The Big Trip - Bear Glacier to Dease Lake

At Strohn Lake.

Bear Glacier cutting through the valley.

And emptying into Strohn.

Entering Stewart.

1702 km - Stewart, BC and we have just now reached gas more expensive than Victoria at $1.40/L.

The paved road ends at the border.

Good advice while in the Tongass National Forest.

This pylon is all that marks this particular border crossing. Easily the least intense American border crossing we've ever been a part of.

End of the road. Even in June the road to the edge of the glacier was snowed in.

The Salmon Glacier in all its awesome glory.

Marmot sighting!

Trapped! There was just enough room to manoevre around this rock slide.

Swords?

1767 km - Just leaving Stewart now. So far today we've crossed the Can-U.S. border four times and seen two glaciers and some marmots. Hyder, AK is the dustiest town I've ever been in, the Loon has gone from green to grey. Glaciers are awesome to behold, massive rivers of ice. Parts of them are white, some are a vivid light blue and other parts are dark with the earth they are dragging along. The road to Salmon Glacier from Hyder was pretty treacherous but we survived and the scenery was worth it. Today Alaska, tomorrow the Yukon, our trip kicks ass.

1840 km - Our black bear sighting count has increased to 6 so far. No grizzlies yet. But we did see a porcupine.

Bears like it near the road.

Bell II?

1856 km - Make our count 9!

1926 km - Ouch! 148.9 ₵/L for gas in Bell II, one of B.C.'s most ridiculously named communities.

1991 km - Finally we have escaped the clutches of the nefarious CBC, we are unable to pick up any radio signals and the MP3 player is out of juice. I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch.

2011 km - Holy fuck! Brenda's swift action just saved the trip, and the Loon's brakes saved us from injury. A black bear bolted out on to the road and we just missed it, seriously, like within a foot or two. Holy fuck. Our bear count is now at 11.

Setting up at Kinaskan Lake.

Another gorgeous spot.

Nice pokey stick.

2046 km - We have our first campfire of the trip going now, it was too windy yesterday. Once again we are right on the water, today we are on Kinaskan Lake. Also once again we are the only intrepid explorers with a tent, everyone else has RVs or are sleeping in their trucks. We are also into the vodka for the first time on our trip and I am full of hot dogs, life is good.

Angry grey jay.

Brenda at dusk.

2063 km - Day 6 & we are Yukon bound. We had a great night despite the valve to the air mattress not being closed properly. We saw some new birds and I survived an attack from a couple of angry birds. I wonder what today will bring.

Breakfast on the beach.

DEASE NUTS!!!!!!!

The Big Trip - Vanderhoof to Meziadin Lake

1005 km - Day 4 and we have just entered Vanderhoof, "The Geographical Centre of BC."

1145 km - We just stopped for a quick lunch in Burns Lake. Burns Lake also lays claim to being the geographical centre of BC. Driving through all these small towns is a lot like driving through Northern Ontario. Why is it okay to leave rusted out cars, buses and tractors on your lawn?

World's biggest Fly Rod!

1292 km - Right now we are in Smithers. It's a pretty little place with mountains on both sides and a busy downtown area. Today's journey has been interesting in unexpected ways: In Houston we stopped for a walk in a park and discovered the world's largest fly rod. As we drove into Telkwa we saw the "Rainbow Adult RV Park." I thought, "Wow, what a welcoming community for being in the middle of nowhere." But on the way out of town we saw a sign that implied you would get breast cancer if you had an abortion, so maybe Telkwa isn't so tolerant. In Smithers we saw a black dude with a huge 'fro, big chops and pink pants and there was not a disco in sight.

A sense of humour in Smithers.

1311 km - After a brief detour we are back on 16 heading west. The Loon just hauled us up and down an old dirt road so we could get a look at Twin Falls. One fall cascades down the mountain and seems to turn to snow at the bottom before gushing out into a stream. Pretty crazy.

Disappearing waterfall.

Twin falls.

Nice spot for a rest.

1522 km - We are now on Hwy 37 and just entered the Nass Region, though according the sign we just entered ANASS.

1622 km - More fun with signs: We just crossed the Ass River.

At a small museum near The Hazeltons.

A suspension bridge over the Bulkley River.

View from the bridge.

Our AWESOME camp site at Meziadin Lake.

Living the good life.

1635 km - Wow! What a great camping spot! We just camped right on the lake. We had our first bear sighting but we were safely in our car when we spotted 2 black bears. It was a windy night last night but a very still morning with only loons making noise. And no bears stole our food, only a pesky crow attempted.

Perfectly still.

We were the first ones up. Everyone else hid in their RVs.

Getting a little exercise in.

Making toast.

Eating toast.