Nelson, B.C. 456 km

It was a relatively uneventful ride back to Nelson from Kamloops. Mostly sunny with afternoon highs in the low 30s and high 20s. The bike performed very well over the past 10 days but we do have to remember to cover the rear backrest at night on rainy nights as rainwater seeps through the seams and sponges out on Norma’s back during the next day’s ride.

We accomplished what we had set out to do: ride the Cassiar Highway and visit some of the towns along the way. Stewart, B.C. is definitely worth a visit: the people are friendly and the scenery is spectacular (even in the rain). In fact, overall, the weather could have been better for our trip and in some ways it reminded us of what we experienced during our Alaska trip a few years ago. We did have some bug problems with the black flies being the biggest nuisance. We think the East Kootenays are still the mosquito champions of B.C.

After visiting one does appreciate the isolation of some of the communities in the the vast boreal forest covering Northern B.C. We covered in excess of 4200 km to attest to that.

All in all we can consider ourselves fortunate to still able to safely tour 2 up and see more of our province from a motorcycle saddle. With the COVID issues our only regret was we were unable to connect with Kidney March and Yuma friends in both Prince George and Kamloops. It wasn't worth the risk to us or them.

Kamloops, B.C. 510 km

Prophetic comments made regarding deer sightings in yesterday’s blog. We did not get too far out of PG early this morning when we came across a car that had just hit a large mule deer. The sedan, driven by a lady, was totalled and the deer was still dying. An oncoming car had already stopped to help so we did not. You better believe that woke us up right now! On deer alert for the rest of the morning.

The high temperature we encountered today was 30.5C. Luckily we had gotten an early start and when we arrived at 2:30 they allowed us into our air conditioned room. It is even warmer now. The cows must have been feeling the heat too as in two fields we saw them standing in the water holes up to their bellies. We plan to make an early start tomorrow to get mostly through the Okanagan before the temperature gets too high.

We had lunch in 100 Mile House and took some gear off, then stopped in Cache Creek to divest more. Norma even took her electric vest off! It is 15C and light rain in Stewart – we checked. Attached is a HWY Cam image to prove it. This has been one of the rainiest trips for us so far. Mind you the older we get the harder it is to remember them all. Alaska was pretty bad too.

We followed the muddy Fraser River for quite a ways today. There is an impressive amount of water flowing. Hard to believe that paddle wheelers used to ply the upper reaches. Must have used a lot of wood fuel to fight those currents.

Some of the flooding we had seen in the Cache Creek area has abated and the one farmer now has a new road built so he can get to his house. Wonder how long he had been stranded. Such a crazy summer. The high water just doesn’t want to go.

Rain in Stewart still?

Fraser River

Williams Lake 

Kamloops Lake from Savona Bridge

Prince George, B.C. 422 km

We know better! Choosing motels for a Saturday night can be a challenge. We should have been more aware as when we stayed here on the way north there were lots of young guys from various work crews – CN and Yellowhead helicopter – so we knew they would still be there. They were at the end of their work week, drinking beer, noisily swearing (the F word loses its impact after the hundredth time) and smoking outside on the front porch that ran along all the rooms. At 11:00 pm we called the front desk and the little Oriental lady owner put a stop to their noise.

It was the first day in a week that we have not had to wear rain gear. Yahoooooooooo. It had rained overnight so a bit of scud around but warmer and sunnier so a nice ride today.

Our first stop was at Moricetown Canyon. We had stopped here a few years ago on one of our previous trips either to Alaska or Queen Charlottes, not that either of us could remember which. Last time there were people fishing. It was amazing watching them standing over the heavy current spearing fish. No one fishing today. There were church bells in the back ground so maybe they were at church, it was too early, too late or just not good fishing. We did see a young girl ride her bike to meet a fellow in a white pickup, take something from one of the blue storage bins and give it to him before he drove off and she rode off. Sitting on the back of the bike watching the trees go by gets the imagination running amuck. Could it be a drug pick up, illegal sale of fish or just as simple as the guy picking up something he had left behind. It doesn’t matter. We have them on camera and the great McBride/Sinclair detective agency will work it out. We even took a telephoto shot to see what she was up to – pretending to comb her hair – an obvious ruse.

We found ourselves reflecting on why we hadn’t been seeing deer. Not even signs warning of deer like we see at home. Lots of watch for bear, moose and caribou signs but no deer. The distribution maps show no whitetail deer but there are mule deer. Maybe a low population density?

Being Sunday we did see lots more bikes out. We also saw about 20 old cars in a row. Speculating again. Was it just a Sunday ride or were they returning from a show and shine car show?

