June 2 to 8, 2019 ; home to Cassiar Highway, northern BC

Sunday ; Sunny and hot.

Much of today was devoted to preparing for departure tomorrow. Initially our plan was to depart today for our trip up the Cassiar Highway, but we realized a couple of days ago that we wouldn’t be ready to depart until tomorrow.

We cleaned and treated Ozzie’s ears, and brushed his teeth. I did some eyeglass preventive maintenance. I did annual fire extinguisher maintenance. I sharpened knives. We gave Ozzie a bath. We loaded the camper. I did monthly budgeting. I reconciled last month’s bank statements. At 6 PM we went to the swimming pool to do cardiac exercises. I barbecued a thick, juicy steak for supper.

Monday ; home to 100 Mile House

Mostly sunny and warm, becoming cloudy around supper time.

We finished our packing and preparations and departed at 11:30 AM, about half an hour earlier than planned. WOO-HOO … we’re never early for anything ! We headed west on Hwy. 3 to Princeton. We stopped in Princeton to buy a small amount of diesel fuel … enough to get us to Merritt … and a postage stamp at the Post Office. At Princeton we headed north on Hwy. 5. We stopped at the Gulliford Lake rest area to have lunch.

After lunch we continued north on Hwy. 5 to the Coquihalla Okanagan Connector, then west on the Connector to the Coquihalla Hwy. at Merritt. We turned north on the Coquihalla ( aka Highway Thru Hell ) and were so absorbed in a conversation that I missed the exit to the cheap fuel bar at Extra Foods. DARN ! Oh, well … I decided that we had enough fuel to make it to Kamloops, so we just kept going north. We crossed Kamloops from west to east on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1, then turned north on Hwy. 5 again. We stopped at Petro-Canada and refilled the truck’s near empty fuel tank. YIKES … a hundred and forty-six bucks !

We continued north on Hwy. 5 to Little Fort, then turned west on Hwy. 24. We reached our planned destination for tonight, the BC Forest Service remote wilderness campground at Latremouille Lake, around 5 PM. We decided it was a bit too early to stop for the night, and Joanne wanted to view some BC Forest Service remote wilderness campgrounds that we had not been to before, so we continued driving west on Hwy. 24.

We viewed the BC Forest Service Recreation Site at Phinetta Lake. It had two campsites. One campsite was inaccessible to us. The other campsite was occupied. < shrug > We continued west on Hwy. 24 to the Crystal Lake campground. It had about a dozen or so campsites. All were occupied ! SHEESH ! It’s a Monday at the beginning of June ! By then it was about 6 PM. I was tired, and regretting that we had not stopped at Latremouille Lake.

We continued west on Hwy. 24 until it ended at Hwy. 97, then turned north and drove to 100 Mile House. We parked behind the Visitor Information Centre at about 7 PM. We took Ozzie for a long walk past the airport to the curling club, then back to the Visitor Centre. WOW … the 100 Mile House airport has a down-sloped runway. That’s rather rare … and difficult and dangerous to land on in the dark.

Joanne cooked a simple supper inside the camper. HMPH ! I had my heart set on a campfire cooked meal at Latremouille Lake ! < pouting >

On the short but difficult drive from the highway to Crystal Lake we saw three deer, and a fox. The fox had unusual coloring ; it was black with a bit of cream coloured streaks. Never saw a fox coloured like that before !

Tuesday ; 100 Mile House to Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park

Mostly sunny and warm, briefly a bit windy late in the afternoon.

We pulled out of the 100 Mile House Visitor Centre parking lot about 10:30 AM this morning and drove a short distance to the municipal sani-dump station where we dumped our black and grey waste tanks and refilled our freshwater tank. While Joanne was refilling the freshwater tank I opened up the hood of the truck to see if I could find out why the exhaust manifold began to “growl” yesterday. It was less than a year ago that I replaced the “factory” exhaust manifold ( for the second time ), with an aftermarket “superior” version.

This aftermarket exhaust manifold has two ports on the flange that connects the exhaust manifold to the turbocharger. The two small ports are for attachment of exhaust gas temperature sensors. My truck does not have an exhaust gas temperature gauge, so the ports have no sensors, and are simply plugged with little brass plugs screwed in. One of the plugs was missing. It must have vibrated loose and fallen out. The “growling” noise was exhaust being expelled through the little sensor port.

When we finished at the sani-dump station we drove across the street to the shopping mall with the supermarket, and shopped for groceries. We left 100 Mile House around 11:30 AM and continued north on Hwy. 97. About an hour later we arrived in Williams Lake. We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre, housed in the magnificent Pioneer Log Homes ( a.k.a. Timber Kings on TV ) building. Joanne collected information pamphlets and booklets for this trip, and some for next year’s trip on the Alaska Marine Highway ferries through the Inside Passage. I used the Visitor Centre’s computer to check e-mail, then got directions to an auto supply store nearby.

