September 29/30--Dease Lake to McBride

Yesterday, Tuesday, we woke up at O-dark-thirty and got ready to leave. This is what greeted us when we got outside. We had never been snowed on in camp before, so we were unprepared for the mess that you get when you bring in the slide with even a little bit of snow on it. Lesson learned. Last night and tonight the slide comes in at bed time.

The snow was not just at Dease Lake. We had to climb a 4000 ft. pass and this is what we drove on to get there. We had just a wee bit of slipping in steering, but no loss of traction climbing the hills, and hills, and hills, and you get the idea. Before the day was over we had been in snow, rain, and hail.

But, of course we eventually, and ever so slowly, came back down the other side and got back into autumn. Winter stayed up high on the peaks. These are some of the Coastal Range.

Oh, and this is Canada, so that jog in the road is how they solve the problem of the side of the road caving in.

Around every curve was more breathtaking beauty. When He created British Columbia, God was just showing off.

Is it just me, or does that look cold?

Really, around every curve.

Okay. There is this around some of the curves. We are in Canada, and it is Construction season until the ground freezes. This was the only time the flagman was automated. Usually they are human-like.

He was shy-er than the bears I've grown used to. He didn't want to stay and pose for the camera.

We stopped for gas at Kitwanga, where the southbound Cassiar Hwy intersects with the east/west Yellowhead Hwy 16. We pulled to the pumps and a man came out to tell us he was out of gas. Then he went to tell Don. Somehow the conversation turned to truck washing. He had a setup to wash big rigs. The evidence of the construction zones we had passed through was stuck on our trucks and trailers. A couple of before pictures.

I am providing the supervision in this shot. Don had missed a spot.

Today, Wednesday, we got our first glimpse of the Canadian Rockies.

By the time we stopped for the night, the Rockies are on three sides. Tomorrow I think they will have surrounded us!

Monday, September 28-Teslin to Dease Lake

Are you sure it is still September?

Last night was a restless night, we were too tired or too excited to sleep. So, of course, we slept too late. At 4:00 I thought I’d probably be up at six, but it was closer to eight.

As we were leaving the RV park/restaurant/motel/gas station at Teslin, two semi’s pulled in with snow on their loads. Hmmm, wonder where they got that? A few miles down the road we got a view of Dawson Peaks off to the south.

A few more miles and we were trying to decide if it had snowed or if there was a really heavy frost. A few more miles made it pretty clear, it had snowed.

Soon, we had snowflakes in the air but not sticking to the road or hitting the windshield.
Then, I noticed the outside shower door flapping. The same thing has happened before, the latch is half broken and doesn’t stay locked. So I got on the radio and asked Don, “Do you have any duct tape?” as I pulled into a rest stop.
“Did you say duct tape?”
“Yes, duct tape.”
“I have a lot of it.” Surprise, surprise.

So with snowflakes blowing around our ears, we affected a reasonable repair-on-the-road. The hardest part was getting the cellophane wrap off of the new roll of tape.

A few miles after continuing on, a less adventurous person might ask, “Why are we still driving?”

But the road was not slippery, and I could see in my mirrors that my tires were contacting the pavement, and the visibility was fine for the speed we were driving, so we pressed on. It was really pretty and different enough to be fun.

We got gas at the junction of Alaska Hiway and Route 37, and, again, the juxtaposition of signs tickled our funny bones.


We stopped early at Dease Lake because we couldn’t count on anything down the road being open. This place is open, sort of. The water is off because the temperature will be -6 C tonight. (that’s about 20 F) Water is available at the pump house. Power is on, except at the lot Don went to, so he moved over one. The sewer is open, so we dumped holding tanks, again not sure what to expect down the road.
Gas is about 1.20 Canadian dollars per liter. We paid 4.39 for a can of refried beans. But the park is only 20 dollars, and we are the only guests. And the scenery, priceless.

Start Your Engines!

Our goal was to leave around noon today and we pulled out at 12:20 p.m. Not bad! We had to stop at Breakdown Point for old time memories but thankfully we were not broken down. Time for a walk around to see that everything is working correctly.

It was 34 degrees at the Summit and we were glad it was no colder. A lot of the colors we've been watching the last few weeks seem to be past their prime but it is all so colorful compared to the trip up in April. Look at all the snow on these higher points. Remember, when we were here in April everything was white and I can't even imagine how deep the snow was on these high ridges.
I just like messing around with the camera and the binoculars. We stopped to say goodbye to the goats that came out to wave.
This gorgeous bear came out to say goodbye too. Actually, he was so busy eating dandelions (yes, they've reappeared) that he just collapsed on the ground and ate away.

We made it as far as Teslin and decided to stop at the RV park. We don't have many neighbors.

