Sunday
; Emma the Yuma cat’s glacial adventure ; Clements Lake to
Stewart, BC to Hyder, Alaska to Salmon Glacier ( & return )
Overcast, cool, intermittent
light rain. BAH … HUMBUG ! Note to self ; NEVER live in a
rainforest !
This
morning we left the Clements Lake BCFSRS and drove about 16 km. / 10
miles west on
Glacier Hwy. 37A to
the small town of Stewart, BC. Stewart
is located at the end of the Portland Canal, a long fjord leading
inland from the Inside Passage along the West Coast. The Portland
Canal also serves as the border between Canada and the “Panhandle”
of Alaska. In Stewart we first checked out the municipal campground,
then drove to the municipal sani-dump station where we dumped our
black and grey waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank.
Next
stop was the Visitor Information Centre. Joanne browsed for travel
planning information for next year’s Alaska Marine Highway
adventure. I asked the not very helpful young woman if there was
Wi-Fi available at the Visitor Centre. Her answer was “yes” but
she recommended I use the Wi-Fi at the cafe across the street. I
went across the street and attempted to get my weekly journal
uploaded to my blog, but … the Wi-Fi at the cafe was so poor that
after wasting a lot of time, I gave up and went back across the
street to use the Visitor Centre’s Wi-Fi. The unhelpful young lady
gave me their Wi-Fi access password, but … there was nowhere in the
Visitor Centre for me to sit and use Wi-Fi. I tried sitting outside
on a bench, but the mosquitoes were devouring me. I finally went
into the camper, and fortunately, the Visitor Centre’s Wi-Fi signal
reached into the camper and I was able to upload to my blog.
We
had lunch in the camper parked in front of the Visitor Centre, then
drove a very short distance from Stewart, BC across the border into
Hyder, Alaska. No U.S. Customs at that crossing. < shrug >
Not
much of a “town” ! We stopped at a seafood processing and sales
business but … it was inexplicably closed. The only explanation
seemed
to be
… well … < ahem > … they
were operating
… <
cough cough > … you
know … < whispering > … on
Indian
time
!
We
drove through town and onto Salmon Glacier Road … 40 km. / 25 miles
… all uphill … following
the Salmon River, leading
to the Salmon Glacier. We
stopped frequently along the road to take photos. At one point I
made a snowball, then … HA HA HA … put it beside Ozzie on his
bed in the back seat of the truck. He licked it for a long time as
we drove !
HA HA HA ! Joanne finally threw it out because it was melting and
making a large wet spot on Ozzie’s bed.
We reached the summit, took
more photos, then began driving back down. Between Hyder, Alaska and
Stewart, BC there was a Canada Customs checkpoint. Given that the
ONLY thing one could do after crossing into Alaska from Stewart was
to drive through the tiny Indigenous village of Hyder, then up the
mountain to the Salmon Glacier, the Canada Customs agent’s
questions seemed redundant and silly !
We drove east out of Stewart
on Glacier Hwy. 37A, back to the Clements Lake BCFSRS remote
wilderness campground where we boondocked last night, deciding to
spend a second night there. We arrived there about 6 PM, then went
for a long walk with Ozzie before it began to rain … all evening !
Monday
; Clements Lake BCFSRS to Kinaskin Lake Provincial Park
Overcast, chilly, and raining
until we arrived at Kinaskin Lake Provincial Park, then clearing and
warming slightly.
We were awake for quite awhile
in the middle of the night, probably for about an hour or so, dealing
with Emma’s distress. She was howling / caterwauling loudly, and
wouldn't stop. She wasn’t hungry. She didn't appear to be
suffering any physical pain or discomfort. She seemed … scared !
And she paid a lot of attention to the camper door, and … the fresh
air intake vent beside the catalytic infrared heater. I think she
smelled something outside that caused her great fear ! Perhaps a
bear nearby ?
So
… being up in the middle of the night for awhile
caused us to sleep late this morning. We
left Clements Lake BCFSRS just before noon. We drove east on Glacier
Hwy. 37A back towards Meziadin Junction. We stopped for a second
view of the very lovely Bear Glacier. At Meziadin Junction we
refilled our freshwater tank and refilled with diesel. YIKES ! A
hundred and eighteen bucks for half a tank ! ! !
We
left Meziadin Junction heading north again on Cassiar Hwy. 37. We
stopped at the first rest area we came to and had lunch. We
continued north, and stopped for the night at Kinaskin Lake
Provincial Park. What a lovely campground and lake. We went for a
long walk with Ozzie, then I tossed a fishing line into the lake from
the rear of our campsite. I
started a campfire, and cooked burgers on it. MMMMM … good supper
!
At
9 PM we went for another long walk with Ozzie. It began to rain
lightly again as we were walking.