We drove to Chuck’s Auto Supplies. I used up about ten minutes of a clerk’s time explaining what I needed, and him searching his computer files for it. WOO-HOO … they had the exact little screw plug I needed ! Sixty-five cents ! I gobbled up ten minutes of staff time, and generated sixty-five cents of revenue for them. HA HA HA ! Sorry, fellas !

Next stop was Surplus Herby’s, just down the street from Chuck’s Auto Supplies. We both love shopping at Surplus Herby’s ! I needed dew worms for fishing. Then we just impulse shopped through their grocery section, buying interesting food items, mostly suitable for meals in the camper when far away from civilization … and supermarkets. After Surplus Herby’s I went to two truck supply specialty stores, but didn’t find what I was looking for. I finally decided I was wasting time looking for this item, so … we returned to the Visitor Centre at 2 PM and had a late lunch in their parking lot.

After lunch we left Williams Lake continuing north on Hwy. 97. We stopped at Extra Foods in Quesnel to refill with diesel, then went to the mall next door. I went into Total Pet to buy some canned cat food for Emma, while Joanne went into Dollar Tree to buy one item she forgot at home ; a travel water bottle for Ozzie. I finished buying the cat food then waited … < fume > … in the truck for her. She finally returned with … wait for it … < fume > … seven items ! The lady is incapable of buying just one item ! ! !

We left Quesnel about 5 PM and continued north on Hwy. 97. In less than half an hour we arrived at Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park. We drove through the park’s two campgrounds, Lakeside and Touring, and selected a site in the Touring campground. We took Ozzie for a long, leisurely walk through the campground, then I lit a campfire while Joanne prepared supper to be cooked on the fire. She prepared packets of beef and vegetables, and separate small packets of beets. I worked on my computer, sitting at the picnic table, while I cooked supper on the campfire.

AHHHHH … life is good !

Wednesday ; Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park to Hogsback Lake BCFSRS

Cloudy and cold, light rain briefly late in the evening. BRRRRR ! Awfully cold for June !

This morning I installed the exhaust manifold EGT sensor port plug, we refilled our freshwater tank at a water spigot in the campground, and left Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park about 11 AM. We continued north on Hwy. 97, arriving in Prince George about 12:30 PM. We refilled with diesel at the Superstore Fuel Bar, then had lunch in the camper, parked in the Superstore parking lot, before going into the store to shop for groceries.

This was our last opportunity to shop in a large supermarket, and Joanne wanted to stock up for our journey into the wilderness. While she went into Superstore to shop for groceries I napped in the camper with the animals. Inside the store she bumped into an old friend / previous neighbour from Riverside RV Park Resort. Mitch now works in Prince George. After the grocery shopping we drove to Wal-Mart and replenished supplies. Again … Prince George is the last opportunity for Wal-Martin’ before heading off into the northern BC wilderness.

< sigh > By the time we were finished at Wal-Mart, and leaving Prince George, it was 4 PM. We had spent three and a half hours in town, longer than I had anticipated. We headed west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16. Before reaching Vanderhoof we turned south off the highway and drove about ten miles or so down a series of back roads, to find the BC Forest Service Recreation Site at Hogsback Lake. We had been here once before, a year ago.

We arrived at Hogsback Lake around 5 PM. We had the small lakeshore campground all to ourselves. How nice ! Around 6 PM I prepared a campfire, then fished for awhile. Joanne prepared foil packets of potatoes and onions, and a small packet of mushrooms for me. Around 7 PM I began to cook steak and the foil packets of vegetables on the fire, and I continued to fish, until I caught what I thought was a small Rocky Mountain Whitefish. WOO-HOO … first fish of the year. DARN … a Whitefish that we don’t want to eat. I released it.

I misidentified the fish. Later in the evening I checked my BC fishing regulations book, to verify that was a Whitefish, because it looked different than the Whitefish I catch at home in the Similkameen River. DARN DARN DARN ! It was a small Kokanee Salmon, a type of freshwater lake locked small salmon. I had never caught one before, and now I have missed the opportunity to eat one ! DARN !

Thursday ; Hogsback Lake BCFSRS to Smithers, BC

Heavy rain overnight. Intermittent rain all day.

We left the Hogsback Lake remote wilderness campground shortly before noon, and drove about ten miles back to the highway. We were heading west again on Yellowhead Hwy. 16 shortly after noon. Through Fort Fraser and Fraser Lake, we stopped to have lunch at a rest area near Tintagel. After lunch we continued west to Burns Lake.

At Burns Lake we refilled with diesel, went to the municipal sani-dump station, dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank, refilled an empty propane tank at the nearby building supplies store, and bought paper towels at the grocery store. We were pulling out of Burns Lake at 4 PM, continuing west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16.

We reached Smithers around 6 PM. Smithers had a Safeway store, so we took ( another ) final opportunity to stock up on some groceries. We checked out the Visitor Centre to see if there was a viable overnight parking opportunity. There wasn’t. We drove about 9 km. / 6 miles north of town to a BC Forest Service Recreation Site hiking trailhead to Twin Falls, a local scenic attraction. We had boondocked here overnight a couple of years ago, and did so again tonight.

