Back into Canada, eh?

Haines Jct

We're firmly on our way home and now part way through Canada.  We made it through the worst of the Alcan highway which is the 150 miles between Tok, Ak and White River YT.  We stayed at a couple of the same campgrounds so far that we stayed at on the way up.  Our first stop in Canada was White river campground which we enjoyed both times we stayed there.  It is in a beautiful setting and run by some really nice people.  When we left White River we were going to make it a shorter day coming back by staying in Haines Junction.  That was a nice night but learned that when a place advertises "cable TV" you really have no way of knowing what you're going to get.  We had 5 movie channels and one PBS channel out of Alaska.  Still couldn't find anything worth watching so thank goodness for our
collection of DVDs.

Our next stop was going to be in a place called Teslin with a nice looking park on a lake but they had a big caravan** in and the place they wanted us to park was going to take way too much effort to wiggle into, so on we went down the road but the next place we wanted to stop was out of business.  We passed a few spots along the highway that would have been ok to "boondock" in (dry camp) but didn't really get a good look til we were already past the entrance.  So, we ended up in Walkers Resort on the continental divide.  Again, this was a place we stayed at on the way up so we knew what to expect.  It started raining about the time we went to sleep and kept raining all night.  Good for sleepin'

**A caravan is a large organized group of RVs that travel together to a destination.  Most of the Alaska Caravans run about $3500 per RV and that pays for your RV parks and some excursions.  You still have to pay your own fuel and food.  Everything is taken care of as far as reservations, stops, excursions, etc but you have to go where the group goes.  I guess good for some people but too restrictive for us.

All things Jade

Anyhow, after we left Walkers, we had about 85 miles til we turned off the Alcan onto the Cassiar Hwy.  This is just another route that will keep us closer to the coast with a planned stop in Stewart/Hyder to see the grizzly bears fish for salmon.  We knew the Cassiar wasn't as heavily traveled as the Alcan but according to the Milepost Book we should have a better chance of seeing wildlife and some really awesome views.  So far, great view, little wildlife. The first real stop is a little place called Jade City which is an old jade mining area with a free parking lot for RVs to spend the night.  No hookups just a place to park, and they have a Jade gift shop. (nothing is free)  There were jade rock and boulders of all sizes, being cut up, for sale and plenty of jade things.

Well, we made it 50 miles down the Cassiar, not even to Jade city, and pulled into the first rest area we came to to discuss turning around!  THE ROAD SUCKED!!!   Frost heaves, break ups in the asphalt, expansion cracks a foot wide and 6 inches deep.  It was about 2:30 and we were both wiped out and beat up.  So, we set up and poured a beer, with the intent that we would boondock one night and head back to the Alcan in the morning. It was just us in the rest stop, with the new generator, camping like we were in our right minds!  We decided that we would try and find someone who knew the road and get a status report of what is to come.  A guy from British Columbia came by and told us that the road would get better now until we got about 160 km down the road to Dease Lake then it would be a good road the rest of the way.  I'm glad we talked to him because the road has been better and the scenery is beautiful.  We now only have about 400km to go on the Cassiar and we're both happy we stayed the course.  This highway is just about 700km long so the worst is behind us.

Iskut

This highway is not very populated and has fewer camping spots. After leaving the rest area, we bounced along for about another 155 miles and stopped at a place called Iskut and surprisingly a very nice camp spot on a lake. In fact, one of the better ones
we've stopped at.

The Bus

Next stop we left the Cassiar and headed toward the coast to two towns of Stewart, in BC, and Hyder, 6 miles away in AK. They are 41 miles down a narrow canyon, very lush and the walls are running with numerous waterfalls. It was very rainy and the rivers were swollen. In Hyder, a small stream is teeming with spawning salmon and the black bears and grizzlies come to feed on them. There is even a viewing platform set up to observe but not be too close. Our first visit we didn't see any bears, just tons of fish. That by itself is pretty cool. So we went back into "town" and had lunch at The Bus. Fresh seafood dishes cooked by a local woman and her bus. Then we went back to the viewing platform and luck! First, a black bear came below the platform, through the bushes and ate on the berries. We waited a while longer, I was away from the end of the platform and I heard someone say the grizzly was back. I scooted back to the end and was luck to get some photos. He was walking back and forth across the river, not feeding just looking, but it was still very cool.

And with seeing the bears, we saw and did what we wanted to on this trip. With the exception of actually catching any fish. We do have fish from Alaska, but our friends gave them to us! The last of our 4-5 days in Canada will be just driving south to enter back into Washington. Then the big task of thoroughly cleaning the trailer and truck, inside and out, and putting things back together after all the jostling on the not so smooth roads.

We had a blast.