Day 20 Just Another Day

My exciting sighting of the day- bear poop in the campground!

NOTE: There will be at least 5 more blog entries and photos added (photos by the end of the month). So please check back throughout the month. Since this blog is also a journal of sorts I will also be editing and adding to each day's entries. I'm often writing at the end of the day when I'm tired or early morning when I need to get on the road so I want to clean up the entries.

260 miles from Tyhee Lake Provincial Park to Canyon Creek Campground RV park in Hixon B.C. I’m so glad today dawned cloudy with the sun peeking out now and again. It made for much easier driving. From the looks of the clouds and roads around Prince George, I just missed some pretty heavy duty rain showers. The campground host confirmed that it has been raining for a week and the rain has been heavier than normal.

Today was pretty much just driving down a typical two-lane highway. Too cloudy to see the mountains I read about.

Watched the bushes come alive at Lake Tyhee this morning as robins gorged themselves on red osier dogwood berries.  Once again I fell asleep and woke up to the serenades of common loons. I wish we hadn’t developed all of our lakes in western Washington and allowed motor boats on them. Maybe we’d still have some common loons nesting on them.

As I left this morning I found evidence of the bear that the little yellow signs throughout the campground warned of- a giant pile of fresh bear poop in the road!

I have been thinking about all of the wildlife crossing signs everywhere. They are warnings for deer, moose, elk, wild horses, sheep, bear, and caribou in the appropriate areas however, the only one slowing down or seemingly paying attention is me. I swear everyone else speeds up! I’m doing at least 60 mph and they’re going 80. I think the conclusion that these warning signs don’t work is evident here. And drivers here love to pass just before the no passing zone starts. People are crazy passers here. I keep an eye out for them passing the opposite direction in case they are still in my lane which has happened a couple of times.

Random thought- I’ve noticed that Canadians refer to bathrooms/restrooms as washrooms.

I have so much time to ponder. (Chuckle) This land feels only partially domesticated; other places totally wild. There are still large tracts of intact temperate forest, boreal forest, tundra, taiga, muskeg, lakes, ponds, and rivers. Most areas have small to tiny towns which all seem to have bear, moose, wolf, elk or some other truly wild wildlife roaming around. It’s not like western Washington where we have eliminated the habitat for all but the hardiest- coyote, raccoon, opossum, sometimes deer. It’s not a panacea here. There’s plenty of poverty evident, especially in the First Nations villages/towns. And the resource extraction for forestry, mining, and oil and gas is extremely damaging. Roads and towns have been built in wildlife migratory paths and reduced the population of those species, e.g. caribou. I like that there are less people here and I saw no major development anywhere- none. The wild places aren’t being swallowed up like what is happening in Snohomish County (third fastest growing county in Washington). There are tradeoffs but how much money do you need? Besides things in our state have become so expensive making it impossible to get ahead. Retiring here is not my choice because I won't be able to afford a house or food on a fixed income in 6 years. It’s finding the balance of what you need in your life to be safe, secure, and healthy with the sacrifices you’re willing to make (weather, grocery stores located farther away, etc.). Life-pondering stuff.

Tomorrow I'm headed to the Cache Creek area for my final night out on the road. Back to the rest area where I started this amazing trip. It's unlikely there will be wifi so the next time I write it will be from home, IF I can get through the border crossing!

Advice- If you ever travel the Yellowhead Highway #16, avoid the Chevron at Fraser Lake. This is the first time I’ve come upon such condescending and rude people. If I’d known there was another station just down the road I would have left. Based on his comments, I suspect it’s because I’m an American and a woman. Pretty good for 20 days and no other assholes, though.

Canyon Creek RV Park

Wildlife- several kestrels, bald eagle, black bear, winter wren, common loons, American robins, hairy woodpecker, black-capped chickadees, Canada geese, osprey, tiny frog (I missed him and so did everyone else if he kept his pace up), crows, coyote.

Lesson #20 Your happiness comes from within. Find your happiness spot and take it wherever you go.

Day 19 Rain Oh My Rain!

Lichens and mosses, just like home!

So wet...

226 miles- Camp Run-a-Muck to Tyhee Lake Provincial Park campground today with a late start at 1pm. The rain has poured, and I mean poured, since the early morning hours all through the 5 hour drive until I stopped for the day, around 6pm or so. Hooking up the trailer in a deep mud puddle- not very fun. It also made for a tough drive in tire grooves full of water which grabbed the truck and trailer (2 weeks ago I nearly stopped the trip for this). This time I dodged them and when I couldn’t I took my foot off the gas and held the steering wheel firmly (not white knuckle). Seems I’ve developed some confidence towing the trailer. Don’t think for a minute I like towing it in those conditions though.