Tuesday
; Kinaskin Lake Provincial Park to Sawmill Point BCFSRS on Dease
Lake
Raining and cool this morning
at Kinaskin Lake. No rain while we were driving. Rain resumed as
soon as we arrived at Sawmill Point. < sigh >
I was up early this morning,
at 7 AM. Why ? To catch a Rainbow Trout ! I also caught a
Cutthroat Tout, but … < sigh > … it fell off the hook while
I was holding it and untangling my fishing line. So … the
Cutthroat remains in Kinaskin Lake. The Rainbow is tomorrow’s
supper !
We
left Kinaskin Lake Provincial Park this morning around 10:30 AM. We
continued north on Cassiar Hwy. 37. Kinaskin Lake Provincial Park is
about the midpoint of the Cassiar. When
the road crossed the Stikine River we stopped on the north side of
the bridge so that I could fish in the mighty Stikine.
In
two days a four day Tahltan music festival begins at this site, the
traditional salmon fishing spot of the Tahltan First Nation.
However, at this time of the year, with no salmon in the river, and
the river flowing extremely high and fast, there were no fish to be
caught. At least not today, not by me ! While I fished for half an
hour, Joanne and Ozzie explored the black sandy beach shoreline area
of the Stikine River. Once again, Ozzie was in very high spirits, as
he has been for most of this trip. He’s really enjoying himself !
We
had lunch then continued north.
We
checked out the Morchuea Lake BC Forest Service Recreation Site
remote wilderness campground. At the village of Dease Lake we
refilled with diesel … ( a hundred and six bucks for less than half
a tank ! ! ! ) … refilled our freshwater tank, and bought a gallon
of milk. Shortly after leaving the village of Dease Lake we
encountered a female California Quail herding her brood of about a
dozen teensy babies across the highway.
We stopped to enjoy the spectacle. HA HA HA … harder than herding
cats ! Our Sibley bird book shows the range of the California Quail
to be nowhere near this far north !
We
stopped for the night at the Sawmill Point BCFSRS remote wilderness
campground on Dease Lake. When we arrived around 4 PM we had the
lovely lakeside campground all to ourselves. But around suppertime a
few more rigs arrived. While I prepared to fish Joanne and Ozzie
went exploring, then came back and invited me to join them to see
what they had discovered while wandering around the campground and
shoreline. Our
exploring and fishing were cut short by the return of rain.
Wednesday
; Sawmill Point BCFSRS to French Creek BCFSRS on Dease River
Cold and raining all day until
suppertime, then … vicious mosquitoes !
WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! !
! Caught an Arctic Grayling early this morning. My first one …
sort of / maybe / probably. Two years ago on the way to the
Northwest Territories I caught two small fingerlings that might have
been Arctic Graylings, but … I’m not certain that’s what they
were. Today … there’s no doubt ! Look at that spectacular
dorsal sail fin !
We left Sawmill Point this
morning around 11 AM. We continued north on Cassiar Hwy. 37 until we
reached Jade City, a “Mom & Pop” jade mining business, and
the subject / stars of the Discovery Channel’s reality TV series
“Jade Fever”. “Mom” was inside their retail store and gave
us permission to refill our freshwater tank at a water spigot on one
of their rental cabins. “Pop” was outside showing tourists how
jade is cut with a huge power saw. “Mom” was encouraging her
customers to have a free cup of coffee or tea, so I had a wonderful
cup of Japanese Green Tea while we browsed their huge assortment of
jade merchandise. I wanted to buy a small Inukshuk made of jade, and
finally settled on a jade Inukshuk charm for a bracelet. I will use
it as a Christmas tree ornament. We have a collection of special
Christmas tree ornaments that are all mementos / memories of special
places we’ve visited. Joanne bought herself a lovely jade wedding
band ring.
After
shopping ( and a cup of tea ) we went to refill our freshwater tank
at a
water spigot on one
of their rental cabins. For the short time that we were refilling
the water tank … it rained heavily ! < sigh > The heavy
rain began as we began refilling, and it ended five or ten minutes
later as we finished refilling. Despite
wearing rain gear both
of us were soaked and cold ! < sigh >
A
few miles north of Jade City we turned west off the highway and drove
about ten km. / six miles or so up a mountain
to the abandoned asbestos
mining
ghost town of Cassiar. The
asbestos mine operations ceased in 1992. Now there are only some
crumbling buildings and a vehicle graveyard. On our way back down
the mountain we stopped on the side of the road and had a late lunch.
We continued north on Cassiar
Hwy. 37. As we were approaching a small bridge over a dry creek we
spotted a small herd of Thinhorn Mountain Sheep grazing in the dry
creek bed. There were a couple of females with babies, and a couple
of males. The largest male, and obviously the alpha male of the
herd, was wearing some manner of radio transmitter collar. The
world’s entire population of Thinhorn Mountain Sheep is contained
here within Northwestern BC.
