Part 7 of 7 … Please see parts 1,2,3,4,5, and six. Part #1 starts as of May 26th, 2009. You might have to go to the Archives to locate Parts 1, 2 or 3. Look in Sept for #1, October for 2 & 3, 2 may be hooked to the bottom of 3. I know, I’ll try to get it fixed. You might try this links it puts all the sections on one page :
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/canada-and-alaska/
This part of my Alaska-Canada trip will be the last part of my travels, so far it has been even better than I expected, maybe a little more rain than anticipated and not doing the two bigger hikes, Berg Mountain and the Kilkoot trail was disappointing. Over all it was an amazing, interesting, fun, tiring at times anda little lonely at times. More on that at the end, but for now let’s get onto Prince Rupert.
June 18th,
As I travel farther south I notice that the nights are now dark from about 12 am to 4 am. That makes for a lot better sleeping. Last night I pulled off the highway and really did get a good nights sleep, must be getting used to sleeping in a shorter bed, the mosquitoes were not bad here either. Up and on the road by 6 am and around 6:30 am I come to this building which seems to be the place to hang or place a sign. It is a sign of the times and economy, the building across the highway is for sale too.
A couple more miles down the road I come this small pond which had a very reflective view to it. Than a few more miles I come this larger reflective pond which the photo does not really show its magic. I sat around here for a while snacking and drinking in its magic.
Next I come to the small Indian town of Kitwanga at the junction of Highway 16. Here I can go either east to Prince George or west to Prince Rupert. After taking this photo of their church and the strange building next to it I go west towards Rupert. The highway follows the Skeena River all the way to Prince Rupert.
I arrive in Prince (Cloudy) Rupert around 3:30 pm and locate the tourist center. They have a wi-fi internet connection so set up and take care of some e-mails. After that I walk about the area a bit, but it is very crowded at that time as a Cruise Ship just docked and passengers were getting off to look around. I decided to go back up the highway and get a camp site at the State camp grounds that I passed on the way in.
After getting set up and having a bit of dinner I drove back into town. I tried to get on the internet by parking in front of the Information center which was closed now, but the connection was not on. Eagles were flying about town and tourist including me were trying to get a photo of them. It was a little hard with the dimming light and gray sky back ground, but I managed to grab few good photos.
Later I picked up a few supplies at the local Safeway store, located a car wash for tomorrow and headed back to the camp grounds in the rain. It continued to drizzle all night, but it was dark by 11am so I slept well again this time in my tent, dry and no mosquitoes. http://www.bellsalaska.com/prince_rupert.html
June 19th.
In the morning I went back into Prince Rupert and walked about town while it was not raining. I found the do it yourself car wash again and gave the Jeep a good cleaning. I asked about a full service car wash, but apparently they do not have one. Down by the docks again I took this photo of a small deer ( or reindeer) walking up the sidewalk across the street. The other photo is of Rupert’s main downtown street. After that I went to the library and used their internet connection.
It has been raining steady now for about 2 hours and I’m out of here. I going to head back towards Prince George, but first I stop at Port Edwards a very small town not far from Prince Rupert. There was Indian fishing (cannery) village a little ways out of Port Edward, but again I changed my mind, it now was pouring down rain. So I turned around, now I wish I hadn’t. Hind sight is always so damn good. http://web.mac.com/andrewcthamilton/iWeb/NPC/welcome.html Soon I was moving away from the rain. I stopped and took this photo of Skeena River again. ( I liked the cow on the right side). Stopped for a few minutes in Terrace for some photos and was able to get a cell phone connection so I called home, good to hear Anne’s voice and that everything was OK there. We all have seen the colored cows from a few years ago, Terrace had this Colored Bear.
I came upon this church kind of sitting along the road side, clean and white enjoying its own view. A couple minutes later I stopped and helped a lady change a tire and felt lucky it wasn’t my tire. That tire was hot, she had driving on it for several miles thinking she could get home, another 10 miles. Luckey she had a spare. The country side is changing to rolling hills and cattle land. I came through a small Indian town and saw this sad and shocking sign of young hitchhiking girls being murdered. At around 9 pm I took the photo of the old farm-house, I thought it looked best in sepia coloring. Once again I drove until about 10 pm and then pulled off the road and slept in the Jeep. Out of Rain now and a bit warmer too. Total miles traveled as of tonight 6,546.
June 20th,
Weather looks great and I’m on the road early looking for breakfast place, but first I come the a small museum at the edge of a town called Vanderhoof, because of the early hour, it is not open yet, but I stop and look around and take a few photos. Highway #16 runs from Prince Rupert BC, Canada to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and is called the Yellowhead Highway.
