So I was about to go north. But which way to go?
The fastest way is to take Coquhalla Highway up to Kamloops, and then Highway 97 to Prince George. But that was not what I wanted. I wanted to go slow and see places, so I opted for Highway 99, also known as Sea to Sky Highway. It is amazingly spectacular road that twists between Pacific Ocean and mountains. I cannot tell more how I am in love with this road. And I really wanted to show it to my dad.
Day 1. Vancouver – Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park. 620 km.
I wanted to make an early start this time, but as always, tiny last minute stuff kept us in town all morning and we were able to leave only by 10 am.
The weather was not really cooperating, dark clouds and drizzle did not help much to switch my mind from crazy rush at work that I had a day before to relaxed and slow pace of vacation. I have driven Highway 99 before up to Whistler, but after it, it completely changes. It narrows down to a small regional road, first going between farms, then rapidly climbing up a mountain, with very steep hills and sharp corners. No surprise there are almost zero trucks or campers. But still it offers things to see, spectacular lakes and rivers. It goes like that up to Seton Lake and Lillooet.
After Lillooet, the road continues north via grassy highlands and deep canyons. It was raining hard with low dark clouds. I did not expect to see such scenery in Canada. This is how I imagined Scotland!
Going past lonely ranches and first nation settlements we got to Highway 97 intersection, also known as Cariboo Highway.
The next section of the road, Highway 97 up to Prince George follows approximately the route of original Caroboo Wagon Road. It was built in 1860s to carry supplies for miners in gold-rich Cariboo region. It still has many references to that period of its existence. For example, there are municipalities along it that are named “70 Mile House”, “100 Mile House, which refers to original road houses constructed along the Cariboo Wagon Road.
Having traveled it for next couple of hours we pass the town of Quesnel and decided to look for a place to stay overnight.
This is the moment when excitement went over the roof! The decisive moment of my journey. It was either a good experience, or a bad one to ruin the whole idea of traveling this way. So I decided to put excitement aside and started to look for next campgrounds on our way. Luckily, the next campground, just 10 minute drive away was at Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park.
I think that things happen for a reason, and after checking the campground I was happy to discover that I totally loved it! Nice lots in a middle of a forest and next to a nice lake. I was looking forward to spending the night there! That was a good sign for future of me traveling this way. I am not the person to give up after the first failure or difficulty, but first impression is very important.
I must confess that I have never camped or slept in a tent before. I was just from a different part of the world and had a different lifestyle. But our evening went really smooth, we had great dinner and enjoyed fresh air.
First night ever in a tent is often associated with bad sleep. I was not an exception. First it was hard to get asleep, new sounds, smells, and totally new feeling of sleeping exposed. During the night I woke up to the slightest sound, and they were abundant! I did not set up my tent exactly right (first timer!), I was afraid of bears (I had a bear spray under my pillow, just in case) and in addition, it started to rain and wind picked up! I had all the range of new experiences for the night.
Day 2. Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park – Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, via Hyder, Alaska. 920 km.
To my great surprise, I woke up feeling rested. Maybe it is all fresh air. We continued our drive north in the morning, starting the day with a morning coffee with muffins at Timmie’s. We turn west in Prince George and follow Highway 16, the Yellowhead Highway.
The scenery changes rapidly here. Very soon mountains started to appear on horizon, reminding me of a feeling that I had when I have seen the Rockies for the first time, after passing Calgary. We were getting closer and closer to mountains, with excitement growing just as fast. I love mountains and driving through them.
Here was the first of the most anticipated points for the trip. The beginning of the Stewart-Cassair Highway.
First, my feelings were somewhat strange. All the highways I have traveled so far in this trip were quite remote with very little traffic. But here it felt extremely desolated. Sometimes it took over 15 minutes to see other car. Over a hundred kilometers between any signs of civilization, including gas stations. And, obviously, no cell phone coverage. I had some crazy images before my eyes – my car burning in a ditch with hungry bears looking from woods. It was so much unlike everything I have seen before. Also, it was my very first big trip with the Subie, so I just started building my trust.
After about 100 km the car did not explode and bear did not eat me. I relaxed and started enjoying it. After about two hours we reached Meziadin Junction. Here I wanted to make a detour via Alaska to see the Salmon Glacier.
It was 5 pm, and getting late, so we decided to check the Meziadin Lake Provincial Park campground, located just one click from the junction. The campground was awesome. But there was a strong ice-cold northern wind. After staying in the campground for 10 minutes we realized that we were not really enjoying it, and the Salmon Glacier that we wanted to see so much was less than 100 km away!
A short hop there and back, and we would be back by 8 pm (funny people, now I know). So to the glacier we go!
We travel 65 km of spectacular highway 37A, the Glacier Highway, that takes us to Stewart, BC. An old mining town with a population of about 500 people. Here is where is gets really interesting. We wanted to go and see the Salmon Glacier that is located in Canada, but the only road that can take us there, crosses into Alaska, at ghost town of Hyder, then continues through American soil before crossing back into Canada. I can travel into US, but my dad don’t have US visa. I wrote to US border agency before our trip to clarify how it works. I was pleasantly surprised that US don’t have any border security at this point, as the only road goes back into Canada and it is not possible to go anywhere in Alaska from that point, unless you are super outdoor ninja. So to be safe, I reconfirmed with border guards on duty that my dad was allowed to cross into US to see a glacier in Canada. On our side, there is a border crossing, obviously, and our border guards were not surprised with this.
