Blog #13 Boya Lake, BC to Florence, AZ

Dave and Jeannine departed early for the south and Phil & Linda along with Bruce & Kim, enjoyed two days relaxing on the shores of Boya Lake in one of British Columbia’s finest campgrounds.  Jade City beckons a few miles south where giant blocks of the mineral are chopped from the earth and sent to China for processing into various trinkets for the traveling public. This area is also home to the now closed Cassiar asbestos mine which lends its name to the highway, and to several gold mining operations. This is a very scenic trip leading to the Town of Dease Lake where gas fill ups and tank dumping took place.  Further down the road is a wide swath cut through the forest which eventually will bring power to the communities and residents of northeastern BC, replacing the need for diesel generators. This multi- billion dollar project is impressive in its magnitude and will bring new development to the area.

Our next campground will be at Meziadin Lake.  We arrived and were fortunate to score two sites on the lakeshore, with power, normally unavailable in Provincial camp grounds.  Linda was pleased to hear Loons and see them swimming close to the shore.  Since the sites were not reserved we spent two nights here and took a day trip to Stewart and Hyder.  In Stewart we found that Canada Day was to be celebrated with a Parade and cookout/bake sale/ community celebration.  As is the case in many Canadian communities the RCMP provide a prominent and colorful lead dressed in their Dress Red Uniforms.  With half of the population in the Parade the spectator crowd was limited, but we and a few other tourists fleshed out the cheering squad. 

On to Hyder, AK we went and up the road to see the Salmon Glacier hoping that the meal we ate at a ‘roadside trailer stand’ would not do us in.  Twelve miles in, and great views of the glacier convinced us that was enough, plus the fact that Bruce was now succumbing to the bug.

 

So we left the town that bills itself as the friendliest Ghost Town in North America. We cleared customs back into Canada and retreated to our campsite.

At Kitwanga we gassed up and headed to Prince George where, lo and behold, a Costco exists for your purchasing pleasure.  Down the highway to Fort Telkwa with a campsite overlooking the Bulkley river which also had views and sounds of the passing freight trains.  Houston soon appeared and Bruce looked with envy at the world’s largest fly fishing rod and imagined himself reeling in the big rainbow caught with the famous “wooley bugger”.

Later that day we checked into yet another well managed BC Provincial Park at 10 Mile Lake.  No spots on the lake but lots to choose from, at the upper level. We camped and had a fire using up the last of our transported firewood.  Then, from here we were on our way to a much anticipated stop at 108 Mile Ranch Resort, which Jeff and Bev Kendy manage during the summer months.  Our arrival was noted on a leader board in the Lobby and Jeff soon showed up to welcome us and get us settled in our RV sites.  We spent the evening having a great dinner with Jeff and the next day challenged the Resort’s golf course.  The course won but we had fun and were very pleased with the generosity of Jeff and the staff at the resort.

Not much further south lies Kamloops where Yusi and Vish Malliah were anxiously awaiting our arrival.  We checked our rigs into a campground up the road from their home and went back to spend the night with them, where we could enjoy a great Indian feast and drink copious amounts of wine etc., in addition to a birthday cake for Linda, without having to drive home.

Golfing at Rivershore Golf Course, where many Anthem people hang out in the summer,  proved once again that our golf skills need honing (we’d all brought ‘Sunday’ bags of clubs, so were without many of our trusty clubs).  We did blame the heat, however, just as most golfers do.  Bruce and Kim headed out early the next day for Seattle, while Phil & Linda stayed another night before heading to Chilliwack to visit Linda’s sister and family and a second birthday cake.

Returning to the U.S. for each of us was a different experience.  Ayres crossed first, taking close to an hour.  Odegaard’s were next, and found that the “ Agricultural Boys “ wanted to board their trailer, checking to see what remained of an eight week trip and several border crossings.  Drapers returned a couple of days later and were greeted with “what did you see, any meat or veggies (yes, to some Elk meat from Alaska) and a ‘welcome home’”.  We had all pretty much cleaned out refrigerators and cupboards before hitting the Border.

