Reaching the Yukon

The morning was chilly and dark in Smithers, British Columbia, Canada when we pulled out of the Sandman Inn's parking lot heading west.  The sun doesn't rise until between 8:30 and 9:00.  As  the dark faded, we could see snow capped mountains on our right as we followed the river west toward the Pacific.  An hour later, we reached the turnoff for Canada Route 37 north to the Yukon Territory.  After a quick stop to top off the gas tank.  I turned the car north and headed into the wilderness.

As we quickly learned, the road was remote.  For the next nine hours we drove without any cell service, GPS signal or even a radio station through the Canadian wilderness.  I had read that this area is the most remote area of British Columbia.  The highway started out a nice wide road with wide shoulders and was really a pleasure to drive.  Signs next to the gas station  gave the distances to the next gas stations. This was new for me.   There were only a total of four on the whole 600 mile drive and most of them were only small shacks with a pump out front.  Native's usually ran the stores in this remote region.  The Canadian gas, thats sold by the liter, gets terrible mileage in the car.  It's only averaging 21 miles per gallon instead of the usual 31. The trip today was quite costly as I spent $120.00 to drive those 600 miles.

The road was wide and wound in and out of fog as it scrolled through the valley with high snow capped mountains above.  The miles rolled by except for one quick rest stop after a couple of hours where we found a sign  talking about avalanche activities in the area.  A little of surprise that was laughed off until we reached an area farther up the road that had been wiped out due to a landslide.  The tall pines became shorter as we headed north and the mountain views were stunning.  Small and large lakes dotted the landscape.

Within an hour of turning onto Route 37, we passed a female coyote standing along the side of the road on the south bound lane.  It had no fear and didn't move as we sped past.  A half hour later we passed another one.  Again, this one did not move either.  The animals apparently had no fear of man probably due to lack of human interaction in the extreme remote area.  Later in the trip a snowshoe rabbit with his winter fur on ran across the road in front of the car.  His large feet propelling him quickly across the highway.  At one point,  a glance at a passing small lake revealed a wolf drinking from the lake.  It's amazing the animals we are seeing on this trip.  Earlier in the morning we had passed a dead caribou along the side of the road.  Moose and caribou crossing signs dot the roadside along with signs stating "Litter Barrel Ahead".  (Lisa and Steve Miller... I'm sure will appreciate this reference.)

The road often narrowed to a single lane to cross long, narrow, wood decked bridges.  The road undulated over hills and mountain passes.  Then it ran long and straight through wide valleys.  After the half way mark, the road began to narrow considerably.  The shoulders disappeared as did the center line.  The few tractor trailers we passed all moved from the center of the road so we both fit on the narrow road.  Every truck we passed had large grill guards on the front of the truck to protect the front end.  My little Tucson doesn't have one.  I guess I'm on my own if I hit a moose or a caribou.



At one point the road turned to dirt for several miles and we met a road crew working on the road. A large section of road had been obliterated during a landslide and they were working to rebuild it.  This section was on a steep downhill slope with the mountain rising high on the one side.  The road twisted steeply down until it crossed an old long steel bridge that crossed a wide river far below.  About three quarters up the highway we passed through the town of Jade.  We couldn't figure out before this why the rocks on the side of the road were green.  After passing through Jade and seeing the large mine operation up against the mountain it made sense.

The road became narrower and the lack of a center line kept me in the middle of the road as it

Burned pine trees for 70 miles

became rougher.  The farther we went north the more snow that began to appear on the roadside and sometimes in the road.  For over an hour, the forest on both sides of the road was filled with burned trees.  The area had been the subject of a huge forest fire at some point earlier in the year.  Suddenly after hours on the road the GPS started to work again and told us we were near the junction with Route 1, the Alaskan Highway.  Soon a the sign appeared telling us we had reached the Yukon Territory. This was a huge milestone along the trip.

After hitting Route 1, we turned east and headed fifteen miles up the road to Watson Lake where we had researched there was motels and gas.  We came into the small town and chose one the 3 available locally owned motels.  Dinner at the cafe in town provided great food and good conversation with our server Clayton.  Clayton is a native of Newfoundland and has worked all over Canada including above the Arctic Circle.  He prefers the Yukon over Vancouver as he says it's much quieter here.  I can't argue with that logic.  A talk with another local revealed that the road to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon, was clear today and about 5 hours away.  The decision has been made to drive only to Whitehorse then on to Tok, Alaska the next day.  Up until these past few days on the trip, we have just driven until it was late then found a motel for the night.  I've never had a trip before where the itinerary had to be planned and mapped with such detail due to the lack of fuel and lodging.  Distances, weather and times have to be calculated to ensure lodging for the night and the ability to get to the next gas station.  This section has certainly been an adventure.  One I won't ever forget and will not regret.

Into Canada

A short post tonight.  We left Seattle Saturday afternoon after having a great time with Cindy and Errol.  A fun night Saturday out with their friend at the Beverage Place Pub.  A cozy pub that only serves beer from Washington State micro-breweries.  It's also a pet friendly bar that had several dogs wandering the bar on leashes.  A nice breakfast prepared by Errol and a morning of talking shop (photography) and we were on the road headed north to Canada.

