, pitter patter, the night rains sounded great . . . until they turned into full rainstorms lasting all day. As we left Smithers and amongst others on the upgrade out of
town soon found ourselves dodging a lost dog that was obviously looking for its home. There were lots of screeches – ours being one of them. Fortunately when last seen the pooch was okay; and folks were on the phone dialing 911! After that experience we had a good one when we spotted Elk just off the highway, eating away at the pasture.
We soon made a stop in Houston, which houses the Worlds largest fly rod; took pictures and after the German tour bus left the Visitors Center, purchased a book on the Northwest Mountain Flowers. Stephen thought this prudent as although we could look online for the flowers in question, internet was intermittent and you really need a guide NOW when seeing the flora!
The topography has turned to lots of farmland, mostly hay producing although some cattle ranches . . . mining and lumber products are key to the economics in this area. Our next torrential rain stop was Vanderhof – a historic town with rustic buildings. We arrived finally once again at Blue Spruce RV in Prince George – me calling, ‘ Honey, we’re home!’ to the owner. He’s a Kiwi and just howled! J The rain strengthened and we hunkered down – even watching a DVD movie! The temperatures were a high of 50F. Miles travelled were 246.
Mon, August 11, 2008; Day 70; Prince George to Big Country RV, Loche Le Hoche
We left early morning from our rainy overnight – it had cleared and the ground still soggy was not marshy – thank heavens from a pooch standpoint! The morning was intermittent sun but cloudy and dry. We paralleled the Fraser River once again & found it not much clearer (muddy still) then when we were through the first week of June.
We found that as we travel closer to the USA, the traffic has increased . . . and significantly since leaving Prince George. The topography is lots of curves and hills, not very well marked until you are on top of them and wishing you had a Jake Brake! We did see a lot of white turkeys at one farm – I’d never heard of such a thing but Stephen assured me that on the east coast they are fairly common! The other common farm critters were cattle, Tennessee Walking Horses, Llama’s and Bison.
As we descended into our final destination, 2 miles shy of Big Country RV at Loche Le Hoche, we finally were double teamed by rocks from a logging truck . . . and yes, the windshield was hit. Hope that we can arrive home before the crack makes it difficult to see. Can always get it fixed prior but who wants to deal with that on the road?
The afternoon was spent doing a major cleaning of the camper, making apple crisp and Ro’s chutney cole slaw. I’d like to impress upon everyone that I’m cleaning out the refrig as we wind down this trip but the results are so good that I’d doubt anyone would believe me . . . okay, brag, brag, brag! I’m tired . . . and its time for Apple Crisp, a good book and bed! The highway noise (becoming immune to the sound during the day) did die down after 2200 hours. Miles travelled today were 240.
Our road trip today found us in . . . road construction. We only had to sit for 20 minutes but fortunately missed the blasting since it takes 3 hours to clear the road of the rubble and stabilize the mountain once that’s been accomplished. The wildflowers and the scenery continue to astound us. We’ve not travelled this road before so are marveling at the newness and the sights. Have seen lots of great old vehicles from the 40’s and 50’s in the fields that brother Arnie would appreciate and tons of old Ford, John Deere, and other tractors that Dad would find amusing.
The roads were mostly okay although we ran into our fair share of perma frost heaves (and I experienced them first hand when I relieved Stephen of his driving duties late in the afternoon), potholes and gravel/rough road patches. Continuing in the transportation mode, we were amazed when we saw an Alaskan Rail train . . . with a caboose! We were so stunned that I failed to get my camera out in time to snap a historic shot.
One of the interesting things we noted on the trip up . . . and now back . . . are the numbers of folks that put their names in the hillsides of sand/dirt . . . using large rocks. Some leave messages, others just their names. No one knows how this started but it seems to be an interesting native/tourist innovation.
After a long driving day full of visual activities, we arrived at Tok . . . and the Sourdough RV Campground. This being our last evening on the cell we tried to make as many phone calls as possible, had dinner and then wandered down to the ‘Sourdough Soup Hut’ to listen to an ensemble of 3 who called themselves the ‘Leftovers’ (the other 2 primary members of their group were out of town for a funeral and to have chemo). They were an eclectic bunch from an ancient country fiddler/singer, a guitar playing 17 year old High School Senior (he likes Johnny Cash and John Denver) to a washboard tap dancing granny. It was a hoot and was followed up by the guests having to throw leftover pancakes (from the morning’s breakfast) into a bucket to vie for a free breakfast. Stephen was close on all 3 tries . . . I was all over the map. Bottom line – we’re paying for breakfast in the morning.
