Fort St James

We departed Smithers at 8:30 AM in full sunshine and it remained a lovely day.  We drove 210 miles to Vanderhoof and sequestered the Winnebago at Dave's RV Park, made some sandwiches and headed for Fort St James in the Jeep.  Fort St James is situated at the east end of Stuart Lake and was the Capital of New Caledonia as the territory was known prior to becoming British Columbia in the mid 1800s.  This was fur trading central in the early 1800s and had a very active Hudson Bay Company store and warehouse which have now been restored and are staffed with people in period costume.

Stuart Lake

We enjoyed talking to Nicole who was staffing the Men's quarters and creating a beautiful bead work vest.  She invited me to try out the Fur Trader Recliner so I got her to pose for a photo of me in the recliner.  A recliner, a bottle of whiskey and a good woman.  What more does a fur trader need.

A Recliner, a Bottle of Whiskey and a Good Woman

Nicole in Front of Men's Quarters

They had a very interesting demonstration of hide tanning the way they did it back in the fur trading days.  

Hide Tanning Demo

Most of the buildings are from the fur trading days and have been restored and stocked with goods as they were in the late 1800s.  

Hudson Bay Company Warehouse

We ended the day back at Dave's RV Park taking care of chores and relaxing.

Smithers

Not far out of Prince Rupert the rain quit and the sun started to peak through the clouds.  After a stop in Terrace to fill our tank, at $5.44 a gallon, we continued on to the town of Smithers.  We settled the Winnebago in to the Glacier View Campground (yes we can actually see a glacier from our motorhome) we got in the Jeep and headed to Adam's Igloo Wildlife Museum.  Adam is a taxidermist who has mounted the plethora of North American wildlife he has on exhibit in the museum.  The museum was very interesting and speaking with Adam was even more interesting.  Well worth the stop.

Adam's Igloo Wildlife Museum

Our next stop was to the rapids of the Bulkley River at Moricetown where the members of the First Nation harvest salmon using gaff hooks and nets.

Bulkley Rapids

Salmon Gaffing

Salmon Netting

After a quick visit to downtown Smithers to purchase a new battery for Mary's watch we returned to the Winnebago for dinner and a bit of relaxation.

Our desire for sunshine may be coming to fruition.  Check out this sunset.

Sunset at Glacier View RV Park

Prince Rupert

On Monday morning, July 28th, we said goodbye to Alaska for the last time driving the two miles from our campsite at Camp Run-A-Muck to the Canadian Border.  We left in the rain.  We drove in the rain.  We arrived in Prince Rupert in the rain.  We went shopping in the rain.  We had dinner in the rain.  We went to sleep to the sound of the rain on the roof of the Winnebago and we awoke to the same sound.  Not a great introduction to this beautiful town.

We had breakfast and I took care of some obligations on the IInternet and we headed for the Museum of Northern British Columbia.  What a well done museum.  We saw a lot of information about the area, its history and the First Nations' people.  

Then we decided to head for Port Edward to have lunch and visit the Northern Cannery Museum. The brochure lead us to believe we would have a plethora of choices for where to have lunch.  Actually, there is only the coffee shop at the museum where you have a choice of Clam Chowder or Chicken Rice soup.  We settled in to enjoy our Clam Chowder and decide what other features of the museum we wanted to enjoy.  The tour they provided was actually quite informative and we had a great conversation with the museum curator. 

View from Northern Cannery

Northern Cannery

Northern Cannery

View from Cannery

Cannery Buildings

After our tour we headed back to Prince Rupert with our new friends Frank & Barbara from Smithers who needed a ride or they had to wait another two hours for a bus.  We enjoyed a glass of wine (the ladies) and a glass of Jamesons (the guys) with them in our Winnebago and got to know each other a bit better.  They were leaving on the morning ferry to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island to visit their daughter.

Later, Mary and I decided to check out Butze Rapids, a tidal rapids whose direction of flow reversed depending on the tide.  At a certain point on a rising tide the rapids begins to flow landward and then when the tide begins to fall it changes direction and flow seaward.

Mary on Butze Rapids Trail

Butze Rapids

We went to sleep to the sound of rain falling on the roof of the Winnebago.  We awoke to the same sound.  It was time to leave Prince Rupert in search of warmth and sunshine.

