Saskatchewan River Crossing, AB 330 KM

No internet last night so this is posted from Calgary. The coolest ride yet. Temperature-wise (low 20s). Scenery-wise too. We just checked into our room for the night. It is now a thunder and lightning driven mountain storm out there. Good timing. It has been a few years since we have ridden the icefield parkway. A downside to a superb motorcycle ride was the traffic. I guess you really can’t blame people to want to get out and about after what has been going on the last year and a half. Well a lot of them are indeed out and about around here. We went into Jasper for an early lunch and fuel. Wow, crowds and traffic jams. Another downside is the haze in the air (smoke from BC wildfires?). The parkway scenery is just as captivating as ever. The glacier keeps receding, of course. We stopped at the toe parking lot and watched the throngs walking to/from the glacier. In the parking lot is an enterprising individual that gives guided walking tours of the glacier. On the road in they have markers showing the extent of the glacier from 1908 on. This is our last post as we are in Calgary – home tomorrow.

Valemount, BC 472 KM

 A beautiful sunset capped last evening at the appropriately named View Hotel in Fort St. James. Before dinner last night we went for a walk along the main drag. Not one but two RCMP vehicles were patrolling and stopping to talk to the young people on the side of the road. Not sure if Friday night is usually rowdy there

Stuart Lake from hotel room

This morning we left at 0830 and retraced our route to Vanderhoof (gave Subway a miss) and on through Prince George. The Yellowhead highway appears to take a tortuous route through residential Prince George – at least that is what the map suggests. So we went on a bypass road around the city. It may have taken longer but we are sure it paid dividends in reduced frustration. Once out of the city it is clear sailing for 200 km of BC bush to McBride. There are no rooms available in McBride because there is a CN mega-crew there. We knew that something was up as we could not pre-book there.

Once again, nice wildflower displays along the roadside. The temperature all day was just perfect. But then anything cooler than 35C would be good after last week’s torture.

Roadside Wildfowers

We met a black bear who apparently just had a bath in the ditch. He left a cute little trail of foot prints across the road behind him. Initially we thought we had scared the pee right out of him and that was the trail. It was only later when we looked at the video on the GoPro that we realized it was wet foot prints.

Wet Black Bear

Wet footprints

We stopped at a rest stop which contained a memorial cairn. In 1974 eight young men - six of them about to graduate from Prince George Senior Secondary School and the other two in Grade 11 - set out Saturday morning for a canoe trip that was to end that evening. They never made it. Their three canoes and a kayak capsized and were swallowed by rapids in the Willow River Canyon before the swollen river emptied into the Fraser. Gone. When the news broke the next day -- Mother's Day -- the city was in shock and disbelief. Some Mother's Day for the eight moms.

We are in Valemount, BC tonight – a popular recreation area. We are staying at an impressive Best Western in a suite-like room. After having a late lunch we decided to share a seafood pasta dinner. It was wonderful but just enough to allow for warmed chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. Tomorrow we head through the Columbia Icefields.

Fort St. James, BC 336 KM

If you read our blog entry from a few days ago we mentioned how disappointed we were with the road report for HWY 20 on Drive BC’s website. This prompted us to send the  following email to Drive BC: The below road condition appears on your website and is outdated and incorrect. All that appears to have been done for many weeks is the date has been changed. Please ask your contractor to provide an accurate update. They answered promptly: Hi Douglas, Thank you for your comment on the condition messaging for Highway 20. It does appear that message has been in place and refreshed 4 times daily since June 6.  I’ve forwarded your comment to the Service Area Operations Manager who will verify and communicate with the contractor as necessary.

The road condition message has been changed. It is nice to think that we, in an indirect manner, have provided better information for fellow travelers.

We left Smithers at a leisurely 8:15 am this morning. Did not have to beat the heat today. Before we started on this journey we had friends tell us what a beautiful little town Smithers is and they sure are right. It is nestled in the snow-capped mountains. It isn’t just the scenery. There is a very nice calm feel about it. It just seems so attractively well cared for and people are welcoming and friendly.

The weather was sunny and in the high teens – low 20s – perfect for motorcycling. We retraced our path to Vanderhoof where we stopped at a Subway for lunch as we often do while travelling. The sandwiches are reliable and usually the facilities are acceptable. Not so the Vanderhoof Subway. The parking lot was littered with garbage that had been there for a while: crushed, empty liquor bottles, etc. The washroom had no toilet paper, the drink dispenser served only warm pop. I think you get the picture. So will Subway Canada, as we took some today and will see if we can find a comment page on line.

After lunch we proceeded along Highway 27 through hay fields and forest to Fort St. James. The major reason we took the side journey was to visit the Parks Canada Historic Site: the 1800’s fur trading post. It is located on Stuart Lake. There were a number of restored buildings many with on-site guides in period costumes who seemed to genuinely enjoy their jobs. They explained the unique features of each location, whether it be the store, officer’s house, etc.

Child's crib

Dried fish demo

1800s style recliner demoed by guide

Fur trading post grounds

It is very well done and reminds us of Ft. Steele in the Kootenays. Doug fed the workhorse in the corral a handful of grass. Norma even got to pet a baby goat! The two cute little things were only two weeks old and momma didn’t even seem to notice we were near her kids.

Norma and 2 week old goat.

Smithers, BC 0km

So now to tell you why we made our way to Smithers. Today we attended a dedication of a new bear cub enclosure in memory of Norma’s sister-in-law’s deceased brother Bruce. This took place at the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter just outside of Smithers. The shelter has been providing care for injured and orphaned wildlife for over 30 years. They accept wild animals from squirrels to grizzly bears from all over BC. Their aim is to release the animals back into their home habitat once it is determined the animal can survive in the world. Pre COVID the shelter would host an open house once a year on Canada day. It is off limits any other day and was only open for us today because of the dedication.

As attendees of the dedication ceremony the staff provided us with a tour of most of the facility (not all, as some of the animals were being isolated from human contact prior to being released). We saw the hospital where injured wildlife were being cared for (e.g. a black bear cub that was hit by a vehicle) as well as various enclosures with bears, a siberian lynx (apparently someone’s “pet” that got too hard to care for), a porcupine, fox kits, etc. There were two moose calves that were being bottle fed – they are “vigorous” feeders!

There were three tiny cubs in the new enclosure. They were very shy as they had just arrived a day ago. There were 8 cubs in another enclosure where they were climbing, rough housing and generally being kids. Very cute and entertaining.

The actual dedication took place in front of the new bear cub facility and involved the presentation of a plaque, the planting of a lilac tree with some ashes and the placement of two commemorative stones. The weather was beautiful in a wonderful setting at an admirable facility, with a snow capped Hudson Bay mountain in the background. A satisfying day.