Mile 18268

 We spend some days here in Whistler, BC, the place of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Much has changed since our first visit in early 2001 or so, and today Whistler is a year round sport and adventure activity place.  What in winter is used as ski slopes are in summer downhill bike trails, steep enough to break every bone in your body.  We are less adventurous and take the Blackcomb Gondola, then transition to the Peak 2 Peak Gondola at the Rendezvous Lodge at Blackcomb Mountain, which we take several times forth and back, and then come back with the Whistler Village Gondola.  We have nice views of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountain, the Blackcomb Bowl and Horstman Glacier, and all the other peaks around.  

Blackcomb Gondola and view to Whistler Village

Peak 2 Peak Glass Bottom Gondola

 The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is linking the Whistler Mountain Roundhouse Lodge with the Blackcomb Mountain Rendezvous Lodge.  It has a free span between ropeway towers of 1.88 miles, and its highest point above ground is 1,430 feet, with a total length of 2.73 miles.  The travel time is 11 minutes at a line speed of 16.8 mph.  It is the first Doppelmayr "3S"  tri-cable lift in North America, and there are only four similar, but smaller lifts in Europe.

View from Whistler Mountain

 Inukshuk and Ski Bear at Whistler Mountain / Lodge

Roundhouse Lodge at Whistler Mountain

Blackcomb and Whistler Mountain Range

Blackcomb Mountain Range, Green Lake

Alta Lake, Blackcomb Mountain Range

Cloudraker Skybridge, Blackcomb and Horstman Range

 Also the view down into the valley and Green Lake and Alta Lake and the whole area around Whistler is just nice.  We spend quite some time up here and some more in town, which is full of restaurants and sport shops, and of course numerous shops selling those super expensive downhill mountain bikes.  If I was 20 years younger it would be certainly a thing for me, but today the bones won't heal so easy anymore, and I better watch the others enjoying this sport (I still feel my elbow from my fall in Toronto, what now, eight, ten weeks?).

Whistler Village

"There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep rolling under the stars."  -  Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet, 1922-1969

Mile 18267

 Today we leave Prince George, BC in our quest to continue further West.  We follow the Yellowhead Hwy and take the turn off to the Caribou Hwy or Hwy-97 and make a stop in Quesnel, BC at the confluence of the Fraser and Quensnel River to visit the Historic Park.  There are some machinery parts of historical significance to this town like the steam engine of the S.S. Enterprise, the sternwheeler in service from 1863 to about 1871 on the upper Fraser River.  

Water driven pump, steam engine of the S.S. Enterprise, Quesnel, BC

Steam driven shovel, Quesnel, BC

 We also visit another park in the Lhtako Dene Nation and the statue of an Indian net fishing for salmon. 

The Indian Salmon Fisher, Quesnel, BC

 From here we continue further South to Williams Lake, BC, 100 Mile House, 93 Mile House, 70 Mile House, to Clinton, BC.  Here we ditch our tent for the night.

 Next day we drive into Cache Creek, BC, andother one of those towns with a dozen plus houses and have breakfast.  From here we drive back a bit on Hwy-97 to find the exit to Hwy-99. It is raining, but the drive through the Marble Canyon to Lillooet, BC is breath taking.  

Impressions from Hwy-99

Marble Canyon and Fraser River

It is a dream for motorcyclists, and everyone you likes deep canyons, high rugged mountains, and a nice winding road.  Even the rain can't spoil the fun we have driving this section.  After visiting a coffee place in Lillooet I had visited 2013 during the bike trip with my friends, we continue to Pemperton, BC to reach our destination of Whistler, BC.  Elke hasn't seen the town since about 2001, and so all the changes made for the Winter Olympics in 2010 are completely new to her.

Viewpoint at Hwy-99 near Seton Lake

Duffy Lake

"I have never seen any thing equal to this country."  -  Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer and fur trader, Journal entry June 28, 1808

Mile 17846

 We leave Kitwanga, BC this morning and drive the last few miles down the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy until we meet Hwy-16 or Yellowhead Highway as it is called.  But this time we don't turn West to Prince Rupert, BC, our arrival point in 2014 on our Alaska trip, but turn East to Prince George, BC.  In New Hazelton, BC we make a slight detour to visit the 'Ksan Historical Village and Museum.  It is always fun to visit the heritage villages of the Pacific Indians, and this one is no exception.  

Hagwilget Canyon Bridge

'Ksan Historical Village & Museum

 After our dose on history we return to the Yellowhead Hwy and follow several rivers and lakes along the Babine Range to the East and the Hazelton Mountains to the West.  We pass through Smithers, BC to reach Houston, BC, not TX, and after Burns lake, BC we reach the geographical center of British Columbia in Vanderhoof, BC.  From there it is a short run to our destination for today, Prince George, BC.  It was an easy day, easy driving, and nice rolling hills through a lot of mountain farm land.

Landscape along Yellowhead Hwy

"The story of the Indian Life will not be told in microscopic detail, but rather will be presented as a broad and luminous picture."  -  Edward S. Curtis, American photographer, best known for his 33 year long photographic documentation of the American Indian, 1868-1952

Mile 17533

 This morning it is raining in Watson Lake, YT and I can recall that feeling from 11 years ago.  But today we have a car, and so it is no big deal for us.  After breakfast we fill up on gas and trace a little bit back on the ALCAN to find Hwy-37 or the Cassiar Highway (sometimes also the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy) as it is called.  

Entering Stewart-Cassiar Hwy, entering British Columbia and lvg Yukon

 We pass Good Hope Lake, BC where all hope is lost, and make a little further down the road a stop at Jade City, BC.  Here they mine and cut and sell products made out of the local Cassiar Jade.  It's an interesting place and certainly one you can spend a lot of money (which we did).  But this may come to an end very soon, as the BC has set a five year period to wind down existing jade mining operations in the light of indigenous land rights and environmental impacts.

That is not jade mining, that's something else

Jade City, BC at the Cassiar Hwy

 From here it is to Dease Lake, BC to top up on gas and to get some lunch.  Then we continue further South to 40 Mile Flats, Iskut, and Tatogga, BC.  In 2014 we stopped in Tatogga coming up from Prince Rupert, BC, but this time we pass by.  

Red Fox along the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy

 The rain from this morning has long been a thing of the past, and the Cassiar Mountains have given way to the Stikine Ranges to the East, and the Stikine Plateau to the South.  Glacial Mtn, Snow Peak, Mt. Cartmel and of course Mt. Edziza with their snow capped summits are the dominant ones we see from the Highway. 

Some of the many mountain peaks along Hwy-37

Bell II, BC, and indigenous mural in Meziadin Jct., BC

 Passing Bob Quinn Lake and Bell II, BC we head toward Meziadin Junction, BC.  It  is just a motel, restaurant and gas station, and after having topped up on gas we leave this place and continue to the end of the Cassiar Hwy at Kitwanga, BC.  Here we call it quit, having done the Cassiar Hwy (450 miles) in one day.

"Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery."  -  John Ruskin, English writer and art critic