Hyder, Alaska

We had a more leisurely departure from Kiniskan Lake on Saturday morning.  The road south was some of the smoothest we have been on for a long time.  We drove through a pretty steady drizzle all the way to Stewart, British Columbia and into Hyder, Alaska.  On the way in we had a great view of Bear Glacier.

Bear Glacier

We filled up with gas in nice orderly Stewart before heading across the border to chaotic Hyder, Alaska.  Stewart is the larger town and commands the head of Portland Canal the inlet which reaches many miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Stewart, BC

Hyder, Alaska

After getting the Winnebago settled in to the Run-A-Muck RV Park we headed for the Fish Creek Bear viewing area.  They have a platform that runs along Fish Creek which allows people to view the Grizzly and Black Bear catching their salmon lunch in the stream.

Mary on Bear Viewing Platform

While the salmon run was really late again this year we were lucky enough to see a few bear looking for their salmon dinner.

A Very Black Female Grizzly

Male Grizzly

On Sunday morning we decided to take a look at Salmon Glacier about twenty miles north of Hyder on an interesting dirt road.  The views of Salmon Glacier are astounding as the road from which you view the glacier is way above it.

Salmon Glacier

Most people turn around at Salmon Glacier and go back to Hyder while we decided to continue our exploration further up the road.  Our reward was an excellent view of Brenendon Glacier and a good look at three very large Grizzly.

Brenendon Glacier

Three Large Grizzly

Nap Time for Mr Grizzly

On Monday morning I got up early and went back to Fish Creek to see if I could photograph any more Grizzly.  I didn't have to wait very long.  As I was getting out of the Jeep a ranger told me to hustle myself into the enclosure as there was a Grizzly coming down the road.  A few seconds later a big Grizzly walked right by where I had the Jeep parked.

Grizzly and Jeep

I did manage to get a few good shots of Mr Grizzly in the river a few minutes later.

Grizzly at the River

We had a great time in Hyder and really enjoyed our encounters with the Grizzly Bear but it was time to continue our adventure so at 8:30 AM on Monday morning we crossed the border back into Canada and headed for Prince Rupert for more discovery.

Kinaskan Lake

Our plan out of Watson Lake worked so well we left Dease Lake at 6:15 AM heading for Kinaskan Lake.  Today's drive at just under 80 miles found us in our campsite at Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park at 8:30 AM having breakfast.  The road from Dease Lake was in pretty good shape with only about 5 miles of dirt entering and leaving the Stikine River valley on 8% grades.

Dirt 8% Grades at Stikine River

One look at Kinaskan Lake confirmed the wisdom of our decision to spend a day and night here. The campground is very well maintained and we found a great site right on the water.

Kinaskan Lake

Winnebago at Kinaskan Camp Site

I enjoyed a few hours of casting in the lake for rainbow trout without any luck but having a great time. 

Jack Fishing in Kinaskan Lake

While I was fishing Mary spent her time photographing a local red squirrel who kept searching out camp site for a meal.

Red Squirrel Enjoying Lunch

After I was done fishing I was able to capture the squirrel enjoying the salad course of his meal.

Squirrel Eating Leaves

I also spent a little time photographing the numerous flowers in the area around our camp site.

Groundsell

Sitka Burnet

As the day wore on the colors of the sky and the surrounding mountains kept changing creating a variety of scenes.

Sky over Kinaskan Lake

We finished the evening with a beef stew cooked in our Dutch Oven over charcoal while we enjoyed a fine campfire.

Dease Lake

After hearing dire warnings about the condition of the Cassiar Highway just south of Watson Lake Mary and I decided to get an early start to miss the construction traffic.  We left Watson Lake at 5:15 AM on Thursday morning, July 24, and were rewarded with no traffic, construction or otherwise, no water trucks, no gravel trucks and a nice peaceful ride.  A second reward of leaving early was  a very large bull moose crossing the highway right in front of us.

Bull Moose on Cassiar Highway

As we continued south the scenery just kept getting more and more spectacular.  By now just an average snow capped mountain doesn't excite us, but, the scenery along the Cassiar Highway kept our attention.

View from the Winnebago on the Cassiar Highway

As the result of our early departure we arrived at the Dease Lake RV Park at 9:30 AM leaving us plenty of time to do our day trip to Telegraph Creek, a town from the mining days located on a dirt road 70 miles west of Dease Lake.  Telegraph Creek is located at the farthest navigable point on the Stikine River which enters the Pacific Ocean near Wrangell Alaska which made it suitable place to use as a staging point for gold rushers and goods heading into the mining country of the Yukon.  It was also a key station for the telegraph line running from Ashcroft, BC to Dawson City, YT.

The road to Telegraph Creek, while in pretty good condition, did have its ups and downs in the form of grades up to 20%.  Definitely not where we want to take the Winnebago.  

Telegraph Creek Road Climbing out of River Valley

The only wildlife we saw on this adventure was a female Ptarmigan on the side of the road.  She obviously like this spot because she was still there on our return.

Ptarmigan

We did manage to find a suitable picnic spot on the banks of the Tuya River.  This was just one more addition to the fine picnic sites Mary and I have enjoyed around the world over the years.

Mary at Tuya River

The Telegraph Creek Road runs through the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River offering some great views.

Grand Canyon of the Stikine River

At the end of the road you are at Telegraph Creek where there is not much activity.  A lot of the houses are unoccupied and becoming derelict.  The one interesting building is the local church from the old mining days.

Church in Telegraph Creek

We were back in Dease Lake at 5:00 PM and ready for a nice relaxing evening.

Atlin

Bright and early Monday morning we loaded cameras, lawn chairs and picnic lunch into the Jeep and began our adventure tour of Atlin Lake. The Atlin Road offers great views of Little Atlin Lake and Atlin Lake reaching the village of Atlin about 60 miles south of the Tagish Road. About 2/3 of the road is gravel but is very well maintained and easy to drive.

We stopped at a Mountain Goat viewing area and were surprised when the English lady we first met in Dawson City pulled in to the overlook. This was the third time we have talked to her on our adventure. We also saw them just south of Denali when we pulled into an overlook there. We have become old friends.

Atlin Lake

Atlin was created when gold was discovered in 1898 just east of town. The town of Discovery (now long gone) and Atlin had a population of over 10,000 gold seekers for a short time. Gold mining activity brought people and equipment to the area for many years and continues even today. The road to Atlin was not built until 1949 after the Alcan Highway gave them a reason to build it. Prior to that time all equipment and supplies were brought in from Carcross on Tagish and Atlin lakes by steamer in the summer and sled in the winter. The WP&YR built a rail portage between Tagish Lake and Atlin Lake to ferry goods and people across. The difficulty of getting equipment to Atlin meant that it all stayed there when the miners left providing a treasure of goods for the museum in Atlin.

Steam Shovel at Atlin Museum

Atlin is situated on the east shore of Atlin Lake and overlooks some of the finest scenery in North America.

View West from Atlin

A major historical feature of Atlin is the touist boat Tarahne which now stands proudly on the shore of Atlin Lake. The Tarahne carried tourist on the lake from 1917 through 1936 when the depression had its impact on tourism. In 1938 the Tarahne carried 6,209 passengers and in 1937 only 57 visitors came to Atlin.

The Tarahne

No visit to a mining town in the Northwest is complete without a visit to the local cemetery. You really get a sense of the times by reading the grave markers both by the young ages that people died but also from the comments on the markers.

Atlin Pioneer Cemetery

Alex Olson, Found Dead on Trail

We continued east from the cemetery to look at Pine Falls and then to check out the town site of Discovery. There was not much to look at in Discovery as this was predominantly a tent city and not much is left. However, Pine Falls was worth the stop.

Pine Falls

We then returned to Atlin and drove south on the Warm Bay Road for a look at LLewellyn Glacier.

Llewellyn Glacier

By now you know that no adventure of the Kantola's is complete without a good look at the wild flowers of the area. This adventure is no exception as we found some new flowers to add to our collection of photos.

Siberian Aster

Thoroughwax

Taraxacum Lacerum

Dwarf Fireweed

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed east on the Alaska Highway to Watson Lake to regroup, resupply and take care of chores before heading south on the Cassiar Highway.