<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Watson+Lake,+YT&daddr=Hyder,+AK,+United+States&geocode=FZmGlAMddCVU-CmjLLNbqVn7UzFT7qZgOA0Bjg%3BFZ08VQMdYO8_-Cn3MzfjhtELVDEMp4WY0khVAg&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=54.458255,-124.091367&sspn=14.717492,28.256836&ie=UTF8&ll=57.98867,-129.494115&spn=4.15342,1.57727&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=Watson+Lake,+YT&daddr=Hyder,+AK,+United+States&geocode=FZmGlAMddCVU-CmjLLNbqVn7UzFT7qZgOA0Bjg%3BFZ08VQMdYO8_-Cn3MzfjhtELVDEMp4WY0khVAg&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=54.458255,-124.091367&sspn=14.717492,28.256836&ie=UTF8&ll=57.98867,-129.494115&spn=4.15342,1.57727" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>
I started the day with high expectations. We were going to take the famous Cassiar Hwy from the top of BC through the interior of BC. All the way through our travels, people had been raving how spectacular this highway was going to be. Twisty roads, forest, mountains, plenty of wildlife. In fact, we were told to be careful because we could encounter moose around any corner. Okay, bring it on.
The first 25 kms reminded me of the Dempster Hwy, in that the road was elevated above the trees & relatively narrow. I'm thinking, sure it is paved, but this is scary stuff just the same. You don't want to go off the road here. It could really hurt....sound familiar? However, the road did get better as time went on. Eventually, the road flattened out so flying off into the bush wasn't a concern.
Grass began to cover the area between the trees & the road. As we rode on, a black bear stood up on his hind legs to watch us pass by. His head & upper body rotated with us. Cool! No, we didn't stop to take a picture. A few minutes later we rounded a corner & had to suddenly brake to a stop. There in the middle of the road was a young adult brown bear wondering around in a confused state. She sniffed at car & hardtop camper as it went by. Then she ( I'm guessing) turned her attention to us. Oh, great! She walked up to Peter & circled his bike. As she passed, Peter could have reached out & patted her head. That's how close she was to him. She sniffed around his bike much the same as a dog would trying to understand what it had encounter. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out a way to take a picture & yet still be able to escape if I had to. Then she starts heading towards me, so I scrap that idea. She wasn't at all aggressive; just confused by all these strange things. I too could have reached out & petted her head. She was a beautiful rusty brown. At the back of my bike she stopped briefly to sniff my tire. Oh no, not my tire! Please don't take a bite out of it. I decide enough is enough. I drop the bike into first gear & accelerate slowly away from her. Peter had read my mind & was on his way too. She just stood there & watched us leave. Huh!
In places there was definite evidence of a forest fire. The trees looked like burnt pipe cleaners, leaning every which way. Someone had mentioned that they had taken the Cassiar after the recent forest fire & that it was difficult to see & breath because of the smoke. Glad we missed that experience.
The winds picked up as we went through the of mountain passed. Freezing rain, hail & strong winds made the trip to Meziadin Junction miserable. The junction was our intended destination for the day, but in spite of what the book said, there wasn't anything there. Our only option was to continue to Stewart BC for the night. What's another 60 kms at this point?
On the way to Stewart we passed another glacier in the twilight. I made a promise to get a picture on the way out tomorrow. (There is only one road in & out). We got a room in the King Edward Motel without a problem. Well, there was one minor thing. We had to carry our stuff up a flight of stairs, but our room was at the top of the stairs. It didn't matter, we were just happy to have a dry, warm place to spend the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment