And the beat goes on...from the sound of raindrops that is!
Views riding down into the Stikine Grand Canyon.
Cabin in the area have character!
The Bear glacier on the road into Stewart.
The Salmon glacier outside Hyder on the road to Granduc mine.
Lava heaved up on the valley floor in the Nis'ga Lava Bed Memorial Pov. Park.
The town dock in the Portland Inlet at the village of Kinkolith.
Ken partaking in one of his favorate pastimes, looking for wild mushrooms.
Leaving Watson Lake we were in search of nice weather and heat enough to warm us threw and threw. It has not happened yet but we are not deterred. South from Watson Lake we headed to Deases Lake and with the clouds parting just long enough we made a beeline for Telegraph Creek, 114 km west of Deases Lake. A beautiful ride along the Stikine River, at one time the road balanced on the top of a bluff, banks down to the river on each side, with the Stikine Grand Canyon off in the distance, then the road twisted down the hillside to the water and to the small community of Telegraph Creek. We returned back to the truck just in time for the rain to start again.
From Deases Lake it was down to Stewart and Hyder Alaska. The skies cleared once again long enough for us to cross the border in the U.S. and unload the bike in Hyder, then we road 37 km farther up to the Salmon Glacier and yet again farther up to the Granduc mine and the area where Ken worked in 1988. The Salmon Glacier is the largest glacier that is accessible by car so we parked directly above it and viewed in the immensity of what we could actually see. With the price of gold and copper raising, once again the mines are reopening, the area could use a bit of an economic boost as most of Hyder is now closed down. We did happen to find a great little restaurant called "The Bus"(which is what it actually was) that served up an fresh and hot plate of halibut fish and chips and a sweet and tasty dungeness crab...yum, yum! After the one day touring the area the rain on our roof chased us from the campsite in the middle of the night and we were on the road again. Our feet are getting pruned!
South of Stewart we took a 50 km gravel shortcut at Cranberry Junction which took us to the Nass Valley and the small native village of New Aiyansh. Did you know that B.C. has had a volcanic eruption about 250 years ago in this area? We didn't! A 26 km lava flow covered the valley and apparently about 2000 natives were killed. Ken and I figured we both must have missed that day in history class when they were teaching us about it! The valley is also on the top on the list for harvesting wild mushrooms(and you know how much we love to partake in that past time). We met a couple local retired teachers and amateur naturalists, Dawn and Dez, who took us out into the mountains in search of the wild mushrooms: boleteus edifus, hedge hog and pine mushrooms. After a soggy afternoon in the bush we returned to their place, an awesome house and studio(Dawn is also an artist)over looking the Tseax River, to cook up our treasures and enjoy a tasty dinner of salmon. Wow, what a great afternoon, what a treat! Thank goodness we met Dawn out on her bike on a rainy day. Farther down the Nass Valley we walked over the swinging bridge over the Nass River in Canyon City, checked out the local museum in Greenville and continued down to Kinkolith where we were able to purchase some crab and halibut for a very reasonable price. Ken filleted the halibut and I boiled the crab, oh! and another local sold us some canned salmon and smoked salmon, once again our freezer is full.
Once again we are on the road and it is raining! Out of the Nass Valley and on we go to Terrace, time to stock up on groceries, and then to Kitimat where in case you haven't heard Ken was conceived and his sister Joanne was born. That takes us to today. Lots and lots of fishermen here, and they don't mind standing fishing in the river in the rain, fishing is that good. About the only other thing here is the Alcan plant, which we were going to tour but, low and behold, no tours this year due to an update they are doing on site. Kitimat is a model city built by Alcan and the plan is flawless with a great rec. center, bike and atv trails and a very nice, warm, dry library which is where we are now!
From here it was to be on to Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlettes but....we may pass in loo of looking for drier territory. Maybe Smithers and a visit with friends from the Baja.
Something is amiss up here in the north and for some reason pictures will not download, I guess that will be another day!
From Deases Lake it was down to Stewart and Hyder Alaska. The skies cleared once again long enough for us to cross the border in the U.S. and unload the bike in Hyder, then we road 37 km farther up to the Salmon Glacier and yet again farther up to the Granduc mine and the area where Ken worked in 1988. The Salmon Glacier is the largest glacier that is accessible by car so we parked directly above it and viewed in the immensity of what we could actually see. With the price of gold and copper raising, once again the mines are reopening, the area could use a bit of an economic boost as most of Hyder is now closed down. We did happen to find a great little restaurant called "The Bus"(which is what it actually was) that served up an fresh and hot plate of halibut fish and chips and a sweet and tasty dungeness crab...yum, yum! After the one day touring the area the rain on our roof chased us from the campsite in the middle of the night and we were on the road again. Our feet are getting pruned!
South of Stewart we took a 50 km gravel shortcut at Cranberry Junction which took us to the Nass Valley and the small native village of New Aiyansh. Did you know that B.C. has had a volcanic eruption about 250 years ago in this area? We didn't! A 26 km lava flow covered the valley and apparently about 2000 natives were killed. Ken and I figured we both must have missed that day in history class when they were teaching us about it! The valley is also on the top on the list for harvesting wild mushrooms(and you know how much we love to partake in that past time). We met a couple local retired teachers and amateur naturalists, Dawn and Dez, who took us out into the mountains in search of the wild mushrooms: boleteus edifus, hedge hog and pine mushrooms. After a soggy afternoon in the bush we returned to their place, an awesome house and studio(Dawn is also an artist)over looking the Tseax River, to cook up our treasures and enjoy a tasty dinner of salmon. Wow, what a great afternoon, what a treat! Thank goodness we met Dawn out on her bike on a rainy day. Farther down the Nass Valley we walked over the swinging bridge over the Nass River in Canyon City, checked out the local museum in Greenville and continued down to Kinkolith where we were able to purchase some crab and halibut for a very reasonable price. Ken filleted the halibut and I boiled the crab, oh! and another local sold us some canned salmon and smoked salmon, once again our freezer is full.
Once again we are on the road and it is raining! Out of the Nass Valley and on we go to Terrace, time to stock up on groceries, and then to Kitimat where in case you haven't heard Ken was conceived and his sister Joanne was born. That takes us to today. Lots and lots of fishermen here, and they don't mind standing fishing in the river in the rain, fishing is that good. About the only other thing here is the Alcan plant, which we were going to tour but, low and behold, no tours this year due to an update they are doing on site. Kitimat is a model city built by Alcan and the plan is flawless with a great rec. center, bike and atv trails and a very nice, warm, dry library which is where we are now!
From here it was to be on to Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlettes but....we may pass in loo of looking for drier territory. Maybe Smithers and a visit with friends from the Baja.
Something is amiss up here in the north and for some reason pictures will not download, I guess that will be another day!
posted by world travellers @ 3:15 PM
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