Everyone would head back to Arizona after visits in Washington with family and friends.  Mind you, we think Ayres are still on the road…..they were heading to California and another visit with their grandson.  Odegaard’s drove back in three days and two nights.  It took Drapers longer….they’re the slow ones!!  First night out, it was discovered the AC unit in the trailer had ‘bit the dust’ and temperatures were in the high 90’s!!  A Mobile Repair service confirmed that the ‘motherboard’ was done in and it would need parts from the manufacturer to be repaired.  The second night in Idaho proved reasonably comfortable after opening all the windows.  The third night, south of Provo Utah, they headed to higher country where a promise of trees and hopefully cooler temperature might prevail. The camp site in Nephi UT turned out to be a winner with lots of trees and a refreshing breeze.  Since the last leg was a bit far for driving all the way to Anthem they spent the night in Flagstaff in an interesting and very full KOA campground. 

After eight weeks and close to 11,000 miles of travel, it was good to slip into our own beds.  Odegaards were in three days ahead of Drapers and had just about completed their trailer ‘clean out’.  Drapers arrived to 100 degree temperatures, cleaned the trailer out and took it to the dealer for ‘fix ‘n repair’ and await its return before heading back to Washington.

What a wonderful experience!!  We all realized just how fortunate we are in living where we do.  We saw amazing sights and beautiful scenery in both countries. Some of the animals had not received the ‘memo’ that we would be passing through but we did see lots of wild life.  We were welcomed by family and friends in several spots and will have lots of memories.

Blog 12 Skagway to Meziadin Provincial Park

Beer, beer, beer.....it doesn't matter where we travel we are always able to locate beer.  Much surprise  as we came upon a display in Skagway, Alaska comprised of a famous beer from Seattle.  Rainier Beer was never on the menu, but finding the label was a great memory of home and a reminder of the importance of Seattle to the Gold Rush of the 1890's.

 

Skagway remains a bust and boom city born out of necessity with the discovery of gold and the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897.  Overnite a small town's population grew to over 20,000 people, most with visions of striking it rich on gold. As a natural port and gateway to the gold fields many set out from Skagway with 1 ton of goods as required by the Canadian government. The trip to the north proved insurmountable for many and treacherous to all.  Very few men succeeded in getting rich from gold, but providing services to those traveling over the Chilkoot Trail and beyond proved profitable.  Many offered fair services for a fair dollar, but the region was also filled with those who took advantage of the gold seekers. One scrupulous fellow offered "gold lotion".  Apply it all over your body and then roll around in the gold fields.  The gold will attach to your body!  Another gentlemen sold trained gophers.  The specific gophers had been bred for large pouches in their mouths.  They would tunnel and do all the work and at the end of the day drop the gold nuggets at your feet. One ingenious man developed a bicycle with a sidecar. The owner could then ride the bike over the narrow, steep  trail carrying his 2000 pounds of supplies!!! This never worked due to a trail that was barely single file and difficult to walk on, let alone carry anything.

1899 brought the end to the gold rush, leaving the town to shrink to almost nothing. By 1903 only one settler resided in Skagway.  Today it is back on the map with a summer population near 1000 to accommodate and service the 3 to 4 cruise ships that arrive daily.

The sheer beauty of Alaska and the area around Skagway is certainly displayed in the above photo of Tormented Valley as viewed from the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway.

Leaving Skagway we truly began our trip back towards British Columbia and the USA.  Our next few stops were at Provincial Parks where somehow we were fortunate to score lake front campsites. Another rare occurrence on our trek was rain.  Yes it did interfere with a few plans, but considering 60 days on the road our weather was superb.  We encountered a pretty good thunder and lightning storm at Boya Lake.  Always a joy to watch the lightning over the water.  The following day the blue skies reappeared as we headed down the road.  Shortly after leaving Boya we spotted a fox.  I quickly grabbed the camera for what I presumed would be a brief photo-op.  After my photo of the fox walking away from the passenger side, he walked over to Bruce's side of the truck and looked up, much like a dog greeting his master. After telling Dave this story, it seems that is his M.O.  This fox did the same thing to them when leaving the campground.  Both Dave and Bruce admitted that while this was "cool" they did question how high can a fox jump?

As Dave and Jeannine headed south, the Draper's and the Ode's made a short jaunt back to Alaska to visit the town of Hyder. Population 90 and all we could find to eat at was the Road Kill Café.  No one got sick, but that is all I will report on that unique dining experience.
 
Our reason for visiting Hyder was to view the Bear and the Salmon Arm Glaciers.

The glaciers were beautiful and the town was unique...or should I say sparsely populated.  While there were no customs as we enter the USA, appropriate signage was visible as we left Hyder and traveled back into Canada.