Weather was in the low 60’s, with lots of cloud cover, a bit of sun and then some rain sprinkles. Miles travelled today were 281.
August 5, 2008; Tuesday (Day 64), Sourdough Camp (Tok) to Cottonwood RV
We are really on the road home as the Canadian Border is a mere 90 miles away . . . a tortuous 90 miles away, but not nearly as bad as the road from Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory to our destination of Cottonwood RV Park just south of Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory. Just before our arrival at 1600 the following activities occurred . . . .
Breakfast was at the campground - $7.50 each for sourdough pancakes, fruit, biscuits and gravy and coffee. It was good to try this breakfast and the pancakes were great but now that is off our list of things to do and not repeat. Shortly after leaving Tok, Alaska (filling up at the Shell Station, $5.40 per gallon/diesel) we saw a black streak crossing the road . . . it was a long eared bunny!
The nitty gritty news was that the road construction was a piece of cake but the perma frost dips and ruts were reminiscent of a roller coaster . . . okay if anticipating it, not good at all if it surprises you. I finally figured out with Stephen’s help that Jesse’s panting had nothing to do with lack of water, rather motion sickness. Good thing we stopped often!
As we crossed the border, the time changed back to Pacific Standard Time. The other major change we noticed was the leaves on many of the plants beginning to change color. Think that Autumn is well on its way to the Yukon! One of the surprising foliage changes were the bloomed out dandelions – looking like cotton balls. The dandelions are in large patches, with no one to blow the white dandelion seeds, so they appear to be cotton in large masses. Absolutely unusual and very cool.
We were surprised when we arrived at our destination of Cottonwood RV Park, just south of Destruction Bay on the Kulane. The lakes water was an azure blue . . . and Stephen asked me just how far south we’d travelled this day as we thought we could well be in the Bahamas . . . and the sunny, breezy weather seemed to confirm that analysis. The weather today made a high of 70F in some of our travels, with rain sprinkles, loads of wind, cloud cover and then sun again. Miles travelled were 242.
Wednesday; August 6, 2008 (Day 65) – Cottonwood RV to White Horse, Yukon
Reluctantly we left Cottonwood RV just before 0900 after breakfasting on the picnic table overlooking our scenic lake. The weather was overcast but nice and as we travelled south we were less than 5 miles when . . . road construction. This particular project was in the Sheep’s Mountain area and the road work is being done in conjunction with the migration patterns of the Dall Sheep who reside there most of the year, and the Kluane Lake fish habitat. The project is current 24/7 as the sheep are summer grazing elsewhere and the fish just have to ‘bear’ it!
We stopped at Haines Junction Visitor Center to telephone doctors and found the center to be delightful. There were hands on exhibits – who knew that the long horn sheep never shed their antlers and there are rings that determine their age . . . and they are heavy! Another interesting tidbit was the overlook at a 1958 fire that burned and the forest is still long behind in its recovery. Scientists are puzzled at the slow growth, stating that the forest should have been rehabilitated fully by now.
We were delighted to once again notice bicyclist’s on the road . . . a riding club with better than 50 cyclists were in a road race, complete with a chase car. Shortly after passing all of the small clusters we saw a sign for the Old Alaska Highway Historical Mile 942 and of course snapped a picture. We arrived in White Horse early afternoon taking the time to obtain some fresh veggies and bread, fuel up and pull into High Country RV for the second time.
Lessons Learned: The microwave convection oven is a great item in the camper. Baking cookies however is a nonstarter so the chocolate chip cookie dough went into the freezer after 2 trial baking batches. (We were full hookups so power source wasn’t an issue.) After an initial cloudy day, punctuated by early morning rains, the sun did make an afternoon appearance, along with the wind. The high temps were 68F. Miles travelled today were 152.
Thurs; Aug 7, 2008 (Day 66); Hi-Country RV (White Horse) to BeaverDam, B.C.
We are headed for the Cassiar Highway – long rumored to be doom and gloom as far as travel is concerned. Whitehorse behind us, we have a day that starts out sunny, has spurts of rain in the morning, the bugs find us in droves at out lunch stop at Morley River and subside a bit(just a bit) at Beaver Dam B.C. where we stopped for the night.
It’s interesting that we’ve not seen any large animals on the roadside as we did on our journey up, until we realize that they are still in the high country and their summer hiatus, no matter that it’s started to turn autumn already. We’ve crossed the Yukon and Teslin rivers – beautiful and big. At Johnson Crossing (a Milepost member since its inception in 1949 – folks were traveling up here then?????); historical mile 836, we stopped for cinnamon rolls for tomorrows breakfast and a small guide on Alaska Sourdough. There is a nice RV part right there on the river but we did notice the bug population starting to grow (but then how spoiled have we been this summer with the cooler temp’s?).
