May 16, 2010

After 1,938 miles in Beautiful British Columbia, we have crossed the border into the Yukon Territories. The majority of our miles traveled in BC were on two-lane highways; many of the miles were on gravel/dirt roads. But, BC is a very beautiful Provence, filled with bear, moose, beaver, wolves, and so many other wild animals. The scenery is breathtaking and ever changing and the citizens are friendly and tolerant of their southern cousins.

Having spent a comfortable night in Watson Lake, YT, we get back on the road. Our goal is to reach Whitehorse, YT before stopping for the night, but the going is rougher than we expected. We topped off the gas tank with 27 liters before leaving Watson Lake, but by the time we reached Teslin, 150 miles northwest, we topped off again. Another 202 miles and we stop for the night at Pine Lake Campground, on the out skirts of Haines Junction, YT. We are 205 miles from the Yukon - Alaska border. We make a dry camp, build a fire and fix a pot of dehydrated chicken noodle soup. After coffee and dish washing, we head down to the little lake, so Joe can test out a new bait caster reel. It's turning colder and we head back to camp, only mildly worried about the bears that might be lurking in the dense woods. At 10:00 P.M., even though it's still daylight, we climb into the back of the truck to bed down for the night. The next morning we will awake to frost on the inside of the camper shell windows.

Stewart, Hyder, Bears & Bear Glacier (PHOTOS)

Joe is on his bike, out of frame to the right of the truck, The bear just ran into the woods on the left.

Looking upriver, to the east, along the Bear River. We are about 10 miles east of Stewart BC on 37A.

Looking at Bear Glacier from the NNE, east of Stewart, BC on 37A.

Large bear trap hanging on the wall of Captain Tony's in Hyder, Alaska.

Joe is on his bike, just out of frame right. I came around him with the truck to ward off the bear. Although, Joe will tell you that he fought it off, single handedly, while singing the ballad of Davey Crocket

A very large, curious and unafraid Black Bear.

I'm following Joe in the truck. This isn't as much to alert approaching motorists, as it is to get between Joe and any curious bears.

Joe goes for his daily bike ride along the Cassiar Hwy. His can of Bear Mace is strapped to the bike.

Bear Glacier, just east of Stewart, BC looking north from Hwy 37A

The Kamloops River in BC

One of the hundreds of rivers we have seen. I think this one is the Telkwa River, In BC

The beginning of Cassiar Hwy 37

Mountain peaks on the north side of Hwy 37A, heading into Stewart, BC

Stewart, BC to Watson Lake, YT May15, 2010

Cold and damp today. Sunrise came at 4:00 a.m., following a 10:30 p.m. sunset. This will take some getting used to. We get on the road about 8:30 a.m., after coffee and an energy bar. We thought we could get breakfast somewhere along the route to Watson Lake, Yukon Territories, (YT), but that thought proved to be wishfull thinking. The Cassiar Hwy runs 620 km (approx. 400 miles) through a very rugged part of Northwest British Columbia; rugged, beautiful and virtually unpopulated. The highway is, more often than not, a gravel country road. The route runs north, over mountains, through forests, around natural lakes, tossed like jewels among the green trees and mountain valleys and ends at Watson Lake, YT on the Alcan Hwy 1. There are very few eateries along the route and the ones we saw, we passed. Foolishly, we thought we would find something better around the next bend. An old adage comes to mind here; something about a bird in the hand...
Finally, after 12 hours on the road, we reach Watson Lake, YT. We check into a pleasant, old fashioned hotel and head straight for the restaurant to overeat. After showers and a failed attempt to get online, and in spite of the 11:00 pm daylight, we crawl into real beds for a soft, warm, comfortable nights sleep.

Joe's Post of May 20, 2010

Hey,everybody, This is Joe (Butch), you will be able to tell it's me instead of TJ doing the writing because I don't use all the eloquent words and adjectives, just plain talkin'. We will be back on the road today for a few days and we don't always have internet so I will tell Ricky happy birthday now. Also May 21st marks 41 years ago that I left for Navy bootcamp.We are having a really good time and I keep thinking that I am glad I didn't wait any longer in my life to do something like this because...................well ,man this road trip stuff can be pretty hard on an old guy !!!!!!!!!!!! All for now.

