Week 155-156 - Bye, Bye, BC - 08-09-2009

So long Yukon, Bye Bye BC,

Our big adventure has been truly amazing. We can now answer the question we have been asked for three years. "What is your favorite place?" When driving to Alaska, Canada must precede and follow it. So the answer is CanAlaskaDa! These last two weeks have been our exit. We are excited to return to the lower 48 but at the same time, we already miss the beauty and freedom of the Northwest.

Arriving in the Yukon Territory for the last time. The border signs are as beautiful as the province.

Trees, mountains, lakes and rivers at every turn in the road.

Kluane Lake is Yukon's largest. Just across the lake is a great dry camping spot right on the road facing the lake.

We chose to travel seven more miles and we were rewarded with a site away from the road on Sulfur Lake. We are not sure why the name as the water was clear and had no odor. We found this spot by reading The Milepost (http://milepost.com) This must-have book tells you about every stop, sign board, RV park and everything else with exact mileage (and kilometers).

Once again our SOWER friends came from behind to meet us in Whitehorse, Yukon. This stop was along the Alcan between Whitehorse and the turn off to the Cassiar Highway.

Leaving the Yukon on the Cassiar Highway, we say Hello to BC.

The Cassiar Highway is 450 miles long from Watson Lake, Yukon to Kitwanga, BC. It varies during the summer season from 5 miles of gravel to 100's of miles. When we traveled it was in top shape with only one 12 mile stretch of paved/gravel patches. Still this is a slow going road where you are only going to average 35 miles per hour for the first 100 miles going south.

The beauty continues.

There are few stops on the Cassiar. A popular one is Jade City. The Princess Jade Mine 90 miles from Jade City accounts for 90% of the world's supply of jade. The store at Jade City has thousands of jade creations and they allow for free dry camping next door.

Our on again, off again meetings with our SOWER buddies ended at Bell II (town name is Bell 2) where "Pastor" John lead our morning worship service. We said our final goodbyes to Jay/Naomi and John/Rosie. Gary/Stephanie were behind us as they headed off on the Top of the World highway.

On the Bear River Highway headed to Hyder, Alaska.

The Bear River glacier.

We asked the Canadian road maintenance flagman what to see in Stewart. He said the "bears in Hyder, Alaska". As soon as you cross the Canadian border the pavement ends and you enter Hyder which is about one mile long and a population of 100.

Bears visit daily at Fish Creek. We got this picture of Monica. The park service named her for Bill Clinton's playmate.

Even in Hyder, "the mail must go through".

1) There are no American customs to get into Hyder. However, you must go through Canadian customs to get out. The only way into Hyder is through Stewart. And yet the Canadian customs agent asked "where are you coming from?". "Hmmmmmm, let me see, Hyder?" 2) Pete removes the Transit Wrap that we put on to avoid paint chips from the gravel roads. Once we got into Stewart, the roads were paved all the way home.

Services are few and far between in Alaska and Canada. There is fuel on the Cassiar and a few places to stay or park. There is no cell or WiFi service. It you have a problem, you get on your scooter and ride for help. And then help might take a few days. The Cassiar is no place to have a tire blowout. With over 50,000 miles on the Mothership we knew we needed new tires when we returned to the lower 48. Proverbs 16:9 says "A man's mind plans his way, but God directs his steps".

After passing through the Cassiar Mountains, we came within 10 miles of Smithers, BC. We just got cell reception a few miles ago. Bang! A rear tire blew out. We stopped to check it and then proceeded at 10 mph to a safe place, a BC rest stop. We called tire shops in Smithers but it was BC Day, a statutory holiday. But lo and behold, Susan answered the phone at Tatlow Tire Service. They were closed but they had a tire and would send Brad out in the morning.

So here we were stuck at a roadside stop. Stuck? "What, we have WiFi?". Yes, some unknown WiFi was available. So we had a joyful day in a beautiful setting looking at a glacier. We had food, generator power, cell and Internet. Praise God, what a difference a few miles makes.

1) Brad, out at 7 a.m. and putting on the new tire. 2) Pete with Susan, Sean and Brad. Besides the tire and service, Susan and Sean, the owners, gave us several pounds of Sean's own caught and smoked salmon. It was the best we had in all of Canada or Alaska. Thank you Lord for the blowout!

God is Good,

Be blessed, love Pete and Ellen

Photos from Aug 2009