View from the boardwalk

I arrived at the Fish Creek Bear viewing boardwalk (about 500 feet long) around 8:15 am and stayed for 2 hours in the pouring rain. I saw no bears just screaming mew gulls (I thought they “mewed”, no they scream!) and lots of dead and dying salmon. There had only been one black bear seen earlier. Apparently, the bear numbers have been down all season. People were seeing both wolves and a grizzly along the river catching salmon so I decided to spend some time looking for them. All I saw were a bunch of bald eagles (okay I do love them, too). I talked for quite a while on the boardwalk with a kiwi family (New Zealanders). Did you know that the only native mammal in NZ is a small bat? There are no predators, no scary snakes, nada, just sheep and a few cows. They've had to adapt a bit to the bears here in Hyder. We talked of their trip of a lifetime and mine; although they came farther. They told me of beautiful coastlines, kiwis, glaciers, etc. and convinced me I should make the 30? hour (ouch) trip to visit New Zealand.

The blue lagoon at Fish Creek

Once I was hooked up I hit the border crossing, again, at Stewart. I was asked if I had any firearms, again (we just went through this yesterday), and said nope. There’s nothing in Hyder so I don’t know where I would get any. The Canadians have the border crossing so when you leave Hyder you have to stop. Even though it’s not staffed 24 hours a day, you still have to pick up the phone and let them know you are crossing if it’s between midnight and 8am. How silly. Apparently, last year they were actually gating and closing the crossing from midnight to 8am. The towns were in an uproar, protesting the cost-cutting measure. They even had BC and Alaska politicians involved. The gating lasted a little over two months.

Mew gull on quite a meal

Spawning and spawned out salmon carcasses

I thought I was on my way when I decided to stop at the only open gift shop in Hyder where I met Caroline at Boundary Gallery and Gifts. I bought more Christmas gifts and chatted with her for quite a while. She encouraged me to get a job with the forest service and move there; not to mention she has a house for sale. Her description of how things are done reminded me of my seasons in Stehekin when I worked for the National Park Service. Mail comes in Monday and Wednesday on the plane from Ketchikan. You order your groceries and their flown in; Amazon Prime is cheap. Once a year you drive to Terrace and stock up (Looks like a 4 hour drive, maybe). The pharmacy in Ketchikan sends 2 months’ worth of prescriptions because sometimes the plane can’t get in. There’s a hospital in Stewart (I wonder if that’s where medical services are provided) but it’s Canadian medical). They get a fair amount of snow but not as much rain as Ketchikan which is 75 air miles over the mountains. Hmmm…tempting.

So many cascades along the highway to Stewart-Hyder

Spawning salmon in Fish Creek

I had noticed that all of Caroline's items had some sort of security tag on them. While chatting she told me that people shoplift from her place. That's sad considering this is how she survives. She also told me that the worst shoplifters are widowed old ladies! She actually locks up the shop when she sees a tour bus full of them. Guess I can't blame her since there is no police force in Hyder.

Finally on the road! I had two different black bears run across the highway which was a surprise both times. Lots of room to enjoy them and not hit the brakes.

Bear Creek Canyon

The well-used southern part of the Cassiar highway has the Nass River bridge on it; a one lane bridge with a wooden deck which seemed out of place considering the amount of traffic.

Once I left the Cassiar Highway and hit the Yellowhead Highway I could really feel civilization again. I miss the wilderness feel already. Sadly, it’ll be this way most of the rest of the drive home.

I missed the ancient totem poles but I didn’t see any directional signs and the weather was miserable. I’ll be going back to Hyder for more time to watch for bears and wolves and to find the totem poles at Gitanyow and Kitwanga. It’s probably a 2 ½ day drive if you get your butt going in the morning.

Cassiar Highway

Made it to Lake Tyhee Provincial Park tonight in Telkwa. Too tired to back in perfectly so we’re trying not to roll out of bed since the trailer is at a downhill angle. LOL. Tomorrow on to the Prince George area and Highway 97, retracing my first two days of this entire adventure.

Lake Tyhee camp site

Wildlife- black bear (2), vole, Swainson’s hawk, belted kingfisher, bald eagles, common mergansers.

Lesson #19 Be confident in your ability to adapt and change.