May 23rd, 2024 - A Rainy Day on the Cassier Highway

(Note: the next few blogs will be picture intensive!) 

We woke to blue skies and off we went:

As we started on the Cassier Highway, it became cloudy and rainy and stayed that way.  I know it is what it is but I was a little sad because the scenery is beautiful.  

So here are some pictures along the way:

Snow covered mountains and rushing rivers:

Many logging trucks:

Yes, they do have electric - LOL!:

So many lakes and ponds:

This is the southern end of the Cassier. To get to Alaska by car, there are only two routes - the Cassier Highway and the Alaskan Highway.  The Alaskan Highway is the main route with services not too far apart.  The Cassier is remote with only a few services in 450 miles.  Since the Alaskan Highway is closed due to the wildfires, this is the only way north.

I have to say that there was very little traffic.  We were told that all the trucks were being diverted to this road.  We did see some but not what we expected.

We took this road in 2009 and there were some areas that were little more than a trail.  There were areas (like 150 miles) of dirt or gravel and very narrow.  So we are interested in seeing this journey.

Here is the road today:

Sometimes there are lines, sometimes not.  Our opinion for today...the roads are no different than many of the Pennsylvania back roads.  However, the scenery is more spectacular - LOL!

Large river beds:

Mostly wooden bridges:

Talking about the services - this was a great map for us because there was no cell or internet on the Cassier.

We fueled in Kitwanga and tomorrow we will fuel in Iskut.  Then we should be good until we are on the Alaskan Highway.

We passed the turnoff for Stewart and Hyder and kept going.  We were there in 2009 and it is quite an interesting area.  However, the big draw is the glacier and the bears when the salmon are running.  The salmon will not be running for a few months.  Last time we went to see the glacier, it was raining and the road was very slippery.  So we decided to bypass it this time.

Our first stop was Meziadin Provincial Park.  We went thru the campground and it is BEAUTIFUL!  But it was raining and cold and would be that way for the next two days.  So we decided to continue north.

We did end our day at Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park.  I just LOVE the British Columbia Provincial Parks.  Our site:

Looking our my notes - we were here in 2009! 

Our views:

Information on the Cassier:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/driving-and-cycling/traveller-information/routes-and-driving-conditions/highway-37-stewart-cassiar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart%E2%80%93Cassiar_Highway 

Today we saw bear, moose, fox and a rabbit.  Sadly I did not get pictures!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 258 Miles - Mostly in the Rain

Routes Traveled:

British Columbia:  BC-62; CA-16; BC-37 (Cassier Highway)

September 6, 2009 – More British Columbia Travels

Our travels continued today.  We finished the Cassiar Highway then headed east on the Yellowhead Highway towards Prince George. The country side goes from mountains to farmland.  And we saw cows today – haven’t seen them in a while – :-))

The towns we passed thru are getting larger than what we saw.  In Smithers, when we saw a Safeway – I really got excited – LOL!!  We had been getting real low on supplies and some of the areas we were, well, prices were high, so I didn’t buy!

We ended our day at Beaumont Provincial Park near Fort Fraser, BC.

Here is Fraser Lake:

And our site:

 

And another great campfire.

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 216 Miles

Routes Traveled:

British Columbia:  PH-37 (Cassiar Highway); PH-16 (Yellowhead Highway)

September 5, 2009 – Cassiar and Totem Poles

With a final farewell to Alaska, we continued our travels today heading east and south on the Cassiar.  Some final pictures from the road of glaciers:

 

We stopped at Kitwanga.  They have a free municipal campground so we checked it out and decided to stay – our site:

There are a number of First Nation Villages in this area that have authentic totem poles so off we went to see them.

We drove into the village of Gitwangak and here are the poles:

 

 

 

How interesting.  There was a little info stand here but it was closed.  So off we went to Gitanyow.  Here is information on the Totem Poles:

Here are some of the poles and a museum – the museum was closed – :-(((

 

Back at the MH, the park supplied free firewood, so… you know the rest.  We did not sit out long because the rain started – Oh well!!

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 132 Miles

Routes Traveled:

British Columbia: PH-37 (Cassiar Highway)

September 3, 2009 – The Cassiar – Day 3 and More Bears

We continued on down the Cassiar and we are going into high mountains, deep valleys and glacier country.  Some scenes from the road:

We left the Cassiar and headed to Stewart, B.C. / Hyder, AK.   Spectacular scenery!!  This is Bear Glacier:

We are staying at Bear Paw RV Park in Stewart, B.C. – full hookups – we are going to get spoiled – LOL!!!

After setting up we took a drive around Stewart and then Hyder:

What is interesting is that there are no customs going over to AK but a small Canadian customs on the way back.  There are about 70 year round residents in Hyder and this is the only way in when driving.

Hyder is famous for its bear viewing.  Here is Fish Creek.  On the right hand side is the walkway.  The ranger station is at one end and there is an escape area at the other – just in case the bears come onto the walkway.  There is also a big sign that says to stay in your car when the station is not open – Oh my!

Here is the lake behind Fish Creek – how about that water color:

And we rewarded – :-))).  According to the ranger, this is a female bear about 6-7 years old named Mira (yes, they name their bears!):

We watched her for quite a while from the walkway until she went under the bridge.  It was really neat watching her catch the salmon.  Sometimes she caught one and sometimes not..

We are staying another day here and hope to get to Salmon Glacier tomorrow so stay tuned.

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 163 miles

Routes Traveled:

British Columbia: PH-37 (Cassiar Highway); PH-37A (Stewart-Hyder Spur Highway)