It was cold and raining when we arrived at this muddy parking lot around 7 PM. Days like today aren’t much fun ! We… including the animals … were tired, hungry, and cranky !

Friday ; Smithers to Moonlit Creek Rest Area north of Kitwancool, BC

Cold and raining early in the day, sunny and mild in the early afternoon, intermittent light rain in late afternoon and evening.

We left the parking lot of Twin Falls trailhead around 11 AM, drove back down the mountain to Smithers, then continued west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16. While in Smithers, where there was cell phone service, I phoned my doctor’s office and made an appointment for early July, shortly after our return. That may have been our last cell phone service availability until we reach Watson Lake in the Yukon.

When we reached Ross Lake Provincial Park, a day use park, with picnic tables and a fishing dock, we stopped for an early lunch. I fished for about half an hour, catching nothing. While I fished, Joanne and Ozzie played and romped on the fishing dock. Ozzie was in very high spirits. How very different from being on “BoNoGo” docks with “fearless” Bo. HA HA HA !

When we reached New Hazelton we stopped at the Visitor Information Centre sani-dump station to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater tank. We both went inside the Visitor Centre and while Joanne browsed travel information booklets I used their computer to check e-mail.

WOO-HOO ! West of New Hazelton we finally reached Cassiar Hwy. 37 ! We turned north and immediately were at the “rez” village of Kitwanga. We drove through the village, asked a couple of old guys for directions ( to supplement / verify the directions we already had ), then set off to find Keynton Lake BC Forest Service Recreation Site. I wanted to fish for Cutthroat Trout there. We travelled about 20 km. / 12½ miles up Kitwanga Backroad ( that was its name ! ) Forest Service Road looking for Keynton Lake. It was a rutted mud road, and the last few miles were extremely difficult. Finally I reached a section of road that was impassable to a large, heavy rig like ours, and was forced to turn back. < sigh >

We returned to Kitwanga. I refilled with diesel at Petro-Canada on the highway, then we drove into a different section of the village and found the old Anglican church with the wood bell tower, and the long row of extremely old totem poles. After taking some photos ( and visiting with a friendly rez dog that came over to visit ) we continued north on Cassiar Hwy. 37.

At the next village, Kitwancool, we drove into the village to view another collection of extremely old totem poles, made famous by the Canadian painter Emily Carr’s paintings of these totem poles almost a hundred years ago.

We stopped for the night at 6 PM, at Moonlit Creek Rest Area. While Joanne prepared supper I went fly fishing in Moonlit Creek. What a lovely fly fishing spot. But … this early in the spring the creek was flowing very fast, too fast at that location for fish to be feeding. No fresh fish for supper tonight. Had to settle for perogies. HA HA HA !

We viewed bears three times today. The first two scampered off into the forest as soon as we saw them, but the third one was less shy. It stayed where it was, on a wooded slope on the side of the road, flipping rocks over and looking underneath them for things to eat. All three of them seemed slightly small, so were probably yearlings.

Saturday ; Moonlit Creek to Clements Lake BC Forest Service Recreation Site

Mix of sun and clouds, cool temperatures, intermittent light rain. I surely would like some sunshine and warmth on this trip !

We left the Moonlit Creek Rest Area at 11 AM this morning and continued north on Cassiar Hwy. 37. We stopped to check out two more BCFS “remote wilderness campgrounds” as we drove north. The first one was Bonus Lake, right beside the highway. The second was Jigsaw Lake, 10 km. / 6 miles up a very rough Forest Service Road. I gave up after one kilometre, turned around ( seven point turn … Joanne counted … HA HA HA ) and returned to the highway.

We stopped to check out the Meziadin Lake Provincial Park campground and while in the provincial park we refilled our freshwater tank. The mosquitoes were severe ! At Meziadin Junction ( Cassiar Hwy. 37 and Hwy. 37A ) we stopped at the fuel station and adjacent restaurant to inquire about the use of their sani-dump station ( ten bucks ! ) and Wi-Fi ( seven bucks ! ! ! ). Cassiar Hwy. 37 continues north from here, and Hwy. 37A turns west and leads to Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska. We turned west and soon stopped at a chain-up pullout area to have lunch.

After lunch we continued west. The road followed the Bear River, in the narrow, steep walled Bear Valley. There was a scenic viewpoint at the Bear Glacier. WOW ! Around 3 PM we stopped at a BC Forest Service Recreation Site about a kilometre off the highway, on Clements Lake. Lovely, small lake, no fish apparently. Scenic but muddy camping area with just a few campsites. We had the place to ourselves until suppertime when a couple in a van from Washington showed up.

We are well situated for tomorrow, a day of exploring nearby Stewart, BC, and the adjacent town of Hyder, Alaska, then we’ll drive to the Salmon Glacier.

When I took Ozzie out for his bedtime walk ( at 9:30 PM ) Emma wanted to go outside as well. How unusual ! We went for a long walk ( by cat standards ) on Ore Mountain Road.

DSK