Sunday, September 27, 2009

THE END!!

This is the end of our adventure. Thanks for following! Dena & Bob.

SEPTEMBER 20 SUNDAY

Up early and hit the road. Stopped for breakfast along the way. Got home about noon. 5 1/2 days, total miles 1,896. (The Cassiar shortens the trip!).

SEPTEMBER 19 SATURDAY

Left camp at 7:15. Passed 108 Mile House. This is a nice stop with buildings that have been preserved. Worth stopping to see. You can see pictures on last years blog. The terrain changed today. Lots of horses and cattle and massive hay fields. Many old houses and buildings like you would see on a puzzle. Got fuel at Cache Creek. 93 cents a litre. Lunch along the road and then through the Fraser Canyon past Gold Pan Campground on the Thompson River. Past Hells Gate Canyon. This is also worth stopping at. There is a tram down to the river below. See pictures on last years blog. Finally saw another Mountie at Hope which is 50 miles from the U.S. Border. (The first Rambo movie was filmed in Hope.) Crossed the US border at 3:15. Got gas in Bellingham, Washington $3.01 per gallon. Stopped for the night at the rest stop north of Seattle.

SEPTEMBER 18 FRIDAY

Left Meziadin Provincial Park at 7:45. Finally saw a black bear on Highway 37. It rained most of the day. We got fuel in Quesnel and in Houston. Had lunch at A&W in Houston. Been in Canada now for 4 days and finally saw an RCMP (Mountie) about 50 miles east of Prince George. And, finally saw a moose standing in a pond about 20 miles north of Quesnel. Rained all day . Stopped at Roberts Roost RV Park north of Quesnel at 5:30. High winds and rain tonight, lost power in the park for about 2 hours. Ran to the showers when the lights came on. 483 miles today.

SEPTEMBER 17 THURSDAY

Left Dease River Crossing at 7:15 and continued down the Cassiar Highway. The moose hunters are everywhere. No bears today either. We saw 6 grouse, 1 chipmunk, and 1 hawk. Pretty sad. Topped off the tank at Dease Lake $1.10 per litre. Fuel is far and few between and you have to plan carefully. Some of the stops are already closed for the season and it is better to be safe than sorry! We arrived at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park at 1:00. This is a beautiful campground right on the lake which is huge. We unhooked and headed for Hyder, Alaska at 1:30. It is a 40 mile drive. On the way to Hyder we stopped at Bear Glacier and got fuel at Stewart, B.C. $1.05 per litre. Drove on to Hyder and out to Fish Creek bear viewing platform. There are a few fish still in the river, but the volunteer said they are only seeing 3 bears now and not very often. We stayed 1 hour. Took pictures of an eagle and a kingfisher. Stopped at the little store in Hyder where a 2 lb. brick of Tillamook cheese was $19.00. Visited a little bit then stopped for homemade fudge before getting the passport back out to cross back into Canada. They do not have a border crossing into Hyder, Alaska. We stopped at Stewart, B.C. at King Edwards Hotel for dinner (sounds fancier than it is!) Then back to camp. It started pouring while we were at dinner. 335 miles today.
Cassiar Highway



Meziadin Provincial Park, Cassiar Highway, B.C.



Bear Glacier - Stewart/Hyder Highway


Hyder, Alaska


At Fish Creek Bear viewing platform



Fish spawning

Leaving Hyder, Alaska

Border Crossing - Hyder, Alaska to Stewart, B.C.

South bound on the Cassiar Highway

SEPTEMBER 16 WEDNESDAY

Dad’s birthday - 79!!
Left camp at 6:30 Alaska time. Nice drive today and there is not very much traffic. All of the leaves are turning and the colors are beautiful. Stopped at Rancheria Falls for lunch. We have not seen a bear since we left Haines and there are not any "signs" that the bears have been on the road. Got fuel at Hwy 37 - $1.09 per litre. The Cassiar Highway runs from the Alaska Highway to Highway 16, a total of 450 miles. The first 50 miles were the worst - lots of construction. We drove 104 miles on the Cassiar and stayed at Dease River Crossing. This is a nice park on a lake but it rained so hard we could not even go outside. 368 miles today.


Rancheria Falls




Pilot car on the Cassiar Highway - REALLY!
Upper 50 miles of the Cassiar Highway



Dease River Crossing after a heavy rain


SEPTEMBER 15 TUESDAY

Pulled out of camp at 7:30. Got fuel in Haines $3.52 per gallon. Today was a beautiful day and we took a leisurely drive to Whitehorse about 250 miles. We made lots of stops along the way and saw one coyote. The Haines Highway summit was amazing. We made a stop at Kathleen Lake, one of our favorite stops. It was just starting to thaw on the way up in May. We fueled up in Whitehorse $1.039 per litre / $3.93 per gallon. Stayed in an RV park, had dinner, 1 load of laundry and 2 showers. Bob is not liking the noise and traffic!



Resident : Haines Highway Summit









Swans






Kathleen Lake, Yukon Territory