August 1 - 31
Our month long journey covered a total of 10,734 km and costed $2684.00 on diesel. It took us through BC, Yukon, and Alaska. We didn't just drive it. The road was peppered with pull-outs that offered photo-ops and with signs pointing the way to short scenic walks to explore. And the wildlife!!! I'd never seen so much and such a variety, almost all of them along the highway.
This blog does not include the hikes. You'll find them in three separate blogs: Tombstones, Kluane - 2 day hikes + Alaska- 3 day hikes.
Aug. 1 - We met in Hope and then drove to Quesnel by way of the Fraser Canyon.
We stopped for a 10-minute walk to the Begbie fire-lookout, originally built in 1923. We stood in awe as lightening bolts flashed every few minutes from dark clouds that were getting a little too close for comfort. This mountain was named after the legendary English judge, Sir Matthew Begbie. who restored law & order in the north during the Cariboo gold rush.
We drove north on Hwy 1, which turned into Hwy 97, the Cariboo Hwy north of Cache Creek.
Close to 100-Mile House we got caught in a hale storm with a fierce wind and ice-balls as big as my pinky fingernail. Alot of vehicles were pulling over on the side of the highway as visiblity was limited. When we got a new star in our windshield, we decided it was time to stop driving for us as well.
It was definately worth checking out the Williams Lake info centre. This section is a cowboy museum.
We learned to not wait till our gas tank was almost empty, because gas stations were few and far between.
We spent the night at Ten-mile Lake Provincial Park, just northeast of Quesnel. We often got double sites, parking two vehicles on one site. There was always room in the campsites. Interesting tent pads made of grass.
A short after dinner stroll on trails by the lake.
Indian Paintbrush Daisies
Aug. 2
Interesting art in a gallery beside the information centre in Williams Lake.
The guys were fine to leave the women to do the planning. Every morning, before we parted ways, we'd agree as to where we would camp for the night. Often we ran into eachother along the way.
2-pic slider
A road-side stop to watch the Wet'suwet'en fishermen dip net for salmon in the raging waters of the Moricetown Canyon, close to Smithers.
We stayed at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park for the night by Telkwa.
Day 3
A one hour hike to New Hazel falls (Hwy 16)
Blackening Russula Stinking Brittlegill Russula Copper Brittlegill Russula
A short side trail climbed up to this lookout.
Close to the junction of Hwy 16 & 37, the Cassiar Hwy, were these 12 totem poles.
Kitwancool with its 22 totem poles is just a bit farther north on the Cassiar Hwy.
The clan's status and inherited family traditions were portrayed in these poles by mythical creatures, sometimes in human form.
We backtracked here, turning right onto Hwy. 16 and then right again by Terrace onto Hwy. 113 north. Stayed the night at the Nisga's Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park.
Our Chilliwack Outdoor Club RV convoy; Lorenz with his home-made camperized van, Simon & Irene with their 'Beast', us with our Sprinter camperized van + Anne & Ingrid with their two tents.
Aug. 4
We backtracked a bit on Hwy 113 to see these sites. In the mid 1700s, a massive eruption killed over 2000 people.
The flooded forests are right along the edge of Hwy 113.
Goldenrod
A short walk to Beaupre Falls.
Reindeer Lichen Tufted Vetch
Then we turned left (west) at the junction, continuing on Hwy. 113. A short drive off the highway got us to Gitwinksihlkw Village.
Alcohol Inky mushrooms
A 1 hour hike in the village. Simon looks rather horny.
The lava fields.
Nisga'a Museum.
The Gingiox village is "dry". Its located at the end of the road, on the west coast.
Driving back on Hwy 113 east, we stopped in at the tree tunnel.
A tree mould created by lava setting a fallen tree on fire and then cooling and hardening quickly.
Stonecrop
After gleaning some info from the locals, we decided to drive this 'restricted' private gravel road east to the Cassiar Hwy. This saved us hours of driving.
We stayed at the Meziadin Provinical Park campsite, located at the Hwy 37A junction to Stewart.
Aug. 5
Case hit the brakes when we saw this mum with her two cubs. The semi-truck behind us did not appreciate that very much. But I got a great shot!
A Red Fox!
He let me get within a few feet of him. A trucker kept throwing morsels out to him as I slowly approached.
A one-hour walk in Kinaskan Provincial Park.
1) Scrambled Egg slime 2) Little Blue Polypore 3) Yellow-tipped Coral 4) Orange-capped Bolete 5&6) American Slippery Jack
We found a toad in the fire pit.
Claspleaf Twistedstalk No, Case did not pick that mushroom.
Squeezed into another double site by Boya Lake.
Aug. 6
We spent the morning here, glad for a reprieve from all the driving done in the last five days. Case & I took a 45-minute walk to the beaver dam.
The boreal forest consists mostly of trembling aspen and lodgepole pine.
Beavers build a dam to create deeper water for their home. This makes it less likely to freeze.
A beaver house creates protection from predators and provides storage for food for the winter.
Yellow Mountain Saxifrage Sticky Tofieldia
Boya Lake gets its clear water and color from the sun reflecting off of the white bottom of the lake which is composed of marl which is a mixture of silt and shell fragments.
Potentila.
Lorenz, Simon & Irene + Anne went swimming & kayaking. Lorenz's kayak is inflatable and Simon & Irene's can fold into a 20 lb. backpack.
Honked when we passed them on the highway.
An hour walk mostly on board-walk to Rancheria Falls. We were now in the Yukon, on Hwy 1 west.
This boreal forest is dense with black and white spruce trees.
Bunchberry Dogwood.
5-pic slider Who would expect such an amazing taxidermy display in the tiny town of Teslin? As I walked into the gift shop beside the gas station, I thought to have a look. Wow! The 1800 lb. bull moose with the attacking wolves was my favorite. Check out the others on my slider....
Good ol' happy hour. Thanks to Ingrid, we had a shelter from the rain and bugs.
Camped 14 miles past Teslin.
Aug. 7 - to get to Carcrosse we turned left on Hwy 8.
Unfortunately the cultural centres were closed on Sundays.
The historical town of Carcrosse.
Bennett Lake.
Mountain Marsh Larkspur.
The Carcrosse desert is not really a desert. It was created by a glacial process in which lakes were formed by the melting ice. Sand & silt that was trapped in the glaciers, sank to the bottom of the lakes.
When this guy saw I was following him, he stopped, turned round and started coming towards me with his prickles up.
I talked soothingly to him and slowly back away (after I got my photos, of course).
Emerald Lake as viewed from a pull-out by the Hwy 2.
Nice to have our mechanic friend, Lorenz with us. He came in very handy when Simon's camper lining started coming loose. He convinced Simon that he didn't have to waste time the next day by going somewhere to get it fixed. Silly guys. They kept making comments about "screwing around".
What are friends for anyways?
We camped by this gas station in Haines Junction for the night. They had showers. The manager joined us for happy hour.
Aug 8 & 9 we hiked in Kluane National Park. Check out my Kluane NP - 2 day hikes blog for these two days.
We stayed two nights at the Congdon campsite.
It was a 1 1/2 hour drive north between the two trailheads. Here we stopped in by the visitor centre, by Kluane Lake.
We checked out this decrepit cabin close to the visitor centre. Rhubarb plants were growing around it.
We were surprised to see this life size dummy in a shed beside it. Liverleaf Wintergreen.
Aug. 10
Snow on the very mountains we'd hiked the day before.
Heading for better weather. We crossed into Alaska at Beaver Creek. Between there and Tok the road was pretty rough, full of pot holes.
Arrived in