Teslin Tlingit Heritage Center was our next stop where we visited with a nationally ranked artist whom carves totem poles, and paints the large kayaks. While nationally ranked he is also internationally known, was working on a couple of projects and generously gave of his time to educate us to the history of the kayak (up to 60 warriors would paddle these boats and then battle) as it was used by the Tlingit peoples.
Morley River Day Park is a great local for fishing . . . and insect population. The bugs drove Sharon and the pups early from lunch to the truck . . . not without Stephen snapping a picture of all three in front of a beautiful fireweed bush (Sharon looks & is ‘bugged’). We made Junction 37 and our fuel stop just before 1500 hours. We decided to press on for a few more minutes to get started on the Cassiar Highway before bedding down for the evening. The first 10 miles were pretty grueling but not as bad as we’d fantasized. The real news is that there are no shoulders, lots of perma frost heaves, gravel and blind corners. The scenery is even more stunning than most of what we’ve seen. After 46 miles & over an hour of travel we found Beaverdam Rest Area our perfect stop.
The weather was mostly sunny and hot in the afternoon, some breeze with a high of 82F. Miles travelled were 309.
Fri; 08/08/08; (Day 67); Beaverdam B.C. to Bell II Lodge/RV on Bell River
The secret to avoiding the insects are to get all chores done and be on the road prior to 0830, which is when the insects seem to become active. We were on the road from Beaverdam prior to that after giving the pups a good ‘play time’ workout. The lack of traffic in Canada and Alaska is noteworthy but becomes severely less on the Cassiar Stewart Highway! The scenery is stupendous so it’s no wonder it’s a Scenic Byway. The roads are narrow with lots of gentle curves a few grades but its generally a very pleasant driving experience.
This morning Stephen saw a grey fox walking along the highway – it promptly headed out of photo range when the brakes were applied. We were disappointed to find that the ghost town of Laketon, situated on Dease Lake across the highway, is accessible only by boat. The lake is so wide that pictures weren’t possible even with the telephoto lens. The wildlife, aside from noted fox, are the large amounts of chipmunks busy scurrying across the roads with their hands full of nuts – readying themselves for the winter.
Rabid Bear Rest stop seemed a ‘must do’ stop. While no bears or scat were noted, the pups had a good run, we stretched and Ruger even found a large stick with which to fetch. Our next stop was in Dease Lake to fill up our diesel tanks since fuel on this highway is not abundant. I smelled the unmistakable aroma of fried chicken and soon we were back in our rig with a fried chicken snack and our tanks topped off. (Canadian Petrol & General Store, chicken is up at 1100 hours!).
Gnats Pass Summit (no idea about the origin of the name & were reluctant to test the theory of massive gnat waves by rolling down the windows!) is the highest on the Cassiar Stewart Highway at 4102 feet. Kind of a no big deal after some of the summits we’ve been through on this trip! The town of Izkut, a small Tahltan native community, brought an interesting stop, literally. Several horses were on the road, unwilling to move, until Sharon stepped out of the vehicle clapping her hands and calling out to them. After we and two other vehicles passed through, they resumed their stance on the highway!
Eddontenajon Lake – reportedly great rainbow trout fishing in July & August - was as still as a mirror and gin clear. The picture opportunities with the mountains in the background were stunning; can’t imagine the fishing was good this day as the trout could clearly see everything and one trying to catch them! Stephen was a champion flower spotter for me, stopping the truck again several times so I could take close up photos of the various wildflowers we are seeing.
Having enough of the scenic but winding roads (2 patches of gravel/dirt, each about 12 miles in length) and we were ready to call it a day at Bell II Lodge on the Bell-Irving River. It’s a nice resort facility complete with sauna/hot tub, exercise room, TV and pool
room – all amenities available to the RV guests for the full hook-up (15 amps only) price of $31.50. The 10 sites are pull-throughs, there’s a great restaurant, activities, coffee shop and petrol. Sounds wonderful no? Well it is . . . if you can get through the biting flies that have descended on this lovely spot. Apparently this isn’t a ‘normal’ thing but the pups were frustrated by them and spent as little time outside as possible (not normal for them) to avoid the flies! Think we’ll wait for another trip to enjoy the amenities!
The weather was mostly sunny with some spots of overcast. Light breezes, fair amount of insects everywhere and highs of 72F. Miles travelled today were 251.
Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008; Day 68; Bell River, BC to Glacier View RV, Smithers, BC
The biting flies weren’t out early this morning but the mosquitos sure were! We left our pretty but ‘buggy’ locale at 0830 this morning traveling in early morning sun which an hour later gave way to rain the rest of the morning and early afternoon.
The mornings highlight (other than the gorgeous scenes played out for us with the wildflowers and the drama of the mountains), were the sightings of three different bears within a 2 hour time span. The first and third bears were small black bears but the middle one was a huge Black Bear. We had no ability/time to take pictures of the first two but the third one we did capture a mediocre photo … look close through the windshield reflections and you’ll see him! Quite exciting.
We stopped at a native village just before leaving the Cassiar Highway to head east on the Yellowhead Highway to see authentic and historic totem poles. The town also boasted an old church whose original bell tower and bell from the 1800’s are located beside the church. Stephen was excited to see the great steel heading river, Skeena, and of course we stopped to see and photograph it.
As we travelled the Flora and Flauna Express (Stephen’s name for the highways we see in Alaska and Canada) we stopped to see a historic river falls. Some of the natives were netting the salmon as they travelled up the falls – pretty amazing as the positions of the netters were pretty precarious. Soon we found our stop for the night at Glacier RV just west of Smithers. We decided to do some sightseeing in this tourist town and found the parks along the Bulkley River (the city owns a nice RV park on the river with many full hookups) and exercised the pups.
A stop at the Harley Davidson Shop in Smithers (celebrating 105 years) then led us back to our ‘home’ for the night. Glacier RV does have a front seat view of Hudson Glacier, has WIFI and is a nice small campground to overnight. Mid afternoon was very pleasant with a light breeze, temps topping out at 72F, & few if any bugs. Miles travelled = 230.
Sunday, August 10, 2008, Day 69; Smithers to Blue Spruce RV (Prince George, BC)
Pitter patter, pitter patter, the night rains sounded great . . . until they turned into full rainstorms lasting all day. As we left Smithers and amongst others on the upgrade out of
town soon found ourselves dodging a lost dog that was obviously looking for its home. There were lots of screeches – ours being one of them. Fortunately when last seen the pooch was okay; and folks were on the phone dialing 911! After that experience we had a good one when we spotted Elk just off the highway, eating away at the pasture.
We soon made a stop in Houston, which houses the Worlds largest fly rod; took pictures and after the German tour bus left the Visitors Center, purchased a book on the Northwest Mountain Flowers. Stephen thought this prudent as although we could look online for the flowers in question, internet was intermittent and you really need a guide NOW when seeing the flora!
The topography has turned to lots of farmland, mostly hay producing although some cattle ranches . . . mining and lumber products are key to the economics in this area. Our next torrential rain stop was Vanderhof – a historic town with rustic buildings. We arrived finally once again at Blue Spruce RV in Prince George – me calling, ‘ Honey, we’re home!’ to the owner. He’s a Kiwi and just howled! J The rain strengthened and we hunkered down – even watching a DVD movie! The temperatures were a high of 50F. Miles travelled were 246.
Mon, August 11, 2008; Day 70; Prince George to Big Country RV, Loche Le Hoche
We left early morning from our rainy overnight – it had cleared and the ground still soggy was not marshy – thank heavens from a pooch standpoint! The morning was intermittent sun but cloudy and dry. We paralleled the Fraser River once again & found it not much clearer (muddy still) then when we were through the first week of June.
We found that as we travel closer to the USA, the traffic has increased . . . and significantly since leaving Prince George. The topography is lots of curves and hills, not very well marked until you are on top of them and wishing you had a Jake Brake! We did see a lot of white turkeys at one farm – I’d never heard of such a thing but Stephen assured me that on the east coast they are fairly common! The other common farm critters were cattle, Tennessee Walking Horses, Llama’s and Bison.
As we descended into our final destination, 2 miles shy of Big Country RV at Loche Le Hoche, we finally were double teamed by rocks from a logging truck . . . and yes, the windshield was hit. Hope that we can arrive home before the crack makes it difficult to see. Can always get it fixed prior but who wants to deal with that on the road?
The afternoon was spent doing a major cleaning of the camper, making apple crisp and Ro’s chutney cole slaw. I’d like to impress upon everyone that I’m cleaning out the refrig as we wind down this trip but the results are so good that I’d doubt anyone would believe me . . . okay, brag, brag, brag! I’m tired . . . and its time for Apple Crisp, a good book and bed! The highway noise (becoming immune to the sound during the day) did die down after 2200 hours. Miles travelled today were 240.
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