Part of the ride was along the “Highway of Tears”. The Highway of Tears is a 725-kilometre corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, which has been the location of many murders and disappearances beginning in 1970. Estimates run as high as 40. Road signs warn girls not to hitchhike and there are reward signs at rest stops looking for loved ones.

No fishermen this morning at Moricetown

Native spearfisherman (from internet)

Suspicious girl at fishing site

New Hazelton, B.C. 536 km

Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. In spite of this we made our start by 8:00.

Another drizzly day to begin our return trip. But it was intermittent rain rather than the steady variety. The road surface for the first part of the day wasn’t great, with big potholes and water on the road. A fair amount of the Cassiar HWY has no line markings making motorcycling in the rain more challenging.  It made for a slower ride to stay safe.

More bugs and bears describes today. Again today we were fortunate enough to spot 7 bears. They are not even bothered by the cars. Just keep munching away on the grass at the sides of the road. Norma made a challenge to try to get as many bear images on the GoPro as she could. So her protocol was: 1. identify the bear in the distance (it could be a rock). 2. Turn on the GoPro by pressing the button on the camera mounted on the top of Doug’s helmet and hope it beeps and whistles in time to start before the bear has passed. 3. Hope that as the bear passes Doug isn’t having to look somewhere else to deal with a road hazard. Attached are a couple of the results today.

With regard to the bugs: Norma has a bit of a reaction issue with blackfly bites, something we don’t see much of at home. Hopefully we will be out of their territory soon.

We kept seeing the same two guys, one on his bike and the other in a truck with a bike in a trailer behind. They were attempting the Dempster HWY, had a critical breakdown and were on their way back to Penticton. We saw them again at our lunch stop. This time homemade mushroom soup at the Meziadin Junction and it really was a soup day!

When you see how isolated everything is you can appreciate why the First Nations locations are COVID restricted. Historically they have had problems with outside diseases. And it is harder to get to medical help. Having said that we just saw a Facebook post that one of Norma’s previous ER nurses is at one of the settlements we just rode by: Iskut, where the roads in are blocked with dumpsters.

Tomorrow we return to Prince George.

Typical Cassiar HWY view from the saddle.

Avalanche

Iskut Settlement-note roadblock.

Dease Lake, B.C. (2nd night) 240km

Today we rode the rest of the Cassiar HWY. Well, most of it, anyway. We now appreciate the vastness of the northern forests of BC.  We made a return trip from Dease Lake to Jade City so now consider ourselves Cassiar HWY veterans. Numerous large lakes along the way.

We actually had some sunshine on the way back and the fact the potholes were not filled with water (making them visible) made for a more pleasant ride today.

Jade City, BC is worth visiting if you ever find yourself in the area. Apparently most of the world’s nephrite jade (92%) is found there.  By the way, don’t expect to find a city there – only the store where they are taking COVID precautions very seriously. Bring a mask. No restaurant. No gas station.

We stopped at a rest stop on our way back to have our packed lunch and swat black flies and mosquitos. This could be a nice part of the province to live in if it weren’t for the isolation, long winters and bugs. Must take a special sort of person to want to live here. Definitely have to be outdoorsy.

Animal sightings today include only one bear munching on grass (lots of fresh long green grass with the steady rains the past few months) and a very dark coated coyote.

The hotel is quite busy with it being the only accommodation for a long stretch. The lady is doing everything herself, running the front desk, answering the phones, cleaning rooms and doing laundry. Another spin off of COVID as she can’t find people to work. They are all collecting CERB.

Tomorrow we will be retracing our route south from Dease Lake to New Hazelton and will pass the spot where Schmegelsky and McLeod murdered Leonard Dyck one year ago. As you may recall the teenage murderers burned their pickup truck and took Dyck’s car at that spot.

Even the Bear is Masked

Raw jade demo

Serious COVID precautions 

The Jade Bear is $25,000.00

Dease Lake, B.C. 405 km

After a comfortable night in the Ripley Creek Inn (there was a tug boat in the yard that could be seen through the picture window and a brothel next door – both were quiet last night) we took a pleasant walk on Stewart’s estuary boardwalk. It was a bit overcast but at least not raining. There were lots of informational signs along the way describing the bird life and vegetation to be seen. We could see some shipping activity at the end of the Portland “Canal” (actually a fjord) where the town is situated.

We then packed up and went toward Hyder, Alaska (2 km away from Stewart). The border is indeed closed which is unfortunate because we wanted to see the bear fishing area and the Salmon Glacier. We went through to make a U-turn and lo and behold right at the border there was a bear in the middle of the road! US or Canadian, who knows! Guess he/she took some time off from fishing just to see us. Needless to say the border guards just waved us back from the safety of the doorway.