When
we reached Boya Lake
Provincial
Park we drove around the campground but decided not to stay. We
drove a little further north and stopped for the night at French
Creek BC Forest Service Recreation Site, at
the confluence of French Creek and the Dease River. Dease River,
like all the rivers this far north, is flowing much too high and too
fast to allow for fishing from the shore.
For
supper I butterflied the Rainbow Trout I caught yesterday morning,
Joanne smeared
it
with
herbed cream cheese and then baked it. It was wonderful ! Emma
certainly enjoyed it !
Thursday
; French Creek / Dease River, BC to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory
Raining heavily this morning
at the campground. Rain diminishing as we drove. Sunny and mild at
Watson Lake.
We left the French Creek
BCFSRS remote wilderness campground this morning around 11:30 AM and
continued north on Cassiar Hwy. 37, until it ended at the Alaska
Highway, shortly after crossing from BC into the Yukon Territory. We
turned right and headed east on the Alaska Highway about 30 km. / 20
miles or so towards the city of Watson Lake. Just before reaching
the city we turned into Watson Lake Territorial Campground to check
it out, and have lunch.
After lunch we continued the
last few km. into town and found our way to the municipal park where
the town’s sani-dump station is located. We dumped our grey and
black waste tanks, but there was no freshwater fill. We drove to the
Visitor Information Centre where we found the potable / freshwater
refill spigot beside Watson Lake’s famous signpost forest. We
refilled our freshwater tank then drove across the street to the
large fuel station / grocery store / laundromat. While Joanne did a
lot of laundry I walked back across the street to the Visitor
Information Centre and used Wi-Fi to check e-mail.
After the laundry was finished
we drove to the grocery store in town, bought some groceries, and
refilled our five gallon water jug. We drove slowly through town,
from one end to the other, sightseeing ( so to speak ). We drove out
of town on the Alaska Highway ( the only road in or out of town ), a
few miles to the west, back to the Watson Lake Territorial
Campground.
By then it was after 6 PM. We
selected a lovely campsite, then went for a long walk with Ozzie
around the entire campground. I started a campfire, then cooked
supper on it. Pork chop for Joanne, lime and cilantro seasoned,
butterflied shrimp for me. MMMMM ! After Joanne washed dishes we
sat outside by the campfire. It had turned out to be a lovely
evening, clear sky, mild temperature. Best evening of the trip so
far !
Friday
; Watson Lake Territorial Campground
Sunny and warm.
After checking the weather
forecast yesterday, and seeing that today was going to be the only
nice weather day in the next five days or so, and after eleven
consecutive days of driving, I decided I deserved a day off !
I
did some preventive maintenance on the truck. I did some repair
maintenance on the camper. I did some “spring cleaning” in the
camper, reviewing and purging the “junk drawer”. I
chopped some firewood. We took long walks with Ozzie. I had a long
afternoon nap with the animals. And
we refilled our freshwater tank using my newly designed water refill
system, for use when we don’t have access to a threaded spigot to
attach a garden hose. This campground has a water spigot, but it is
not threaded. I recently bought a 1.5 gallon fuel container, with a
flexible nozzle. It worked perfectly as a freshwater
tank
refill system. We filled the fuel can at the non-threaded spigot,
then stuck the flexible nozzle of the fuel can
into the camper’s water fill spout and poured the water in. Eleven
times until
the camper’s freshwater tank was filled !
Which means we used about ( 11 x 1.5 = ) 16.5 gallons of water since
refilling yesterday. Pretty good ... I had been estimating that we
use about twenty gallons a day of freshwater, mostly
showering but also for dish washing and toilet flushing.
At suppertime I lit a
campfire. I baked potatoes on the fire, then grilled a thick, juicy
steak over the fire. After eating supper we sat around the campfire
until 9 PM, then went for our final long walk of the day.
Right now, this far north, it
is daylight until at least midnight. Land of the midnight sun !
Saturday
; Watson Lake, Yukon Territory to middle of nowhere near Liard
River, BC
Sunny
and very warm, temperature reaching 81º
F / 27º
C this afternoon, a really lovely day.
Viewed
a lot
of wildlife today ; five bison and four bears. And what a pleasant
change to view wildlife with calm, quiet Ozzie, as opposed to our
dearly departed wildlife viewing drama queen Bo. HA HA HA ! With
Bo, while I would be trying to take photos of wildlife out of the
truck’s windows, Joanne would be holding Bo’s muzzle shut and
trying to quiet and calm him. He was SOOOOO overreactive when
viewing wildlife. Ozzie just stares and blinks, remaining quiet
except for the sounds of him inhaling deeply, sniffing whatever is
out there. His vision is impaired. His sense of smell is not !
