Canada

MAY- JUNE 2016

Before flying back to Canada we spent a few days in Auckland, New Zealand. The largest city in New Zealand and one we hadn’t had time to see on our previous visit. We rented an apartment in the Downtown area, so could visit the local attractions on foot. We hadn’t heard much in the way of glowing report for Auckland but we really enjoyed our stay.

Sky Tower Auckland

After three days in Auckland we took our 13hr flight across the Pacific Ocean to our next destination of Vancouver, Canada. Flying this way around the world is guaranteed to provide you with jet lag, and sure enough we suffered the same as everyone. The crazy thing is, because of the time zones, we arrived in Vancouver before we left Auckland.
Our first two days in Vancouver were a bit low key, in an attempt to recover from our jet lag. But on our third day we met up with our good friends Dave and Susan. That day was the start of 10 fun packed days together. To start with, and before we left Vancouver, we went to see The Who at the Rogers Arena, a great concert and my (Malc) second time of seeing them after a 40-year gap. The next day we picked up our hire car and took the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

View of Vancouver

Vancouver AquaBus

Vancouver

The Who

Horseshoe Bay Ferry Departure

Nanaimo is where Dave and Susan live (with their cat Reggie) and would be our base for the next 9 days. And what a 9 days, Dave had organised a great set of activities keeping us entertained every day of our stay. We visited and saw so many great things that there is not enough room to record them all here, but included Whale Watching, lunch in a floating pub, beautiful forest walks, a visit to the wild west coast, a party in our honour and so much more. Sadly all good things must come to an end, but new adventures and more fun lay ahead.

Orcas (Vancouver Island)

Orcas

Orcas

Cathedral Grove Forest (Vancouver Island)

Cathedral Grove Forest (Vancouver Island)

Little Qualicum Falls (Vancouver Island)

Historic Wooden Viaduct on Vancouver Island

Tofino Beach

Tofino

Pacific Coast (Vancouver Island)

Tofino sunset

Tofino

From the island we took the ferry back to the mainland and on to the Okanagan region of British Columbia. The town of Oliver was our destination and more good friends to call in on, Glen and Guylaine, and of course their dog Jet. Staying with Glen and Guylaine allowed us to appreciate this amazing region of Canada. The Okanagan is unlike anywhere else in Canada; almost desert like its climate is hot yet with plenty of water. It is therefore not surprising that it’s the wine-producing centre of Canada.

Desert Cultural Centre Osoyoos (Okanagan)

Tucelnut Lake Okanagan

Cactus flower Okanagan

After a few days in Oliver we had a change of scenery, all five of us heeded north for a long weekend at Lake Paul, north of Kamloops. We rented a house overlooking the lake and relaxed, enjoying each other company and taking a few lakeside walks.

Glen, Guylaine and Jet then left us to return to work and we continued our journey north. 550km and a beautiful drive later we arrived in Hinton our base for the next four days. However, it wasn’t all drive that day, we did stop for a few hours in the Mount Robson Provincial Park to hike up to Lake Kinney. The hike was a bit challenging but the reward was worth it, crystal clear still waters with Mount Robson reflected in it. We also had some good wildlife spotting on our drive, two young Grizzly Bears and two magnificent male Elks right by the roadside.

Kuney Lake in Mt Robson Provincial Park

Mirror view on Kuney Lake Mt Robson Provincial Park

Mt Robson

Brown Bear Bum

Hinton is situated 25 km outside of Jasper National Park and has the only affordable accommodation in the area. So the plan was to drive into the park each day and that is what we did. Jasper National Park is situated in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and affords beautiful mountain scenery. Each day we visited a different part of the park, hiking the trails, soaking up the scenery and watching the wildlife, awesome.

Mountain Sheep with young

Hike in Japser NP

Hike in Jasper NP

Jasper NP

Maligne Lake Canyon

Jasper NP

Black Bear at Medicine Lake

Dandelion Bear

From Hinton we drove south, through both the Jasper and Banff National Parks, to Canmore. This drive offers some of the most beautifully and dramatic scenery anywhere in the world, and to top it off we had an excellent view of a Grizzly Bear.

On the Ice Field Highway

Mountain Goat

The Ice Field Highway

The Ice Field Highway

Big Horn Sheep

Peito Lake

Wet Grizzly Bear

In Canmore we stayed with our good friends, Steven & Brenda, before travelling to Calgary to fly back the UK, and the end of the first part of our big adventure.

Personal Observations & Interesting Facts

Adopt a Highway
That’s a bit different from adopting a dog or a cat or a child. On British Columbia and Alberta Highways, you can see signs inviting you to adopt a highway and other signs such as “In Loving Memory of Mum” where a stretch has been adopted. I was curious so I investigated it. It turns out that it’s a promotional campaign to keep the highway clean. In exchange for regular litter removal, individuals or companies or associations are allowed to have their name posted on a sign in the section of the Highway they maintain.

Speed Limit
Vancouver Island is (so far) the only place I know of that has increased the speed limit on their Highway. It is supposed to stop drivers speeding, but really that hasn’t work, as I personally could see that everyone (almost) was still speeding, so going faster than before the speed limit increase.