It was still drizzly and cloudy which detracted somewhat from our return trip on HWY 37A, but we enjoyed what view there was of the Bear Glacier and some impressive avalanche tracks. Upon reaching the Cassiar HWY once again we fueled up and headed north. Again today there were several Indian villages barricaded off to keep visitors out. At one little town they had even dumped lots of dirt on the road to keep you out and had only one entrance that was manned. Needless to say, we didn’t attempt to enter.

We had lunch outside at the Bell II workcamp/lodge/heliskiing establishment. Strict rules re COVID including not being able to eat in the restaurant, thus the outside lunch. At least the rain had stopped for the time being.

We found ourselves on a quest to count black bears and in fact sighted 10, including a mom and cub and the one at the border. Only one looked a bit scruffy. The rest all looked very fat and healthy. We were told by the lady at the hotel here in Dease Lake that one guest had told her he had spotted 20. But we met 6 horses nonchalantly walking down the middle of the highway as well – so we win.

Bell II COVID Protocol

The day was a real mixed bag as for weather, one minute sun, and the next high winds and torrential rain. We did get settled in for the night and now the rain is coming down heavily again. It is supposed to be better tomorrow and into the rest of the week so we can only hope.

Tug in yard

Estuary walk

Downtown Stewart

Bear Glacier

Best stop at the border - the enforcer is on duty!

Stewart, B.C. 266 km

It has rained with varying degrees of intensity all day. We purposely delayed departure from Hazelton until 10 am to let the rain abate a bit. Also we did not have that far to go. Today’s route took us from Hazelton to the Cassiar HWY (B.C. 37) junction. Traffic was comparatively busy on the Yellowhead but lessened to mainly just logging trucks as we went north. Truck traffic and rain is not a pleasant combination for motorcycling. It was beautiful scenery though, in spite of the rain. Again, the flowers blooming are spectacular and more varied than what we were seeing yesterday.

On HWY 37 there are a number of First Nations settlements with big red “CLOSED TO VISITORS DUE TO COVID” signs. We stopped at Meziadin Junction for lunch at a motel restaurant. The “motel” was a series of interconnected portables. The restaurant reminded us of a work camp cafeteria, but they had good sandwiches and very good homemade chicken noodle soup! Just what we needed after the wet cool ride. It appeared to be run by First Nations personnel as it is on their territory. 

We then rode down into Stewart via HWY 37A. It very much reminded us of the road into Skagway, Alaska. Glaciers and snow filled avalanche tracks line the steep valley leading down into Stewart. Unfortunately visibility was poor due to the low cloud and rain. We are hoping that the weather will improve tomorrow morning for some pictures. The creek that the highway follows is in full flood and is quite spectacular in spots with evidence of highway encroachment. Crew were working building the banks up again to save the road from being flooded.

Stewart is a neat little place – once again we are hoping to explore tomorrow morning if the rain stops. We have checked into the Ripley Creek Inn which is a collection of old houses and a warehouse in town which have been very nicely modified into guest accommodation. They have colourful bicycles you can borrow if you are so inclined. No cell phone reception but there is internet.

We had hoped to go into Hyder Alaska but due to COVID we have been told we cannot cross. We will ride to the border for a peek tomorrow, weather permitting.

When we checked in the reception lady told us we could park Whiskey Jack in the owner’s work shed out of the rain so that is where he is residing. We can see him from our window.

Meziadin Junction Restaurant

Bicycles for use of guests

Crows Landing: Our Place at Ripley Creek Inn

Whiskey Jack is finally out of the rain!

New Hazelton, B.C. 442 km

A beautiful sunny morning greeted us in Prince George as we got on the Yellowhead Highway. The vast forests of the north are a totally different colour than when we were here last. They are green rather than pine beetle red-brown. Pine beetles killed off more than nine million hectares of forests in B.C. by the peak of the infestation in 2004. The makeup of the forest has changed now.

The Yellowhead Highway is in bloom! Wildflowers lined the highway all morning: yellows, reds, purples and whites predominate. There are fields of oxeye daisies almost making one think they have been sown. Quite spectacular and very fragrant in places, actually.

Lots of signs warning re moose on the road but alas none to be seen. We did see a lovely deer prancing along with her little fawn trying to keep up.

We stopped for an early lunch (leftover chicken from last night’s dinner) at a rest stop near Burns Lake. The reason for the early stop was the sky ahead. Very soon it started to drizzle/rain and continued to Hazelton. The rain took a brief break in Houston, so we did too, at the visitor’s center where there is a large fishing rod and a Mexican millstone – there is a combination for you.

Prior to dinner we went for a 2.5 km walk to a pretty waterfall in Hazelton. The mosquitos were quite voracious, however. More rain began on our way back.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for the next day or so is not good. Regardless we will ride into rainy Stewart B.C. tomorrow.

