Day 321: Mice and Bears

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Ben

This morning, we had indeed caught mouse #2 in a trap. We disposed of his body and continued North on the Cassiar Highway.

After a bit, we reached Jade City. Most of Canada’s sizeable jade exports are mined within 50 miles of here. We stopped in to see the wide selection of Canada-mined, Chinese-crafted jade pieces for sale here. There was a sign saying that a reality TV series called “Jade City” is being filmed here. The things people will watch…

We stopped at Boya Lake Provincial Park to fill up our water tank. We wanted to do a bit of hiking and fishing, but it was raining so we kept driving. As we continued North, the Cassiar became more difficult to drive due to frost heaving. We have seen five bears so far today!

At last we passed the “Welcome to Yukon Territory” sign and shortly thereafter we reached the end of the Cassiar Highway. We turned left onto the AlCan, heading West.

After a bit we had to stop for road construction. A new layer of chipseal was being laid down:

We followed the pilot car and saw the oil being sprayed to accept to the chipseal gravel:

We stopped in Teslin and filled up on comparatively cheap $1.51 per liter diesel, had lunch, and were able to use our cell phone for the first time since we turned on to the Cassiar Highway. The drive to Whitehorse was plenty scenic:

At last we arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The Walmart parking lot had over 100 RVs parked in it, so we drove a couple blocks to “The Real Canadian Superstore”, which looks to be a green version of Walmart. We are the only RV in the lot, and the WiFi from the nearby A&W is quite good.

We’re above 60 degrees North latitude, and when we went to sleep at 1AM, it was still light enough to read outside. It never gets dark enough to see the stars here this time of year.

Again, just before bed, B spotted a THIRD mouse in the RV, so we will again set out traps. Grr!

See the trip map for driving details and our current location.

Day 320: Don’t Pass Gas

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Ben

On Saturday, we met Nigel and Sandra of Doin’NotDreamin’, who camped next to us at Clements Lake. Last night, Sunday, we returned to Clements Lake, and found that they had returned here as well. They had attempted to get up to the Salmon Glacier with their Class C motorhome but had to turn back when the road became to narrow. This morning they headed out a bit before us, and we figured we would both stay at the same camping area at the North end of Dease Lake.

Another cloudy morning on Clements Lake:

I headed back into town to buy diesel and mouse traps. I also visited the visitor center and picked up brochures for the next leg of our trip. Maybe it’s because of the permafrost that gas station fuel tanks are all above ground in this part of Canada?

We drove back out towards the Cassiar Highway, once again passing amazing views. A hanging glacier is just visible in the saddle at the skyline:

I couldn’t help stopping again at Bear Glacier:

Heading North of the Cassiar Highway, we lived by the rule of “don’t pass gas” and stopped at every available gas station. They were 100 to 200 miles apart, and prices got up to $1.67 per liter, which is $6.35 a gallon. I tried not to think about it too much.

After the first 100 miles, the Cassiar becomes a narrow chipseal road with no center line. At one point, we passed by a herd of horses next to and on the road:

Around 8pm, we reached Sawmill Point Recreation Site on the North end of Dease Lake, another free Forestry Service campground. The temperatures are pleasant, but the mosquitoes are getting worse and worse as we head North. Nigel and Sandra must have stopped somewhere else:

There are some interesting folks in this lonely corner of the world. One RV overnighting here had a wood stove installed in it, complete with chimney coming out the side of the RV.

As we went to bed, we spotted a mouse in the RV. So much for the hope that the mouse we saw last night had run out before this morning. We set out the traps we bought in Stewart and hoped for the best (from our perspective).

See the trip map for today’s drive.

Day 317: Narrow Roads and Wide Glaciers

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Ben

This morning, the power was back on at the Safeway, so the kids did a bit of homeschool while I got the blog up to date:

We headed into downtown Smithers to purchase a gas plumbing part for our catalytic heater. Unfortunately, the main street had a median which had concrete planters in it at every intersection. Turning right onto a side street, the rear left corner of the trailer grazed the planter. With a couple screws, judicious application of the rubber mallet, and silicone sealant, we were back in business after about 15 minutes:

We had to break her in at some point, I guess.