We stayed here on the way up in April but the RV park wasn't open at that time. Bill has checked out the showers and we're both looking forward to loooooong hot showers. Six or eight gallons of hot water in the RV make for short showers. Then off to bed...Don likes to travel early...I think a compromise is in order.

Note: the showers were great and we are grateful.

Outside v Inside

The rain abated today. Thank you.
Outside, all I have to do is disconnect utilities and hook-up. I am in the same condition of readiness as if we had been here only overnight.
Inside, however, is a shambles. I have things (temporarily) everywhere. But, Peggie asked Trish if she could end work today so we can get out tomorrow, so she will be available to offer helpful suggestions on where I can put things for traveling. If I follow all of her suggestions I may be unable to sit. ba-da-pum
But seriously, folks, I do think we can be ready in 2-3 more hours.
Don is aaalllmost done with ATA. He has to turn in uniforms and keys. In sewing terms, all done but the hem.
So, aside from getting things ship shape here, we were in town (we being Don and I) and ran into two Liarsville performers all packed up to hike the Chilkoot Trail. All they needed was a ride to the trailhead. Happy to oblige. One last trip there (Dyea) was called for anyway. We saw 8-10 very large birds that turned out to be immature eagles. Bald eagles don't get white headed until they are 5 years old. And what else did we see, you ask? Why, a couple of big ol' grizzlies of course. As I mentioned earlier, the King salmon are now running up the Taiya River. The harbor seals were also well upriver having their fill.
Not to jinx anything, but it should be noted that I worked all day without breaking anything, losing anything, hurting myself, or having to make a hardware store run. Good, huh?huh? Yeah!

Windy Wind Up!

Today we will try to wind things up here in an attempt to leave tomorrow. The rain is on temporary hold, but the wind is trying to blow us away early.
Speaking of kodiak moments, Don went out on the last jeep tour Wed. and they saw four bears and two porcupines. One of the porcupines was roadkill, so of course they had to stop and look closely at it. They were absolutely thrilled to see the claw marks on its belly indicating that it had been viscerated by a bear.
Roger, Janie's husband, finally got to go salmon fishing in Dyea as the king salmon begin their run up the Taiya River. Some rangers approached him in a boat to inform him that he was sharing the river and the fish with three grizzlies. He had been so engrossed in the process that he had not even noticed. The bears had more success than he did.
Winter is coming on with a vengeance now that fall has arrived officially. The interior has had freezing temperatures and lowering snow levels. Skagway is still in the 40's and 50's thanks to the south wind. It is fun talking with people about the trip home. Some are worried that snow will be a problem. Some tell us that the last time they drove the Cassiar it was very rough. We just say that since we have a home on wheels we can stop to wait out a snow storm, and that the last time we drove the Cassiar it was very rough, but it is fine if you just slow down. We are going to let the weather determine if we go through Jasper and Banff.
Yesterday I took Barry and Corrinne to the ferry and said goodbye. Don was there dropping off Kyler, so we went to lunch at Sweet Tooth. I did the laundry, so we can begin our trip with clean clothes. Don aired up all of our tires. I got a fair start on repacking for the road. We had our last card game last night. Peggie feels it is important to point out that I had the low score. Tonight we are going out to dinner to say goodbye to everyone. I think it is that nobody wants to fix dinner at home because we are all packing up.

A lot is not happening

At 6:00 AM this morning Jim did not start up his noisy diesel truck to go to work. All summer, except on his days off, Jim has left for his job driving a big diesel bus in his noisy diesel pickup at 6:00AM. Everybody in the trailer park is aware of Jim's comings and goings.
For the last two hours, trains have not been chugging and rumbling and clattering and screeching down to the docks to load passengers who are not streaming off of cruise ships that are not sitting at the docks.
The streets are not full of walkers and bike riders making their way downtown to service the thousands of cruisers who will not be in town today.
Peggie and Corrinne are not avoiding a walk or bike ride in the rain by riding in my bus downtown.
All up and down Broadway shops and stores and restaurants are not opening for business.
We are not leaving town today because Peggie is not done inventorying and storing everything in two stores.
I am not driving a tour today because I AM done.

Goodbye Veendam

We heard there was going to be a big party at the dock when the last ship leaves and the season is over. Being the wild adventurers that we are we decided we couldn't miss it. We bundled up and went to the dock. The party-ers were mostly young and ready to party into the night and a lot of the passengers on the ship were ready to party too. There was lots of singing and shouting back and forth and once the mooring lines were released security allowed the crowd to go farther down the dock. Much mooning and flashing proceeded. We decided to pass on that part; we're not THAT adventurous. By the end of the evening we were pretty wet from the rain but agreed that we were glad we saw the final departure. Movies may follow.

Here's one of the signs we enjoyed.