Supermarkets
I have to do a note on supermarkets. You learn a lot about a society when you go to the local supermarket. The one thing you can’t miss is the huge display of Ketchup and Mustard; really incredible how many different containers you can have in either. It is also quite nice to have wide aisles to move around.

Our last leg of the Western Canada adventure started at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. There we boarded (car and all) the Coastal Renaissance for the short sail over to Vancouver Island. Ferry terminals in general, are not very attractive places, but Horseshoe Bay is an exception. It is more like a small beach resort with a marina than a commercial port. The weather for the sailing was fantastic, clear blue skies, bright sunshine and almost no wind, which meant we spent the whole journey out on deck.

Our first base on Vancouver Island was at Campbell River, a small town in the North Central region. Our two days there were spent hiking and using the good Wi-Fi to do a bit of admin. We visited Elk Falls Provincial Park, which was right on our doorstep and ventured further afield to the Strathcona Provincial Park and Gold River on our second day.

From Campbell River we travelled to the top of the island, to the town of Port Hardy. On route we called into Telegraph Cove, a small village located in a tiny cove and was once a fishing and cannery community. Today it survives on eco-tourism. We had been here before, some 12 years ago, and were keen to revisit. Many of the buildings in the village date back to the 19th and early 20th century, this gives it its charm. Unfortunately, since our last visit this has been diluted by development in the area and an RV park. Well I suppose that’s progress; it was still a nice place to visit.

Port Hardy is the most northerly town on Vancouver Island, and the gateway to the inner passage (a navigable route through a group of islands that stretch up the north American coast to Alaska). It’s quite an attractive town with lots of small coves all around it. One of those coves, Storey Beach, was recommended to us for a visit, which we duly did.
Storey Beach is the waterfront for the small hamlet of Fort Rupert, once a Hudson Bay Company fort, and now the home to a small Kwakiutl first nation community. The area is adorned, with beautiful Totem Poles and other traditional artwork, and most of the graves in the cemetery have Eagle carvings on top them. The area is popular with Bald Eagles, and we were fortunate to see several on the beach scraping over a Salmon carcass.

On our second day we travelled a bit further afield and visited the Marble River Provincial Park. We hiked along the River Trail as far as Bear Falls, a spot where Black Bears hunt Salmon, but it was still a bit too early in the season, so no action on our visit. We did see a couple of nice Bald Eagles though, and a Green Frog on a bridge walkway.

Our last day in Port Hardy was spent on the beach, just a stones through from our apartment. It was very tranquil and relaxing to stroll along the beach, watching Bald Eagles sore above our heads, Ravens fighting over a fish and a Blue Heron hunting in a small lagoon.
All good things must come to an end though, and it was time for us to head south to our next destination of Port Renfrew. But Port Hardy had left a lasting memory on us, for its exceptionally friendly residents and its sense of remoteness.

Port Renfrew is almost at the other end of Vancouver Island and full day’s drive. We were particularly excited about this section of our Vancouver Island discovery, as we were to hook up with our very good friends Dave and Susan. We had arranged to meet them at our accommodation in Port Renfrew, but we didn’t have to wait that long, as we bumped into them on the Pacific Marine Road just outside of Port Renfrew. Dave and Susan were staying with us for the weekend and we had lots of things planned for Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately, Saturday’s weather restricted these somewhat. It tipped down almost all day, but we still had a great time watching DVD’s, chilling out and catching up. However, we did manage a short walk on China Beach in the early evening, before a great pizza in the coastal hamlet of Shirley.

Sunday dawned with bright sunshine so we were up and out in no time. Destination Botanical Beach, just a few kilometres outside Port Renfrew. With the tide out this is rock pool heaven, and as all of us liked scrambling across rocks and peering into these miniature oceans, we were in our element. After a good hour of enjoyment we decided to retreat back to the beach as the tide was coming in.

However, just as we made that decision, our route needed to be changed. Coming our way was a Black Bear mum and her cub. So we changed our route, to avoid a confrontation, and retreated to a safe place to watch mum teach her youngster how to find food in rock pools. An incredible sighting and our first bear cub on this trip.

Dave and Susan departed for Nanaimo on Sunday afternoon (but we were to see them again on Wednesday) and we moved down the coast to Sooke on Monday.

On the way to Sooke we stopped for a hike to Mystic Beach. The beach is famous for its waterfall, which tumbles out of the forest onto the pebbled beach below. Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain, it was more of a dripping tap than a waterfall, but the forest walk was nice.

Sooke is a small town close to Vancouver Island and British Columbia’s capital, Victoria. Not so picturesque as Port Renfrew, but an ideal spot to explore the islands most southerly section.
With our good friend and guide for the day, Sue, we set about seeing what we could in the short time we had in the area. The day started with a beautiful hike in the East Sooke Regional Park. The Aylard Farm trail took us through forests, down onto secluded beaches, then up to a rock outcrop (Beechey Head) with views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the USA coast beyond. We were also fortunate enough to see both Harbour Seals and Californian Sea Lions in the shallow waters along our route.