Smithers is in the foothills of the Canadian Coast Range:

Driving West out of Smithers, we reached Kitwanga after about 70 miles, the Southern end of the Cassiar Highway:

The Cassiar Highway is 450 miles of virtually unpopulated country. The rule on the Cassiar is “never pass up a gas station”, since gas stations are over 100 miles apart and frequently close due to running out of gas or equipment failure.

We drove North on the Cassiar for 97 miles, turning off towards Stewart, BC at Meziadin Junction. About 15 miles after the turnoff, we passed Bear Glacier, one of the only glaciers accessible by paved road in Canada. The glacial ice, which can be hundreds of feet thick, is a bright blue:

Continuing on, we passed through a narrow gorge area. In places, we could see hanging glaciers hundreds of feet above. The nearly vertical faces were covered in lush greenery, interrupted only by waterfalls cascading down from the glaciers above. Signs said “Avalanche area, no stopping”, so we didn’t photograph this spectacular area.

We stopped at Clements Lake, which is about a mile off the highway. There’s just a small turnaround, but here in BC the rule is you can camp anywhere so long as it’s not posted otherwise. It was amazing to have this lake and the snow covered mountains behind it all to ourselves:

Days are over 17.5 hours long here at 56 degrees North. With the overcast skies, the day seems to just go on forever, an effect I find disconcerting.

Good Shabbos from Clements Lake, near Stewart, BC! See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 316: Plank trails and bears

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Ben

This morning we caught B drawing on her wall:

Last night, we ran into one of the park staff who mentioned that there is a plank trail called Water Lew in the park! I’ve always wanted to ride one, so we rode 3 miles and 800 feet of vertical from the campsite up an access road to reach the trailhead. It was steep getting up there, so Trish and the kids did a good bit of walking the bikes up. The plank trail was fantastic:

After riding the plank trail a couple times, we walked our bikes down a connecting path to another trail which had lots of great jumps and berms. There are beautiful birch groves here:

About a half mile from the campground, Trish and B took the beginner route and M and I took the intermediate route. M and I reached the campground in minutes, and rode back up the beginner route to meet B and Trish. When we got back to the junction where we started, I realized Trish and B had not taken the trail, but rather had rode off down a service road. I was pretty worried, as they had a considerable head start, and if they turned of the road, finding them would be impossible and they would be lost in the woods. I asked M to ride back to the RV and wait there, and then I rode down the service road looking for them. Every time I came to a turn-off, I had to look for a muddy spot, checking for their tracks to figure out which way they went. After riding for several miles, I found them.

Worried about having left M back at the RV, I told Trish and B to make their way back on the service road, and I would ride back, get M and the truck, and drive back to meet them. What happened next involved a bear, I’ll let Trish tell the story here.

It’s safe to say that by the time we got back, the truck was thoroughly broken in:

In the end, we rode or walked about 10 miles. The first mile in the route below is a bike computer glitch, but the rest is correct:

Leaving the bike park at 6:30pm, we dumped tanks in Houston, BC, and drove on to overnight at the Safeway of Smithers, BC. WiFi was great until a storm knocked out power to the Safeway and the surrounding buildings. See the trip map for today’s drive.

Day 315: Distracted by Knobby Tires

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Ben

You know you’re in Canada when the Hardware and Automotive stove called Canada Tire has this section:

Canada Tire is my new favorite store, it’s like Ace Hardware + Walmart + Napa auto parts. I was able to buy an inch-pound torque wrench for my paramotor as well as 4 gallons of DEF for the truck. I’m glad we stocked up before we left the US, as many stores are out of stock, and without it, the truck won’t go faster than 5 miles per hour.

Heading West, Trish was reading some tourist information and found out that there’s a world famous (or at least regionally notable) mountain biking park in Burns Lake, BC. The trail map shows an extensive network of trails: