The Wolve Travels

Monday, July 7, 2014

mile 5510

Prince Rupert, BC - Hwy 16 to Terrace, BC - Cassiar-Stewart Hwy (Hwy 37) - Watson Lake, YT and Alaskan Hwy 1 to Whitehorse, YT

We left Prince Rupert early Saturday morning with some clouds lingering above our heads and made our way out of town on the only road possible, i.e. Hwy 16 to reach the junction to Hwy 37, the famous Cassiar-Stewart Hwy at Terrace. At this point one has to decide to go North in to the Yukon Territory, or venture on East to Prince George. As for us, no question, we go North. The Hwy leads us in to beautiful countryside, and even so we are not gaining much in elevation, the mountain ranges are breathtaking to see. We can't get enough of it, and we make pictures over pictures as the view changes with every bend in the road we take. The view changes even more as drizzle rain is adding to the story, and lakes and rives are changing the scenery ever more. And the next moment the sun breaks through, and another picture develops. This Highway is definitely one of the most underrated, but for us one of the most beautiful Highways we have encountered so far on our trip (next to the Hwy 2 in WA leading to Seattle). Our breaks are dictated by the distances from one gas station to the next, as they are pretty scarce on this Hwy, and many of those formerly in operation are now abandoned, which makes it for great distances in-between (difficult for those with small tanks and heavy on fuel). I only stretched it once, and could have avoided that if I had filled up after 60 miles already (but who thinks of that?).

Start of Cassiar-Stewart Hwy (Hwy 37), Terrace, BC

First Black Bear

Jade City, BC

Along the way of Hwy 37

Along the way are many small Lodges and Resorts/Camps, many of them not looking like very much. But as we found out at Tatogga Lake, never underestimate the charm within. This was one of the most amazing places we ever stayed for a night, and the hosts made everyone welcome, from power line workers to loggers, to bikers and RV'lers. We can only recommend to try one of those places whenever you come in to this area.
We continued on Cassiar-Stewart Hwy to stop at a Jade Mine in Jade City. Here we learned some of the amazing things about Jade (for example that Jade can be bent like wood, and that it doesn't break when dropped, and many other things) but had to go on to Watson Lake as we had business there. We had to stop at the Sign Forest and place a sign plate commemorating our 25th wedding anniversary in form of our home town license plate abbreviations. As the official count stood at more than 77,000 signs at the end of 2013, for sure there is one more now there. After a quick lunch and some chit-chatt with some other bikers we went on to Whitehorse for today. As we are writing this (11:00 PM), there is still daylight outside (more than 20 hours at this time of the year here), a strange feeling to see the sun still up at this time of the day/night.
Anyway, we are also doing better on the wildlife count, as the tally stands for now:
Black Bears 7-1/2 (1/2 because we only saw his bud)
Black Bear w/cups 1
Red Fox 1
Moose Cow w/calve 1
Bald Eagles uncountable
Total count of bikers for today 55, except of two, all going the opposite direction

Watson Lake, YT, Sign Post Forest

Along Alaskan Highway 1 toward Whitehorse, YT

S.S. Klondike, Whitehorse, YT

"Nothing belongs to you of what there is. Of what you take, you must share." - Chief Dan George

Friday, July 4, 2014

mile 4613

Yesterday was early rising as the wake up call came in at 4:30 AM to get up and pack the bike. Don’t know why you have to be 2 hours before departure at the Ferry terminal, if boarding is just ½ hour before departure. So we stood around at the quay and waited for our turn, which against normal procedures, motorcycles boarded today as last. Time was passed by exchanging experiences, roadway tips, and bike comparrisions with all the other two-wheel enthusiasts who waited with us in line. The Ferry took us out of Port Hardy and in to the straight they call the Inside Passage, a narrow straight between the hundreds of islands along the northwest coast of British Columbia en route to Prince Rupert. This passage way by sea saves us approx. 902 miles of driving, which for today we certainly didn’t regret as the weather was not very cooperative, and the early morning grey changed into a steady rainfall later the morning. Wildlife viewing was therefor pretty much limited, nevertheless we could spot Sea Otter, Whales, and Bald Eagles along the voyage. But even without sunshine it was like ridding through an enchanted forest, just like in the lands of “Lord of the Rings”. Behind the fog and mist it seemed that all creatures of the forest were hiding to surprise the unprepared intruder when setting foot onto the shore. This was even more felt through the narrow passage of the Greenville Channel later the evening, just a couple of hours away from Prince Rupert.

Arriving close to midnight we didn’t bother to look for a tenting space but went the easy route of booking into a hotel near the port, specially since more rain was coming down.

Leaving Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, BC

Inside Passage

Prince Rupert, Memorial for those lost to the sea

Today we did some educational sightseeing and visited the Museum of Northern British Columbia to learn more about the First Nation People like the Tsimshian and their neighbors the Haida, the Gitxsan, the Nisga’a and others. It is always fascinating how those people lived in unison with Nature and respected it so much, that their believes and way of life was completely embedded in it. The museum itself is already impressive as it is build like a traditional Longhouse, one of those houses in which the First Nation People would have lived.

Museum of Northern British Columbia, Prince Rupert, BC

Murals by Jeff King, Prince Rupert, BC

"There are many who look, but only some who see" - Chief Dan George

Thursday, July 3, 2014

mile 4601

First at all thanks to all who remembered my birthday today. My personal present was a place at the Ferry from Horseshoe Bay (North Vancouver) to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and to get the tickets for the onward journey to Prince Rupert, BC. This saved us a great deal of riding through the back country of British Columbia to get North, as it allows us to continue North to Port Hardy to take a Ferry to Prince Rupert. Not only that is saves us a lot of riding and time, but is brings us through the Inland Passage as the Alaskan Marine Highway is also called, and should provide pretty scenery.
As for today, with nice weather above our heads we drove up Hwy 19, the only one to Port Hardy through some pretty country side, mainly red cedar and pine forrest, and some smaller mountain ranges, none of them higher than 1000 ft (just a hump compared to what we have seen so far). Anyway it was a relaxing ride and made for an early arrival. We filled up gasoline for a reasonable price ($6.29/gal) and this time also the two spare tanks (2 additional gallons) as we will after Prince Rupert enter pretty remote country and talking with a guy in Vancouver who run this road just a couple of weeks before North to South he mentioned that some gas stations are just dry and wait for deliveries. Better we have those tanks filled.
Anyway tomorrow will be all sailing, 274 nautical miles (approx. 300 miles), and hopefully we see some interesting marine life.

Leaving Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver, BC

Taking a nap in the morning sun

Arriving in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC

Along the way to Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, BC

Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, BC

"The function of man is to live, not to exist." - Jack London

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

mile 4331

You see not very much change in the mileage, and that's for a good reason. We have made a stop in Vancouver, BC and did the tourist stuff. That means we left the bike parked and took public transportation and got driven around. Nice for a change not to battle the traffic yourself.
Anyway, since our camp site is at the Capilano River at North Vancouver, we made the bus ride to Lonsdale Quay and took the Seabus over to Vancouver, or better to the Seabus terminal near Canada Place. This gave us on the Lonsdale side a great view over all the city, from Gastown and further East, all the way to Stanley park in the West. Once in the city, what better way to explore an unknown place than to use the "hop-on, hop-off" Sightseeing Busses. And we made good use of our tickets, using many stops to explore on foot, then hop on again and get driven to the next attraction.
One thing one discovers very quickly is that Vancouver is a very vibrant, multi-cultural, and vivid city. It is also very environment conscious and saves energy and water in every aspect, not to mention environmentally friendly transportation systems. The Olympics in 2010 have certainly driven the city to a higher level and made it more attractive.
It also is very visible that the culture of the First Nation People is very much present in todays life through paintings, sculptures, and carvings all over the city, but also clothing, building shapes and many other things are trying to make reference and building a bridge to Nature as often as possible.
Stanley Park, a story of its own is the green lung of the city and a nice place to get sporty, or just walk along the miles of seawall. The view of the surrounding mountains and/or city is spectacular around every bend, and the park itself showcases the Vancouver Aquarium, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Deadman's Island, the Totem Pole Park, Brockton Point, and many more. Of course one has to mention the Lions Gate Bridge connecting North Vancouver with Stanley Park, for which North Vancouver would have not developed if the bridge wasn't built by the Guinness Family (yes, the one who make the Stout). Anyway they sold it back to the state 1955, for exactly the same amount it had cost them to built in 1937/38.
Northeast of the Lions Gate Bridge is the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. A Rainforrest with Red Cedar and Douglas Fir Trees, hundreds of years old, and several hundred feet tall, the bridge was first built by George Grant Mackay 1889 and changed hands several times (as well its construction to more modern construction elements). It is an impressive picture to look down in to the Capilano River Gorge, or to walk the treetops between high outlook platforms and suspension bridges 100 ft above the ground, or to walk on to the canyon lookout, called the Cliff Walk.

We will be off the grid for a couple of days, as we will continue to Vancouver Island tomorrow and then make our way North to Port Hardy on to Prince Rupert. Not knowing when we can connect again, don't give up looking out for new posts.