Waking up in the crowded RV park at Kitwanga was not as bad as we thought. Everyone seemed to be wanting to hit the road early and were quite courteous and quiet as they were packing up. We weren't hearing a lot of slamming doors or shouting or vehicles idling.
Instead, people were walking around their rigs quietly stowing items away and getting ready to hit the road. I watched out the window as people were carefully shutting their compartments gently with two hands instead of giving it a slam. It was pretty interesting to see such thoughtfulness at 7:00 a.m. as they were getting ready to hit the road.
By 9:00 a.m. almost everybody around us was gone! We were getting together our bearings and sipping a second cup of coffee. I decided to cook up some breakfast... One of our favorites.
I make French toast but I add cinnamon and vanilla to the batter. Then I fry them with the liberal amount of oil on the pan. So the edges of the bread are actually "crunchy". Drizzled with a little bit of maple syrup from Canada, and a couple dabs of Wisconsin butter, it made a very delicious breakfast.
After we cleaned up and I did the dishes, we looked around and almost every campsite was just about empty. Folks had moved on in their journeys, and we will too.
Thank you Kitwanga RV Park for a good night's rest even though it was a crowded park. We enjoyed your electricity to keep ourselves cool overnight.
We were sad to end our route along the Cassiar Highway. We are now turning to the east and we are going to be on the Yellowhead Highway.
The terrain is still beautiful, and we had a really beautiful blue sky day to travel with. We noticed less mountains and more rolling hills. A lot of the terrain is looking almost like Wisconsin! Can you tell we are thinking of home?
We made it as far as Smithers BC and Steve had something in his mind... He wanted to stop at this Canadian Tire store. They're kind of like a farm and home type chain in Canada, similar to the Fleet Farm Stores of the Midwest. Or maybe like a smaller version of Home Depot or Lowe's.
Steve had looked something up online and it said they had it in stock. So we hoofed it on into the store to buzz through and see if we could find it. On the video link below, you can see how fast Steve zoomed through the store and how I had to practically run to keep up with him.
Yup... He found what he was looking for!
He hugged it tight to his chest, like it was a prized possession. It's not too often he decides that he wants to buy something. So if he was happy hugging this box, that's good with me too.
What was it?
A PROPANE TREE
I will explain more about that later after he actually puts it to use. You'll just have to stay tuned for another blog to see when he's really going to use it.
Now that my man got his tool gadget fix, it was time to get back on the road again.
We could see mountains off in the distance, and it was a perfect day to put some miles under our tires and outrun the wildfire smoke that we were seeing to the west. It wasn't by us... Yet.
We drove another hundred miles or so, and looked ahead on the internet for a campground. Imagine our surprise to see a city by the name of Burns Lake showing that they had a FREE city campground!
It didn't have hookups, but the temperatures were not too bad today. It was only in the high 70s and there was very low humidity. We would not need electrical hookups overnight. So we drove on in and made ourselves at home.
We pulled down to the end of a row of sites. Each one had its own picnic table. It was level and shaded. We got set up and decided to make some lunch. We had taken Nick out to walk him around a little bit, and then we decided to check out what else the park had to offer.
There was a pleasant little boat landing with some birds and baby ducks floating around. Off in the distance you could see the rolling hills and the puffy clouds. A few of them looked dark that perhaps might contains some raindrops. But there were no storms or heavy winds forecast for the next 24 hours. This looks like it would be a great place to spend the night.
Beyond the boat landing was a really nice play area for children, grassy area for picnicking, and ample parking that was separate from the campground area.
There was a "kayak o mat" that you could go online and pay to rent a kayak. Then they would give you a code that you could use to unlock the particular kayak you rented. What a wonderful idea.
When you are done, you put it back into its proper slot and lock it up again, and they know that it's been returned. Otherwise your credit card will be charged for the cost of the kayak and the paddle! We have seen these now at a few different Alberta municipal parks. I think it's a really good idea.