We crossed into Canada at Sumas, British Columbia.  The wait wasn't too bad but we did have to go through customs due to my transportation of firearms through Canada.  After clearing customs and exchanging some money into Canadian dollars we headed east to stop in Hope, BC for the night.  We found a Red Roof Inn in Hope that was interesting to say the least.  Not the worst that we stayed in on this trip but not the best.  We rated it third form the bottom on the hotel list above the Lewiston, Idaho death smelling motel and the trucker Super 8 in Iowa.  The Red Roof's room was small, had a old style key and was freezing cold until we turned up the electric heater.  By morning it was sweltering when we packed up early and dropped the key in the office drop box.

Leaving Hope we gassed up at the Shell station and headed north.  I'm glad we gassed up as we passed several gas stations that were closed as we drive in the rain and drizzle.  The road was winding as it led over hills and through tunnels along a river valley.  As the sun rose it revealed stunning views of the tall mountains as we wound up the valley along railroad tracks.  The drive was beautiful.  After a couple of hours the valley opened up and the trees disappeared from the landscape.  The mountains changed color and after stopping at a rest stop revealed that we were in a desert.  The ground was brown and the bushes scrubby as we fought a hard head wind.  We rose out of the desert and the hills became more rolling with hay fields and cattle before giving way to trees.  Lots of trees.  Tall pines and birches lined the road.  The terrain reminded me of Montana.  Unlike Wyoming and South Dakota, where every town had a tall grain elevator, every town here had a steaming saw mill.  Huge piles of logs covered more than ten acres next to each mill and were piled as high a two story house.  Turning left in Prince George, what passes for a large city up here, we headed toward Smithers, BC.  A long 12 hour drive brought us to Smithers through forests and over hills.  Mountains rose in the distance.  Half way to the Yukon in Smithers.  Tomorrows a drive up to the Yukon.  The weather is supposed to be clear for a few days.  I hope that holds.

Very few pictures today.  Spent the day making time driving.

Seattle

Seattle is a great trendy city with a fantastic artistic side.  The sky needle rises above the city but is still dwarfed by the soaring high rises.  The cloudy sky cast a gray hue over the city but it was bustling with activity as we drove into City Center to park.  A quick walk to the area where the space needle was revealed a city of art. Tall steel yellow and red flowers along with the Chihuly Museum of Glass atrium added color to the gray sky over the city.  A street band with acoustic guitars and a pan flute set the background music as we explored the City Center area.  We boarded the monorail and a short ride later we arrived in the downtown area.

The streets were full of pedestrian's enjoying their lunch hour on a chilly Friday afternoon.  We came to an area with blue painted tree trunks topped with yellow fall leaves that set an impressive backdrop to the people playing chess on a large street chessboard.  The trees had been painted blue by a local artist as a statement.  Passers by played chess against each other in the blue and yellow colored park.

A short walk brought us to the Pike's Place Public Market where the Seattle public can go to get
fresh fish, seafood, flowers and vegetables.  The market was crowded and street musicians performed on the corners adjacent to the market.  In the market, crowds watched the fishmongers put on their show as they threw fish to each other and at times at the customers only to be caught at the last second before it hit the flinching customer.  Bright rings of peppers were strung everywhere and colorful vegetable stands lined the walk ways.  The smell of marijuana wafted over the market as Seattlites enjoyed a smoke.  Washington had just passed the law legalizing marijuana use and people were taking full advantage.   It seemed strange to see people walking down the street with a joint in their hand instead of a traditional cigarette.

Across from the market were cheese shops that had delicious samples available for trying.  A string band played outside a coffee shop.  This was the original Starbucks.  The huge chains very first store.  Crowds lined up for their shots of double espresso mocha lattes while the band entertained pedestrians and customers alike.

After leaving the market, we headed up the hill toward downtown where we found Kells Irish Pub in a back alley.  The pub was beautiful and served an authentic Irish menu overseen by the owner.  She was older woman who was directly from Ireland and spoke with a thick brogue.  She took time with the lunch patrons to translate the signs in the pub written in Gaelic.  With our belly's full from the sliced ham on Irish soda bread sandwiches accompanied by Swithwicks's Ale, we headed back up to downtown to take the monorail back to the City Center.

Once back in the City Center we paid our admission and took the glass lined elevator up the Space Needle to view the city from above.  The views were expansive and if it had not been for the overcast sky we could have seen Mount Ranier over looking the city.  Despite this, the view in the opposite direction was impressive looking over Puget Sound.

The highlight of the day was agreed upon to to be the Chihuly Museum of Glass.  His large sculptures in blown brightly colored glass were displayed in dark rooms with only lights illuminating the sculptures.  The colors and designs were amazing and awe inspiring as every corner you turned in the museum revealed another breath taking display of color.  After leaving the interior of the museum, we entered the outdoor glass garden where the glass was intertwined with flowers offset with the space needle rising above the garden.

Tomorrow's Saturday and it's back on the road headed north and into Canada.  A check at lunch of the road conditions on the Alaskan highway revealed snow covered roads and a portion that is closed in the Yukon.  Hopefully, this will be cleared by the time we reach that point.  Seattle was a great city to visit and I will hopefully have the opportunity to visit again some day.  Until then it's north to Alaska and the most adventurous part of this trip.

Covered walk way in City Center