Our 2013 Alaska RV Adventure: 08/23/13

Yellowhead Highway back to civilization at Prince George

8/22/13

We get underway Thursday morning again southbound on the Cassier Highway. This road is 450 miles of beautiful wilderness with few small towns and even fewer fuel stops. No billboards, no internet, no cellphone service – period. We join the Yellowhead and travel east about 300 miles to Prince George, British Columbia. We enjoy a beautiful rainbow as we approach our destination tonight, the Bee Lazy RV Park on Route 97 just south of Prince George.

8/23/13

Friday dawns sunny and warm as we begin a “down day” doing laundry, washing the Jeep, some minor maintenance items, and update this blog thanks to a wonderful internet at Bee Lazy RV. Bob enjoys a game of golf this afternoon while Joy and Sharon roam about taking in the sights and doing a little shopping. Don just blogs to catch up the week. Tomorrow we head south again about 300 miles to Boston Bog, BC.

Headed east now on the Yellowhead near Smithers, BC

A full rainbow as we near Prince George

Joy wanted to prove with the Michaels sign we had returned to "civilization"

Here we are in Prince George

Side trip to Stewart, British Columbia and Hyder, AK

8/21/13

Wednesday dawns with abundant sunshine aw we head westward briefly today by car to visit Steward, B. C. and Hyder, AK. We stop for a great view of Bear Glacier about 20 west before continuing to Stewart – the most northern ice-free seaport in Canada. Logging and mining support this gold rush town along with tourism in the brief summer season. Hyder officially lists itself as a ghost town with about 100 residents.

We then travel north about 23 miles on a gravel road up into the mountains to see Salmon Glacier - oh my, what a sight! The pictures will speak for themselves. We head back into Hyder to a late lunch before returning to Fish Creek hoping to see some bears dining on salmon now making the run up to the spawning grounds. Plenty of salmon but no bear sightings today. We head back to camp in a foggy and rainy evening. Tomorrow we will travel another 100 miles south before joining the Yellowhead Highway eastbound to Prince George.

Bear Glacier on Route 37-A

Looking up onto the ice field

Downtown Stewart, British Columbia

Our lunch destination in Hyder, AK

Views of Salmon Glacier

Salmon glacier is only accessible by road from British Columbia

Wrangell, AK is about 80 miles distant

Pictures cannot describe the beauty we have seen

My friend Bob walks to the edge for pictures

Blue glacial ice is formed when all oxygen is compressed out of frozen water under pressure

Our next stop to hopefully see bears feeding on salmon

An elevated walkway keeps humans in and bears out

Salmon are here in the quiet waters to spawn

Here we are spending our last hours in Alaska enjoying yet another glacier

Never too far away are these mighty birds also looking for a salmon or two

Sharon and Joy pose for another picture in front of Salmon

Waiting for the bears to arrive

A cold rain sets in this evening, no bears appear tonight

Boya Lake down the Cassier Highway to Meziadin Lake

8/20/13

Up and on the road early we stop in about 25 miles at Jade City. This is a real-life Jade mine accompanied by its own jewelry store. After Sharon and Joy shop for Christmas gifts and get matching rings, Bob and I depart poorer for the experience.

We travel about 325 miles today stopping at Dease Lake to fuel (defensive fueling) before lunch and continuing to the Meziadin Lake Provincial Park. We setup camp in sites 32 and 33 before enjoying a quiet evening on the lakefront.

Shopping in the wilderness.....who could have guessed

Cassier Highway begins to improve about 200 miles south

Northern British Columbia is truly a beautiful wilderness

We pass signs of life in B.C.

Approaching the Stewart, BC highway cutoff

View from our motorhome this evening of Meziadin Lake

Cassier Highway to Boya Lake

8/19/13

After a nice day touring Whitehorse we depart southbound on the Alaskan Highway about 230 miles to the Highway 37 Cassier Highway turnoff. Just south of Teslin Junction I experience my first and only flat tire on the Jeep after something flew up off the roadway and struck the running board and rear tire. After a quick change we continue toward the junction.

After fueling here we continue south on the Cassier. We have learned that “highway” has a variable meaning up here. The northern part of this road has no shoulders (none), narrow lanes for a two-lane road, and has frost heaves and potholes abounding. Traffic is heavier than on the Alaska Highway. I must note, however, that the next north-south road west of here is in Japan somewhere. We climb, descend, twist and turn for 53 miles down to the Boya Lake Provincial Park where we camp for the night on the shores of a beautiful lake. It rains most of the night making for a good nights sleep.

Alaska Highway southeast of Whitehorse

Beautiful views from the Cassier

Camping at Boya Lake

Smores!!!!!! Need we say more........

Secret ingredients for Smores exposed

Perfect marshmellows

Good friends

Whitehorse, Yukon

We enjoy a late departure Saturday as we only have a short drive to Whitehorse, Yukon for the weekend. We passed through here on the trip up deciding we would stop on our return. We park at the Pioneer RV Park just south of Whitehorse and play to enjoy sightseeing here tomorrow. Sharon and Joy spent most of the day at the Takhini Hot Springs while Don and Bob tended to some motor home cleaning. Monday will find us headed south about 230 miles on the Alaska Highway before we join the Cassier Highway south toward Prince George and Vancouver, BC.

Sunday was cool and overcast as we toured Whitehorse museums, Yukon River waterfront, and downtown.