May 14, 2010 Continued

May 14, 2010 (Cont.)
Northbound along the Cassiar Hwy we spotted our first wolf. He wasn't a real big one, but he looked to be at least eighty pounds with a beautiful coat, very intense visage and an enormous, full, fluffy tail. We didn't try to stop for a photo, as we came up on him quickly and he trotted into the woods as we slowed to look at him.
Fifteen miles further up the road and we saw our first bear! This little guy was on the west shoulder of the highway digging in the grass. When he heard us approaching he looked up from his task and we were able to see him full face, standing on all fours. We slowed to a stop and tried to get a photo, but he headed for the woods before we had the cameras ready. This was a black bear, maybe a year old and two hundred pounds. We would be seeing several more before the day ended.
At the junction of the Cassiar Hwy #37 and Hwy 37A we took our first side trip. Rather than continue Northbound on Hwy #37, we turned west and headed for Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. Due to the unique shape of Alaska, the eastern tail of the state curves southward along the western edge of British Columbia (BC). This geographical quirk allowed us to enter Alaska long before reaching the official border crossing at Tok, AK on the Yukon/U.S. border, over nine hundred miles to the north. Driving through the valley on 37A we saw half a dozen black bears. We also were able to stop and photograph Bear Glacier, the first glacier either of us had ever seen. The short, sixty mile drive to Stewart was filled with one amazing view after another. Upon reaching Stewart, we found that it was only three miles to Hyder, so we decided to visit the small "town" before making camp along the Bear River for the night.
Hyder, Alaska is straight out of an old black and white movie. It looks like a late 19th century mining town that died, but was then brought back to partial life by a bunch of mountain men. Joe and I figured the only thing we could do in Hyder was get into trouble at the local saloon, so we drove down the dirt road through town, turned around at the general store and headed back into Canada. Another odd thing about this part of the coutry, is that Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK are both on the Pacific Ocean. Having both sailed vast stretches of the Pacific, Joe and I wondered how we had missed this tiny port-of-call during our Navy days.
We drove the three miles, back to the Bear River Camp Ground, made camp, cooked our supper of beans and sausage with black coffee, took a much needed shower and hit the sack. It was 10:30 PM and still light out.

May 13 thru 18, 2010

We've been without computer and phone service, off and on, for the past several days. As of today, May 18, 2010, we are in Tok, Alaska. This will be an attempt to update the blog and review of our trip since May 13.



We left Kamloops, BC @ 10:22 AM, Thursday, May 13, 2010. Picking up the Trans Canada Highway 1, we headed west toward Cache Creek, BC. After about 50 miles on Trans Canada 1, we switched to The Yellowhead Highway (97) and traveled north through Clinton, 100 Mile House, 150 Mile House and Prince George. At Prince George, we turned west on Trans Canada 16 toward Vanderhoof.

Reaching Vanderhoof, BC around 6:00 PM, we decided it to try a campground, rather than the side of the road. Just outside of town there was a sign inviting us to Dave's RV Park. A quarter mile down the dirt road we pulled into a friendly looking, clean, quiet RV park.
Attached to very nice country home was the park office, so we went inside to register and meet Dave. Once parked in spot #52, I got out the stove and put a fire under a pot of coffee, while Joe unloaded the back of the truck and searched for fire wood. Joe got a fire going while I put together our supper of baked beans, fried potatoes with bacon, onion and garlic and a pot of black cowboy coffee. After the dishes were washed and our sleeping bags rolled out in the back of the truck, we secured the camp and headed to bed. We had covered only 380 miles since Kamloops, but it was all on mountainous two-lane and twisted valley roads; we ready for some rest.



Friday, May 14, 2010. We said goodbye to Dave, and got back on Trans Canada 16 rolling north west through Houston, Smithers and New Hazleton on our way to Canada 37, theCassiar Highway. A brief stop at the Telkwa Cafe, for pie and coffee, then on to Smithers and a fuel stop ($4.40 per gallon U.S). Seventy miles past Smithers and we turned due north onto the Cassiar Highway #37 and began the long, two lane, partially graveled trek to the Yukon Territories.

May 15, Stewart, BC

After a cold night in the back of the truck in Ogden, Utah, we headed north on I-15 for Montana. Five hundred twenty four miles later and we were tired and hungry. We found a parking area on the east side of I-15 in the Lolo National Forest, just outside of Superior, Montana, and called it quits. Joe rearranged the back of the truck to resemble a motel room and I got the Coleman stove going. Coffee is a very important part of our trip and we were ready for a hot cup. We had red beans and rice and homemade beef stew in the cooler and the beef stew sounded like a winner on this cold, damp evening.