We were not able to reach the viewpoint, as the road was closed due to snow. In June!
This moment I want to, and will remember for a long time. I was at some remote mountain somewhere in a middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature of unbelievable beauty, I have seen other people more then an hour before, I got there all by myself, I drove there with my car! This is definitely worth something. And it was so amazing to see something well beyond the beaten path. Yes, it could be reached with almost any car, but I was thinking about next step, about how many more amazing places there are that you can reach only with 4×4…
We drove back, and upon reaching Stewart, I realized that I did something contrary to the spirit of my trip. I hurried. Hurried to see the glacier and now I was hurrying back to the campground, hoping there will still be spots available. I wanted to spend more time in Stewart, to explore it properly. But, it will be in my to-do list for my next trip to this area!
The way back was full of bears. First, we have stopped at the Bear Glacier, and then we have seen a real bear! A big brown bear was wandering lazily in a middle of a road.
We arrived back to the campground after 10 pm, found a decent spot and went to sleep after a quick supper. I was thinking about how much I have seen already in this trip and how much still lays ahead of us!
Day 3. Mezadin Lake Provincial Park – Tagish, Yukon. 924 km
We kept driving north following the Stewart-Cassair Highway. The traffic was almost non-existent. Most of the vehicles on the road were fellow travelers. I was really pleased to see how Canada and America lives on wheels – people travel on anything, from bicycles to big Harley-Davidsons, from small Mazda 2 loaded up to the roof to big huge motor homes. It proves that when there is a will, there is a way.
And on that day I started to realize why this particular highway attracts people form all over the world. The previous day the drive was not really special, just the road going through remote areas and thick forests. But that has changed – form now on, the road was coming closer and closer to mountains, and becoming more spectacular. It has literally changed after each turn. I was driving through forest, after 20 minutes I have seen snow-covered peaks over my head, another 30 minutes and I see a deep valley stretching up to horizon.
But I had to keep my eyes on the road as well! This is a wild animal territory. You can often see a deer or a fox, or a bear just sitting on a side of a road watching cars go by. After another road curve we there was a really huge bear walking on a side of the road. I slowed down to take a closer look, I just wanted to observe a wild creature in his habitat, from the safety of my car. Mr. Bear crossed the road and a deep ditch on its side and stopped, looking at us. And I was looking at him. But I should have looked at my dad! The next second he grabbed a DSLR, jumped out of a car, and I saw him on a road shoulder, taking pictures of a bear, that is barely 5m away from him! I grabbed a bear spray and ran after him. I was somewhat shocked, and my dad did not convince me it was OK, insisting that the ditch between them was really deep and the bear was not able to cross it fast enough. From that moment, I started giving it a second thought before stopping for a wild animal.
It has been a long drive through wilderness, we were getting hungry and the fuel was running low. You have to watch you fuel closely on this road, as service is next to non-existent. We reached a town of Dease Lake, that has Petro Canada station, great convenience store and a diner. It felt like oasis in a middle of a desert. Or endless northern forests and mountains, in our case.
We pushed forward, landscapes were just as spectacular and just as variable, every half an hour there is something new and totally cool.
Finally, we reached Yukon border. It felt amazing. I have always thought of Yukon as of something really remote and hard to get to. Some remote mystical land from Jack London stories, somewhere where people went pursuing a dream. Some got it, some did not, others died trying. And here I was in Yukon myself, drove there myself. I could not believe it. I was super curious to see what it looks like, this magic ad distant land of Klondike.
But instead of enjoying the scenery we were getting anxious. We did not have any network connection for almost 2 days now. The time to report home that we were OK and bears did not eat us was long overdue. We pushed forward, realizing that we’ve just turned on another world-famous road, the Alaska Highway. After Stewart-Cassair, it felt like a German autobahn after a dirt road in forest. Flat and wide, with scenery totally different again. I am still fascinated by the way provinces and territories in Canada differ in landscape. We were in British Columbia, surrounded by mountains and forests, a few clicks later we are in Yukon, with mountains only on horizon.
We still had no cell coverage and it was getting late. We have seen a small outpost with restaurant. We stooped and went inside to ask for a phone, because I started to suspect that both our phones went crazy. But the lady told me that there was no phone or cell coverage in the area, and never was. At that moment I felt being really so far away from civilized world and all things we are so used to.
We were told that in 2 hours of driving there will be a town where I can call. We pushed forward, getting so anxious to get there. But miles we running slowly. I check GPS – 120 km to go. Eternity later I check again – 110! What?! When we finally got there, the phone came alive, and I started getting all those messages from family who were really worried.
Also, it felt really cold outside and I felt dirty after 2 nights in tent, and decided to look for hotel in Whitehorse that was just a few hours away. To my surprise, all reasonably-priced hotels were sold out. But we were lucky to find an amazing place and hour before Whitehorse, a tiny town of Tagish, and a place was amazing! Nice private territory with wooden cabins next to a river.