Reading this in Southern Ontario won't get me much sympathy, but I'd like you to know that the first,
full day out of Whitehorse was a cold one. I awoke to frost on the motorcycle at Dease Lake.
The day from Whitehorse took me almost to Watson Lake, but I turned south on the Stewart-Caspiar
highway. It was alternatively scary and beautiful. At the top end, where it leaves the Alaska
Highway, the first hour or so traverses a very large forest fire...or the remnants thereof. As well,
the highway is much narrower, with no shoulder, and I saw bears in the first few kilometers. No
problem, it's just that having shoulders on the road means that you have passing room for going
around them. The surroundings were amazing, with much more snow on the mountaintops than in Yukon.
It's a fairly slow road, taken best at 80 to 100 km/hr. You wouldn't want to go much faster, given
the abrupt radius curves and the oncoming traffic...when it shows up...and it's often a semi. There
are not many services, not unlike the Alaska Hwy, so you have to be careful to fill up when you can.
It was a day of making distance through a very remote part of northern BC.
In Dease Lake, I took a motel room and ended up chatting with a bunch of geophysical assayers.
They're criss-crossing that part of B.C. with a helicopter and a magnetometer, to identify the rock
structures for later mineral exploration. Two of the guys were from Ontario. There are a couple of
helicopter pilots in the mix, too. We shared an outdoor bbq and a few beers while chatting about
this and that.
The next morning was an early departure. All the surveyors were up and at 'em. I was the first bike
of a dozen to hit the road. It was frosty.
I planned to travel slowly, both to enjoy the road and to keep from getting too cold. Mission
accomplished. I had a cold breakfast before leaving and was hoping for a grill or two to show up on
the way. It did, more than I could have dreamed of. The Totogga resort was absolutely the best
breakfast I've ever had. Everyone, staff included, was standing around the foyer having a coffee
when I arrived. It was really pleasant. I had the mega-breakfast, the #1, with 3 eggs, four pieces
of bacon, real fried potatoes, and toast. It was a bit pricey, but the options were few. What
really made it interesting was the family type of atmosphere, with the chat between tables, fostered
by the communal coffee urn. The plain truth was it was such a large brekky that I couldn't finish
it. I tried but couldn't. It meant pushing away from the table, early and taking in the wonderful
menagery of stuffed animals in the place. It really was a top-notch resort. Imagine them keeping
the arrows on display for many of the trophy animals taken locally.
Every once in a while you have to slow down...
The balance of the day saw more snow on the horizon, literally. The glaciers from there, south were
spectacular.
When I turned off (on a side trip) towards Stewart, BC I was absolutely overwhelmed with the size and
closeness of the glaciers. The road into Stewart is through a canyon cut by the river pouring off of
the lake formed by the glacier. The blueness of the ice and the magnificence of the size of the
ice-river was amazing. I met a guy named Grant Zimmer, from Saskatchewan, on another VStrom and we
had a bit of a chat about the bikes and the place. Later on, in Stewart, we'd get together for a
beer or two. I can't do enough with words to describe the glaciers...so I'll let the pictures do
the talking.
I wasn't done with the bears. One was on the inside of a curve, against a rock face. I swung way
out and fortunately, he didn't bolt across the road. Yipes! Again, no pictures...how do you plan
for that?
I swept through Stewart with the intention to go down the road to Hyder, Alaska. It's only a few km
past the centre of the town. I had a nice chat...NO U.S. CUSTOMS!!...with a lady who runs a souvenir
shop. She told me all about the 6th largest glacier in North America, just 35 minutes up the road.
Well, I didn't really feel I wanted to go any further. I bought a bumper sticker and learned that
the Iron Butt guys go to Hyder, in order to claim that they went to Alaska (the short way, just like
me). On the way back into Canada (!), CBSA interviewed me and asked if I had handguns, tobacco, etc.
They were intrigued that I had come all the way from Guelph just to get a bumper sticker.
I took a campsite just a few blocks from downtown. It was right against a creek where the salmon
run, which was formed because of a massive rock cliff towering above the town, across the canyon from
the glaciers. I was able to cool a few cans of beer in the creek while I set up the tent.
I strolled into town to figure out what to do about dinner and spotted Grant's bike at the hotel. I
didn't see him in the restaurant, so I continued my walk out onto the boardwalk. The river from the
glacier back outside of town runs right into the Pacific. There's a tide in Stewart which comes way
up from the coast. So, now I can claim that I ran all the way to Alaska...and the Pacific ocean!
I chatted with a guy sitting on a bench (from St. Catherines!), who told me that the best dinner in
town came from the bus (!). What it was was a converted utility van, with kitchen. He was
absolutely right, I believe. I had a
picnic table gazing out to the tidal plain...did I mention it was warm? What a beautiful evening.
Moss on the trees!
I went back to the hotel and found Grant in the bar, he was drinking Sleeman's (from Guelph) and I
had a (Lethbridge) Pilsner (Old Style...anybody remember?). We had a good chat about e-health
initiatives, motorcycling, and what it's like up "north".
Glacier above the town...
Back to the tent and out for the night. Tomorrow, Prince George.
No comments:
Post a Comment