The Royal Bank of Canada building on the left, and a very interesting old road grader that was made to be pulled by horses. There were several other buildings and pieces of equipment. Next I had on my list to see was Fort St James first established in 1806 and headquarters for the Hudson’s Bay Post for the New Caledonia district. (Lewis and Clark were just getting back in 1806, {1803-1806}). It was only a few miles North of Vanderhoof.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/bc/stjames/index.aspx
Top Left “Hudson’s Bay Flag”, right “The Old Warehouse”, bottom left pelts of fox, coyote, wolf, bear and many others for display. On the right is a room that a hunter, traveler or fur trader might use for a night. This was a very interesting place and super nice people running and caring for it. After spending a couple hours there I wanted next to see Stuart Lake which was supposed to be a very beautiful lake and has a couple camp grounds near by. On the way I stop at Stuart River and the North West Mounted Police for pictures. No statue of Sargent Preston’s Dog, “Yukon King”
After driving about town for a few minutes I head for the camp grounds and I’m not disappointed in the beauty of the area. I was very lucky to find a campsite right on the lakes edge.
The rest of the day I just relaxed, cleaned up a bit, walked and drove to a few sites around town. Canadians are tough people, they were fishing, swimming, jet boating and water skiing on the lake. The water was cold to me and the temperature was only about 60 to 65 degrees. A light breeze keep the bugs away, Yea.
June 21st,
That was a very nice camp site, peaceful, quiet and very private, I really enjoyed my afternoon and morning there and all for $10.00. What a deal! On the way through Vanderhoof I stopped at a ”Tim Horton’s” for a quick breakfast, very much like a Mc Donald’s. I had the egg and sausage like McDonald’s breakfast, I like McDonald’s better. Tim Horton’s uses a fluffier muffin or biscuit and their sausage is a bit spicier, much more like Burger Kings. The photo of the rock, this is called the talking rock. The locals change the message from time to time, you can see other messages at this link. http://www.stuartnechako.ca/gallery/fort-st-james/The%20Talking%20Rock/ A few more miles down the road and I spotted a deer in a grassy field, I went over to the fence and started taking some pictures, when I noticed this Doe had a very young fawn hidden in the grass. She kept watching me take photos, but finally decided to move. I got back in Jeep and went to the next intersecting road and stopped watched her again. Now I spotted another doe get up from the grass and move about 15 feet and stopped and stared at me. The first photo is when the first doe started to move with her fawn behind her, the next one she was jumping over the grass. ( I call her the Kangaroo Deer ) and the third photo she is crossing the road ahead of me with her fawn. The fawn does not look like a happy camper. Next the second doe and I had a starring contest, she did not move for 15 or 20 minutes, stood there like she was frozen to the spot, she than started to turn her head back and forth looking at me than right and then left. This went on for another 10 or 15 minutes. She than moved back the 15 feet she first moved from and I could see a head of a fawn between her back legs nursing. She still didn’t move, just watched me. I was able to get another fair photo with the fawn near her front legs. I didn’t want to advance towards her and scare her with such a young baby. I’m guessing the baby fawn was born sometime during the night. Most of these deer photos were taken with my Zoom maxed out to about 300 mm.
A few hours later I at stop at an information site about Ft. Frazer and notice I’m being watched by these two beautiful work horses. I can now feel myself getting anxious to get home, only another day away if I step on it a bit. I am now on highway 99. I decided to take highway 99 because I liked the idea of coming by Whistler, north of Vancouver and not covering much of the same road I traveled on my first day from Vancouver to Hope.
The highway is now following the Frazer River and then the Lillooet River. Photo on the left is the Frazer and the photo on the right above is of the town of Lillooet. I stopped in Lillooet and gassed up and then continued to drive until about 8 pm. I then pulled off the road near the Lillooet River for my last night on the road. I have now traveled 7111 miles.
June 22nd,
Up early again and on the road to Pemberton at resort town for winter skiers and summer outdoor fans. I stopped for breakfast there at a small restaurant and it was very good. This a small town of about 2500 people nestled in the mountains not far from Whistler, Canada’s biggest West Coast Ski area and where the 2010 Olympics is going to be held. http://www.pemberton.ca/ The photo below is the Pemberton Lodge, and my last nights camp area. I continued south soaking up the beauty of the area. When I reached Whistler I could see they were working hard and fast to get things ready for the Olympics. I drove around for a short while in what I called Condo city, than continued on south. The photo on the bottom right below is from a sign explaining about Whistler, and with Whistler Mountain in the background. The Photo on the bottom left was taken from Pemberton, notice there is still snow on the mountain. http://www.whistler.com/about/
Soon I’m on the freeway heading towards Vancouver, but I make quick stop at Shannon Falls and then I pull into a boat a dock and get a photo of Horseshoe bay.
I find my way into Vancouver, stop and get gas with all the Canadian money I had left and then head for the border. The line at the Blaine crossing was only about 15 minutes long. Soon I was back in the Lower 48.
I now know my way home, straight south down I-5 and by about 7:30 pm I was home again in Beaverton, Oregon USA having a nice glass of wine with my lovely wife.
I traveled about 7700 miles, over 500 miles on gravel roads and I would do it again without thinking about it. My Jeep held up as if it were new ( but it really has over 115,000 miles on it ) and I quess that’s why we have owned three Jeeps in a row. So that’s my great adventure for 2009, I enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy reading and seeing some of it. I really hope it inspires some of you to think about a trip like this, it can be done in many ways other than I did. Alaska and Canada our friends to the north live in a beautiful part of the country. I only touched a small section of either one, so get you map out and start planning for a great adventure.
A few more thoughts later. Please drop me a note or write a comment. Thanks