Prince George, B.C. 516 km

The day started out quite cool at 8am. But we knew it would warm up quickly as the sun was shining. Nah. It was still 12.5 degrees 2 hours later. But we did ride through some beautiful north Okanagan vistas out of Kamloops and into Cache Creek. The Bonaparte River is in flood and the Fraser is very high. Several farms in the Cache Creek area were under water. Poor cattle and horses were pretty restricted in where they could go in these farm yards.

We stopped for a break at the visitor center at 100 Mile House. They do not provide washroom facilities for visitors but they do have a COVID-19 lineup system to handle the crowds. Obviously not crowdmembers who need to go.

We had been reading how the natives at the coast were attempting to keep visitors away. Well on the drive we saw at least two places where roads to native museums were marked closed with big red signs.

The temperature eventually did climb to 20C in Quesnel in time to sit in a traffic standstill for 75 minutes. Yep – we lost a lot of time today in Quesnel. Apparently their highway bridge was the victim of a hit and run by a tractor trailer unit! This old style bridge funnels all the traffic from all the lanes on HWY 97 and it looks to us that a traffic jam could easily happen “normally” so you can imagine the mess when there is an accident. This is confounded by the obvious dire need for a bypass through the city.

We are ensconced in the Treasure Cove Hotel for the night. The hotel is attached to a casino. Which, of course, is closed. The hotel is very quiet, as you might expect. They tell us the room we are in has not been occupied for at least 24 to 48 hours, their way to help stop the spread.

Surprise. In the room they have Kootenay Coffee Co. coffee from Nelson. Makes us non coffee drinkers feel right at home.

Busy 100 Mile House Visitor Center

Really? At a Visitor Center?

Beautiful Quesnel

Hit and Run Bridge

Nelson Coffee

Kamloops B.C. 465 km

Let’s break down todays ride into sections

1.       Nelson to Grand Forks. This enjoyable 1.5 hr trip is very familiar to us as Norma’s parents resided in Christina Lake and later in Grand Forks. Over the past several years both her Mom and Dad have passed on so it is impossible not to reminisce with a smile and perhaps the odd tear as familiar landmarks are passed. It was just over a year ago when Norma lost her dad so many memories are fresh.

2.       Grand Forks to Rock Creek. The sun continued to shine as we motorcycled through the so-called Boundary Country. Once again mostly familiar sights as we often go to Kelowna to visit friends, the motorcycle shop and our special buddy: COSTCO.

3.       Rock Creek to Kelowna. Today’s ride over Highway 33 was marked by heavy motorcycle traffic as Kelowna Sunday riders make pilgrimages to that famous biker destination: Beaverdell and its special parking outside the pub for Harleys. Unfortunately they are in the process of paving a portion of the road so grooved pavement and bits of gravel here and there had to be contended with. The weather showed signs of deteriorating.

4.       Kelowna to Kamloops. The heavy rain, winds and plummeting temperature began near Vernon and culminated in 9.5C at 2pm in Falkland. On July 12!  Isn’t it supposed to be summer? It finally let up on the outskirts of Kamloops, which was good because we were tired of the deluge and it was time to quit for the day anyway.

The dark clouds continue and the valleys all around have streaks of rain coming out of these clouds.

So here we are in Kamloops hoping that it doesn’t snow tomorrow. . . We did our usual and walked for groceries, a deli dinner in the room. On the way we stopped at a lookout over the city. It seems every city has its usual homeless people lying about where ever they can find shelter. The two guys on the hill were younger than we usually see. Pretty sad.

Off to Prince George in the morning. Wish us luck with the weather.

RAIN!

Kamloops Street People

Tomorrow's Weather?

Nelson, B.C.

This will be a true Whiskey Jack blog entry sequence! Our recent history of international travel has resulted in Whiskey Jack being relegated to local rides and some rally getaways. This year our objective is to ride the only unridden road in our home province of British Columbia: the Cassiar Highway.  This trip has been in the works for some time but for various reasons had been put aside. This year it was moved to the top of the list even before the viral pandemic which is fortuitous as cross-border travel is not possible at this time. Over the last few years our international experiences have continually reminded us how great B.C. is for motorcycle travel so it will be an opportune time to reinforce those feelings during a 10 day return trip to the Yukon border.  The name Cassiar is a corruption of the name Cassa, an Indian of the “Nehanie Tribe” of this part of the country. Apparently the name was first adopted by miners and later by Geographic Board of Canada and applied to the mountain range in northcentral B.C. and colloquially later, of course , to B.C. Highway 37. The ghost town of Cassiar (asbestos mining) also derives its name from the mountain range. We leave tomorrow!