This was a really neat swimming area with a slide right off the dock into the water. We could hear children having fun with shouts and laughter coming through the trees. It was a good family park. Or so we thought.
We took a nice afternoon nap, and then proceeded to start to get dinner going. It was nice to have the door open and have the fresh freezes blowing in through the motorhome.
A few other campers joined us down the line. In all I think there were five of us in a row.
As I started to cook dinner, that's when things went awry. A young man, obviously inebriated, not in control of himself, decided to sit down right on our picnic table in our campsite!
He was mumbling and swearing and arguing with some invisible person in his mind. He would lean over and alternating spit and then vomit on the ground next to our table.
(This was right outside of our camper door, I took this photo from inside)
From time to time, he would alternate his vomiting or spitting along with swigs from this bottle of what I think is vodka.
It definitely was not pleasant. We could hear him verbally arguing with the demons in his head. We were not about to engage in any type of contact with him whatsoever.
We called the non-emergency number of the Canadian Royal Mountain Police who service the area. They came to speak to him, and as they conversed with him, he was nodding his head and fully understanding what they were saying. And then they let him walk away right back over to our picnic table again! He sat right down and started spitting on the ground again!!!
The officers began to drive away. Steve got right back on the phone and called them again. The dispatch patched the call through to the officers, and they said that there was no disturbance so they weren't going to do anything about it. We said we could not even leave our camper to let the dog out to go to the bathroom because he is sitting within 5 ft of our door!
The officers came back a second time and Steve went out our driver's door to go and talk with them. They said he is a "known individual" and there really isn't anything they can do, because it's a FREE public place.
Yes, this free campsite meant that he could come and sit on our table and do what he wanted with his puking and his spitting, and it was okay to drink alcohol in the city park. They said there was no reason to detain him or to make him move on. We would just have to deal with it.
Poor Nick wanted to go outside and go potty....
So we packed it up and pulled in our slides and decided to drive away.
It's a shame that Burns Lake has put up this beautiful facility and family-friendly park, and it seems to have attracted people who are sorely in need of help or guidance or rehab.
We had also seen two other "shady people" suddenly scatter when the officers entered the parking area, behind our campsite and off on a trail through the woods. One of them was carrying a large knife like a machete style. He took it out from a sheath on his back and carried it as he slunk off into the woods. That was enough for us.
So we moved on.
That's what's nice about having an RV. It has wheels. We can move away from places that we feel are less desirable.
It is now about 8:30 at night. We looked at the maps and found there was another municipal campground in the town of Fraser Lake about 45 minutes away. We set it into our GPS and headed out on the highway. Goodbye Burns Lake.
We drove along as the sun was setting. It was really looking very pretty. But there was no time to stop and take photos. We wanted to get to the next campground to get set up before dark.
We made it to the community of Fraser Lake, and easily found our way to the White Swan RV Park. Guess what? This is also a municipal park that is also FREE!!!
We pulled in and found our way through the picnic area and over towards the campsites. I had just enough time to snap this one photo before I had to help Steve find a campsite and help get set up. I think we missed a fantastic sunset!!
We found the free campsites. They were all level and nice and in a row. The front ones, about 10 sites, were all pull throughs and already occupied. The four rear sites were back-in types, and were all empty. So we found a site, backed on in, and said "GOOD NIGHT"!
We knew when we pulled in that we were right next to a train track. One train went through during the night. It wasn't that loud, but we did notice it.
For FREE, we weren't going to complain one bit.
The next morning, I snapped this pic of how close the train was. I put a segment on the video clip down below.
We woke up to sunshine and blue skies!!! (and no smoke) Ahhhhhh
No mosquitoes and comfortable temps... With a beautiful view out of the front windshield.
All of the other rvs in the front row left ... Vamoose and hit the road. We hung out a bit and made some breakfast.
This really is a very very nice park. The lake stretches out in front of all of the campsites so everybody has the same view. There is a large community fire pit with benches around, that we can assume becomes a nice place to visit and meet people in the evenings.
