B.C Roadtrip 2008: July 2008

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Watson Lake to Grande Cache

Monday around noon I started driving down the famous Alaskan Highway direction Liard Hot Springs where I spent the night and took a bath in the wonderful natural hot springs. the next day my drive took me through the Northern Rockies down to Fort Nelson. The Northern Rockies are wonderful with colorful lakes and ruff eroded peaks. There was also a lot more wildlife to see. Now I approached a little bit flatter territories to drive through before I enter the more famous part of the Rockies.

Blackbear

Buffalo

Muncho Lake Prov. Park, Northern Rockies

Mountain Sheeps

Muncho Lake

Deer

Indian Head Mountain ( close to Fort Nelson)

Dawson Creek

I also spent a night in Dawson Creek a little town close to the border to Alberta where the Mile 0 of the famous Alaskan Highway is located. After Dawson Creek I drove via Grand Prarie to Grand Cache which is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta which is a cute little place.

Heritage Town

Mile 0 Signpost of the Alaskan Highway

Alaska Hotel Dawson Creek

Dawson Creek

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Steward to Watson Lake

On Sunday I arrived in Steward which is 67km west of Highway 37 on the end of an inlet. In the afternone I crossed the border into Hyder Alaska and drove up on a bumpy gravelroad to the Salmon Glacier Viewpoint. Despite the low clouds it was an amazing view and the drive up there was breathtaking. I spent the night in the wonderful Glacier Adventures B&B and then headed back to Highway 37 which is also a very scenic drive. Unfortunately the weather was very bad when I headed out of Steward, but further north on Highway 37 it cleared up a little bit. Along the way there was a lot of wildelife to see. I spottet several blackbears something like a cougar and also a blackbear mother with two cubs. By the end of the day I crossed the border to the Yukon and spent the night in Watson Lake from where you can see the Northern Lights during winter.

Entering Hyder Alaska

Salmon Glacier Alaska

Steward Fire Station

House in Steward

Blackbear along Cassiar Highway

Bear Cubs

Nisga'a Memorial Lava Bed Prov. Park

On Friday I haeded up to Nisga'a Memorial Lava Bed Prov. Park where I spent the whole day and the night. The park is a volcanic area which is native land. It just happened that on this Friday a native festival started and I had the chance to see a little bit of the native tradition. Other then that there was a lot of colourful water and old lava to see. In the evenig I went to a pub where I got in touch with some native people and could listen to there stories.

Lava Lake

Lava Bed

Totempoles New Ayanish

New Ayanish

Treehole in Lava

Suspencionbridge

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Williams Lake to Prince Rupert

Last Saturday morning I left Williams Lake direction Prince George. This ride wasn't very scenic it's mostly farmland and also the little detour over Barkervill, a historic town, wasn't really interesting. In Prince George I visited the University of Northern BC which has a very nice architecture. Then I haded west again on the Yellowhead highway direction Prince Rupert. The first over night stop was in Burns Lake a small town about 200km west of Prince George. The next day I drove to Smithers with a few stops along the highway to take some pictures of the scenery that started to get better and better. In smithers I camped for a night and the next morning I visited the Twin Falls a place where you can see two big waterfalls. Yesterday I made my way to Terrace which is the last town before Prince Rupert. On the way I stopped in Moricetown where you can watch the native people fish from the rocks. The second stop on this day was in Hazelton where I visited a native village with totempoles. In the evening I spent the night in a provincial park close to Terrace which is just a few minutes away of Mount Layton Hot Springs where I spent the evening. Today I finally made my way to Prince Rupert.