We
spent half the day running errands around the town of Watson Lake.
We left the Watson Lake Territorial Campground about 11 AM and drove
the few miles to town. First
stop was the Visitor Centre where we refilled the camper’s
freshwater tank. Then Wye Lake park, the municipal park where the
sani-dump station is located, to dump our grey and black waste
holding tanks. By then it was noon, as we had planned. The weekly
Farmer’s Market is in Wye Lake Park every Saturday starting at
noon. But … HMPH … there was only one vendor, and she was
selling nothing of interest to us ; Avon products and some overpriced
home baking. We asked her why she was the only vendor there ? She
said that today was the high school graduation ceremony at noon, and
everyone was there. HMPH !
Next
stop was the grocery store for a few items, then a drive about 12 km.
/ 7.5 miles north of town to the airport on the shores of Watson
Lake. I wanted to see the Watson Lake airport’s history display.
Watson Lake’s airport had a major role to play in the building of
the Alaska Highway and the transportation of American military
aircraft to the north during the second world war. After viewing the
history stories
and pictures displayed on the airport terminal’s walls, we drove a
very short distance across the airport’s grounds to have lunch
while parked on the shore of Watson Lake. While Joanne prepared
lunch I was preparing to fish … until Joanne reminded me that we
were in the Yukon Territory, not BC where I have a license to fish.
DUH !
After lunch we drove back into
town, to TAGS, the local “everything” business ; fuel, groceries,
laundromat, restaurant, motel, RV park, and who knows what else.
OOOOOPS … HEE HEE HEE ! We
just took Ozzie for his bedtime walk ( shortly after 9 PM ) and when
we turned a corner … HEE HEE HEE … we confronted a bison !
Better change our daily bison tally to six ! HA HA HA ! A bison
close encounter is scarier than a bear close encounter. I know how
bears are likely to behave, when and why. I have no idea what a
bison is likely to do ! HEE HEE HEE ! The big beast just glared at
us as we quickly backed away, then hustled back to the camper.
Anyways … back to TAGS. We
refilled with diesel at their extremely busy fuel pumps. But … they
did not have propane. They sent us to the local Petro-Canada for
propane. When we got to the Petro-Canada … oh, goody … they had
a car wash. While I lined up with the car wash … third vehicle in
line … and removed the empty propane tank from its compartment, a
very difficult task, Joanne went inside to inquire about propane.
She came back to tell me they were out of propane, and that I needed
to go inside to see the wardrobe of the counter clerk on duty. So …
I did. < blink blink > A young black woman, perhaps the only
one in the Yukon Territory … < snicker > … wearing … a
lacy white bra as a top … extremely short shorts / hot pants …
and some manner of a lacy sheer wedding dress like overlay. <
shrug > Welcome to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory … I guess !
We gave the truck and camper a
very quick rinse, just to get some of the thick layer of mud and dirt
off the rear door and windows of the camper, the truck’s running
boards, etc. Then we drove through the rest of town looking for a
source of propane. The Petro-Canada bimbo sent us to the Bumper To
Bumper auto supply and hardware store. They were closed. The
Superior Propane outlet next door was also closed. We squabbled
while reinstalling the empty tank back into the propane tank
compartment.
We left the town of Watson
Lake around 3 PM heading east on the Alaska Highway which crossed
from the Yukon Territory into British Columbia and back into the
Yukon six times before finally heading southeast, away from the
Yukon. We didn’t put many miles behind us today. We were stopping
frequently to view bears and bison. We wanted to view Smith River
Falls, and maybe I could try my luck fishing there at the base of the
falls, a tourist guide recommended fishing spot. We drove about 3
km. / 2 miles on an extremely rough dirt road, only to find once we
were there that the steep stairs leading down to the falls had been
burned away in a forest fire … eight years ago ! All that was left
was a steep and slippery trail down to the falls. It was far beyond
my capabilities ! < sigh > We turned around and drove very
slowly back to the highway. Well … that “adventure” was an
hour of my life that I’ll never get back !
Our next “adventure”
objective was Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park, but we didn’t
really want to arrive at the expensive provincial park campground
late in the day, so … we were keeping our eyes open for a
boondocking opportunity. When we saw a gravel road leading off the
highway and disappearing into the forest we wanted to take a look,
see where it goes. A short distance through the forest and it led to
… HUH ? A “grass” airstrip ? Fairly long, fairly well
groomed. Must be a firefighting service airstrip and camp. Seemed
like an excellent place to boondock overnight.
The close encounter with the
bison was just a bonus ! HA HA HA !
DSK
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