The picnic area that we drove through seems to be very well kept and has some large fields maybe for sports. We didn't check out the actual facilities for bathrooms or anything, because we have our own. But I am sure everything is pretty much up to snuff.
Even the four back in sites that we were at seemed to have a little bit of a slope at the beginning, but as you backed in deeper they leveled out. Each campsite had a concrete patio and a very heavy stone/concrete type table and benches. This was a very nice, well thought out, well made campground. I just can't believe it's all FREE!!!
There's a nice little sign, partially hidden by some shrubbery, that asks that you please only stay two nights.
Thank you Frasier Lake Municipal Campground... We really enjoyed our stay overnight.
Steve's cell phone was having some issues, so we decided to contact customer support and deal with that while we were settled in one spot. Much easier to do sitting stationary then trying to talk as we were going down the road and have the calls drop out. It took quite a while and I must say, the team that was working on his problem really took it seriously and kept contacting us back each time as promised.
This phone is from Visible and they get their cell service through Verizon.
They followed up with emails and escalated his situation to the next level up. We were still having issues and we really couldn't resolve them unless they shipped us a new SIM card. We didn't want to do that while we were on the road. So we let them deal with it further for the next couple days and said we are going to shut down now and hit the road ourselves.
We have my cell phone which is through a different carrier. So we were okay to continue without his actually being operational cellular-wise. He could still use it through the Starlink as data and make Wi-Fi calls if he needed to.
We will deal with that another day... Time to get traveling again!
Here is the YouTube that goes along with today's blog:
We woke up early and Hyder, Alaska. We know it's going to get hot later on in the day. We felt that we better get a start on our traveling before the temps start jumping up.
The Eagle Shadow Campground in Hyder was a pleasant spot to stay for the night. They even had a cute little gift shop that I was able to pick up a few things, including some homemade jam from their daughter.
We packed up and headed towards town. We thought perhaps if we went over by the harbor one more time, we might be able to see another orca?
It was also a great spot to stop and make some breakfast... We drove on out into the harbor of the Portland Canal. The tide was out and it looked totally different than when we were there yesterday.
What a great view from our
Winnebago View!
As we sat, sipping our cups of coffee, we were looking out at views like this. You sure can't beat it for atmosphere, can you?
I'm really hesitant to leave today. I feel like I would like to stay longer in Hyder and explore the area more. I feel a bond with this place. I am not sure why. Everything I look at almost seems familiar in my eyes, though I've never been here before. It is "comfortable".
We could hear the birds calling, and I could see why they built the walking pier all through the area where Portland City used to be. What a great area for birdwatchers. It was early enough in the morning that we could open up all of the windows and have the fresh salty air blowing in as we started making our breakfast.
A slight mist was rolling off the surface of the water. It was calm and peaceful. I think the temperature difference between the ocean water and the humid air was creating its own little misty clouds on the surface.
Every now and then a little waft of breeze would blow and fluff the clouds up off the surface of the water. It was like the ocean was making its own clouds. Imagine that?
Sadly, we didn't see any orcas. But the water was smooth as glass which I think is a really unusual circumstance here. As the tide was flowing out, the calmness left behind was in its own way peaceful. Like after a storm.
I think this is one of my favorite photos below.
I really like seeing the terrain that is hiding underneath the water when the tide goes out. I think I mentioned this back when we were out at Homer on The Spit. It's like seeing the secret underworld that only the fish get to see. It's giving us a glimpse of life underwater when the tide rolls it back to expose it to the open sky.
We watched some of the wispy clouds move up and over the mountains. There was a slight breeze and it looked to be a beautiful day. But the weathermen were saying it was going to be muggy in the high '80s. That just didn't seem comfortable to us. So yes, I guess it was time to move on.
Sadly, we drove out of Hyder towards the border. This is all that marks the international border between the United States and Canada, besides the actual border crossing office.
