Tuesday: One month and one day after leaving NC we are finally in Canada. We crossed at Sumas this morning in about five minutes. We took CA 1 and 97 through the Frasier River Canyon to Clinton BC. This is very rugged, almost desert-looking country that is called “Canada’s Hot Spot” because summer temperatures sometimes exceed 100 (F). Highway 97 is also called the “Cariboo Waggon Road” as it was the main drag to the gold fields. After passing Cache Creek the hills softened somewhat and everything is green and lush. Truck farming is big in the narrow valley but it is too early in the season for the roadside stands to be open.
Friday: Butch has put in a couple of days of hard driving to get us to Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK. We are staying on the BC side at Bear River. We continued north on CA 97 to Prince George where we turned west on 16 (the Yellowhead Highway). Most travelers continue on 97 to the ALCAN but we wanted to go counter-clockwise and try 37, called the Cassiar. It has only been paved for a couple of years and just last week was closed for three days because of flooding. It is an 80 mile rt spur to Stewart-Hyder, but the road is called the Glacier Highway and is said to be one of the most beautiful in British Columbia. For one who has been to the Canadian Rockies and to Vancouver Island, this was hard to imagine but it is true!
Saturday: Wow and double Wow! We drove three miles into Alaska at Hyder and then out & back on the Salmon Glacier Road (44 miles). This is the most spectacular scenery we have seen on this trip. The road is an active “haul road” used to service the mining industry and is interesting to say the least. We followed the road from Fish Creek (where the bears come in late summer to catch salmon), along the river and then beside the glacier to the summit viewpoint which overlooks the entire range. The glacier was blinding and there are hundreds of waterfalls. It is like Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier NP but a lot more up close and personal.
By the time we reached the top there was snow piled on both sides of the road and we almost turned around twice. The first time we actually had the truck turned when an old Land Rover piled high with stuff roared by. On the back was painted, “Live Once-Live it All”. We kept going! Other than the mining company trucks, we saw only two other cars and were alone at the summit. What an incredible experience.
We will return to the Cassiar Hiway tomorrow as there will be closures on it on Monday. Hope to be in the Yukon Territory by then. Sorry no photos with this post. We are on CG internet connection and it is not allowed.
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