A very pleasant young man just asked us one or two questions. He handed us back our passports and told us to have a wonderful trip. This is probably the easiest border crossing we have ever done!
Once we got over onto the British Columbia side, there was a welcome sign. But there wasn't a spot for a "sticker board" like at many of the other borders into and out of British Columbia. So we didn't put a sticker anywhere. But we know we were there. I guess we didn't need a sticker to commemorate that.
As we drove upwards into Stewart, British Columbia, There was one more stop I wanted to make. I had seen this beautiful jacket yesterday and decided that yes, I wanted it. It was a woven wool blend jacket that isn't garish or loud like some of the other Northern Themed jackets I had seen in various shops. I liked the soft muted colors, they reminded me of things that we have seen in Alaska...
The soft peachy color of the spawning salmon.
The beige tan color of the great grizzly.
The dark black of the smaller black bears.
The browns of the moose and the caribou.
And the soft grays of the rabbits...
Perfect to match with the very comfortable gray rabbit fur mukluks I bought in Alaska.
This wasn't just an article of clothing, it was going to be a souvenir for me. And it just happened to be in my size!
I love the little leather emblem on the front, not too big. It depicts two of my favorite towns that we had seen on this entire trip. Stewart BC and Hyder AK.
I love how beautifully it's woven together and the fibers are surface combed to a soft luscious texture.
This is going to be a coat for me to wear for many years. I like the firmly buttoned cuffs that will keep the air out when I ride on the e-bike. I like the nice deep pockets, and the thick heavy warmth of this jacket. It will be perfect for this fall! And maybe even worn in the winter months with a sweater underneath.
After I picked that up, and a few other groceries at the little grocery shop next door, it was time to really hit the road. We had lollygagged around all morning out at the harbor hoping to see another orca. But we really should get on the road because it looked like the temperatures were going to get horribly hot inland. They were looking in the high '80s and low '90s. Ugh!
We started back on the Glacier Highway up through Bear Canyon. There was some road work going on. We had seen this on the way down and Steve was really interested in the process. So I tried to film the whole thing. On the way down it got goofed up. So now on the way back I videoed the entire process and it is on the video link down below.
Steve figured out that it was much too far for them to haul dump trucks full of hot asphalt to get into such a narrow small road with very little access. Instead their machinery actually cooks up the asphalt right then and there on the road itself. There are large propane tanks on some of the machinery that heat up the ingredients that create the asphalt. It is mixed up right there on the prepared road surface, and channeled down onto the dirt in lumpy strips. Then other machinery comes over and spreads it smooth and finally a roller at the end to get a perfectly flat surface. Then they even get the stripes painted on it before they are done!
The one thing we noticed in British Columbia that was this absolutely adorable sign after you are inconvenienced by driving through their horrible road construction. Look what those nice Canadian people do? They put up a "thank you" sign!
Much better than a sign that just says "End Construction" like we have in the United States.
We drove on a little further through Bear Canyon. I was really excited to see Bear Glacier from my side of the vehicle! On the way down I was trying to snap photos through Steve's side. That's rather difficult when he's concentrating on intricate driving maneuvers through road construction. It just happened that the road construction work was going on just about the area where the glacier was. So we only had a small amount of time to get through and then keep following the pilot car. We pulled off a little bit, as much as we could, and snap snap snap a few photos. I was so glad with my long distance lens that I could pull in the features of the glacier...
Just look at that!
It's sad to know how rapidly they are receding, and it's really messing up the balance between winter and summer. So much climate change and global warming has dried up a lot of Canada. Without sufficient snow melt and rainfall, the wildfires and smoke are taking their toll on everybody.
The waters from the melting ice of what's called the "toe" of the glacier and fill this lake down below. Only a short 100 years ago there was no lake. The glacier extended completely across the valley. There was no road, and the only way to travel through here was by dog sled or ice cleats on your boots.
I'm glad that we got to see a glacier up this close. I wonder if by the time my grandchildren are as old as we are, will they travel to Alaska? Will they be able to see any glaciers?
At this point, so close to the ocean, the rivers were raging from the past 4 or 5 days of rain. We stopped by this little creek to admire the view and watch the turbulent water churning it's way down over the rocks.
We got back on the road and soon made it past the road construction. The canyon walls were absolutely gorgeous. On the way in we had some rain, but now on the way out, we had some really pretty weather. The dark textures of the rocks stood out in contrast against all of the soft greens of the trees and shrubbery.
Up ahead, as our view cleared some of the trees, we could see the beautiful mountains in the distance. Sad to say though, the telephone lines had to spoil my photo. I don't do any Photoshop or retouching of my photos to remove something like that. So I guess it is what it is. Telephone lines and power poles just have to be part of the scenery. Sorry!
One area we had come across were five different waterfalls crashing down this huge embankment of mountains and rocks. We had driven straight towards them and then took a quick right which then we could follow along the entire bank. It really was very pretty. It is also on the video link down below.
Like I already mentioned, with all of the rainfall, the rivers seem to be at their highest. Their flow was crashing and churning against the banks and overflowing in some areas. The light flickering across the top surface messed with the camera settings and white balance for proper exposure. But I think the effect was really cool even if it wasn't metered properly within the camera settings.
After we turned the corner to drive along the row of waterfalls, I leaned back to take one more picture as we left this beautiful canyon. I'm not sure when I will come this way again.
The ice in the crevices might be left over from during the winter, or maybe it's from the fresh snow that they had just got in a short time ago. I am not sure. But it makes a beautiful striking contrast to the rocks and the moss and the trees around it.
We were very fortunate to have a blue sky day, and this interesting streak of clouds I think was formed from the rising mists and vapors hitting the hot UV of the sun overhead.
It really made for some interesting cloud formations across the sky. But the temperatures were climbing and we knew the further we got up in the mountains, the cooler it might be.
We worked our way back out of the Glacier Highway and back onto the Cassiar. It was time to head further south and hopefully find a campground with electrical hookups.
By this time it was getting pretty hot. We had the dash air on in the motorhome but we also had started the generator and ran the rooftop air from the camping portion to supplement the dash AC. The dog is normally riding on the love seat and we also would like to keep it comfortable in the rear portion. That way, when we stop, the roof air isn't having to work so hard to cool everything down again.
We drove on down the rest of the Cassiar Highway until we reached the town of Kitwanga. Sadly, this is the end of the Cassiar. We will now be joining the Yellowhead Highway. Things are appearing much more populated and definitely more chain stores and billboards dotting the landscape. Gone is the remote and wild British Columbia terrain. Now we will be looking at alternating rural and urban stretches along a busy highway.
We were extremely fortunate to find an electric hookup campsite at the Kitwanga River RV Park. The temp was at 88° and it was humid and it was not pleasant to be boondocking.
We pulled in and got one of their sites up on the top of the hill. There were other sites down below that were closer to the town that were full hookups. The ones up on the hill were electric and water. That was fine with us, there were trees overhead to shade us from the blistering heat.
Yep, it was close quarters for sure. But that was okay, just about everyone was staying inside of their rigs in their air conditioning. So I guess it really didn't matter how close together we were parked. But it really didn't give us much of a view out our front windshield now did it?
But I'm not complaining. Not really. Off to one side we had a beautiful view of a mountain. Nobody came and camped in that site overnight, so we had a nice view out of our side and rear windows. So it wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound. We really needed the electrical hookup, and that made it worth it.
Zooming in with my camera, look at all that beautiful cold ice on top of those mountains. I would really like to have a breeze blowing down on me into the valley from those snowy ridges.
Even Nick looked like he was ready to melt off of the love seat and slide down onto the floor. But actually, it was 72° inside when we stopped.
Steve did manage to set up the grill and cook outside on the picnic table. That was much better than having to cook indoors and raise the temperature anymore than it needed to be.
We settled in for the night, and we were thankful that we had this little campsite to pull into.
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