Then, following a few hours rest and a clean up, we headed into Victoria to continue our tour. It was a lovely bright and warm early evening, which was ideal to see what downtown Victoria (James Bay area) had to offer. A great day then ended with a pub meal and watching the sun go down over the Strait of Juan de Fuca, thanks Sue.

It was then time to head back north to Dave and Susan’s, who had very kindly offered to let us stay at theirs for our last few nights on the island. We had plenty of time for our journey from Sooke to Nanaimo, so did a bit of sightseeing on route. First stop was the Sooke Boardwalk, which offered stunning views out into the Sooke Inlet. It was then a return visit to Port Renfrew’s Botanical Beach for more rock scrambling, no bears this time though. Then the final leg, with brief stops at Honeymoon Bay and Lake Cowichan, both attractive places and deserving of a bit more time on another occasion.

For our stay with Dave and Susan, our aim was to socialise with them as much as possible. Being the middle of the week, it meant they had to work during the day, so we made the most of the evenings. During the day we were happy to chill out and catch up on admin jobs.
The night we arrived we had a BBQ and watched a movie at their place, plus a glass or three, but on the second and third nights we all went out
On the second night they took us to a Folk music gig. What, I hear you say, Malc listening to anything other than metal. Well I do admit this did take me out of my comfort zone, but I am open to new experiences. The venue was in Nanaimo at the White Room. Dave being a bit of a music celeb in town, he was able to introduce us to everyone from the promoters to all the band members, which made the event feel very intimate. The venue was quite small as was the crowd, which made the whole evening feel more like a party with friends than a music gig. The support band was a local duo, Ben and Dave; in fact Ben lives in the same street as Dave and Susan. Ben was on banjo and vocals, and Dave a strange instrument called a Steel Pedal Guitar. They were a good opening act, but I am not sure I can appreciate the sound of the Steel Pedal Guitar. They were followed by the main act of the evening, the Jenny Ritter Trio. Jenny was on Banjo, Guitar and vocals; joined by Adam on Violin (Fiddle), Guitar and vocals plus Ryan on lead Guitar. And they surpassed my expectations by some considerable margin. Excellent musicians, especially Adam, and great songs, all written by Jenny. All in all a very enjoyable evening. If anyone reading this would like to have a similar experience, check out www.jennyritter.com.

For our third night we all went to an Ice Hockey match, a first for me. It was the local side, the Nanaimo Clippers against the Powell River Kings. This was a British Columbia Hockey League match, at the Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo. For the first two periods there wasn’t much between the two teams, but in the third the clippers collapsed and lost 9-1. Not the result we were hoping for, but a nice evening anyway. It was then back to Dave and Susan’s for a movie, a few drinks and general merriment.

The following morning we bid our farewells to Dave and Susan, took a ferry to Vancouver and flight back to the UK. And that finished an incredible Western Canada adventure.

Personal Observations

Vancouver Island has the greatest density of Black Bears in Canada. However, they are less frequently sighted than in other parts of the country. The reason for this, is most of the island is uninhabited and difficult to access, and that’s where most of them live. So we were very lucky to see a mum and cub on the beach, in Port Renfrew.
Little known fact on bears, unlike the majority of mammals they can see in colours just like human.

We noted that when buying spirits in Canada, the bottle sizes were different to most of the rest of the world. Generally, you see a medium bottle at 70ml and a standard bottle at 1l. But not in Canada, a medium is 75ml and a standard 1.14l.
The reason for this is, although the metric system has been in place for many years, the bottle capacity is based on the old English system of quarts. This has then been converted to ounces, but because the imperial and American ounces differ, so does the bottle capacity.

We had a nice hotel in Edmonton; so on the first day of our two-day stay, we took the opportunity to catch up on a few bits of admin. But on the second day we got out to see the city. Edmonton has the largest urban park in North America, so that was our destination. We explored the MacKinnon Ravine Park section, which gave us good views of downtown Edmonton as well as a walk along the North Saskatchewan River.

From Edmonton we drove southwest through Alberta, and witnessed the most dramatic change in scenery of the whole trip. Southwest Alberta is home to the most northerly reaches of North America’s great prairies. Instead of forests and mountains, it was flat grassland as far as the eye could see, some cultivated and some not. Not the most awe-inspiring view, but we were here for a reason. We were here to visit the Badlands and in particular the Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Our base was in a motel in the small farming town of Brooks, and only 48km from the park.
The Badlands are a unique (for Canada) geological formation of strange shaped rocks lining the Red Deer River, and are in total contrast to the prairies that surround them. They got their name from the first Fur Traders to arrive in the area, who found no Beavers to hunt, so considered the land to be bad.
Originally formed from the sediment left by retreating glaciers during the last ice age, and then shaped by wind and water over millions of years. They are a mix of Sandstone, Mudstone and Ironstone, each eroding at a different rate, consequently forming the strange shapes we see today.

But where do the Dinosaurs come into all this, I here you say. Well, because of the mix of rock types and the actions of the Red Deer River. The area became an ideal home to preserve the bones of the Dinosaurs that once roamed here, and has since become a palaeontologist dream playground. However, the modern palaeontologist weren’t the first to discover the fossils, the Blackfoot (local First Nation inhabitants) new of them hundreds of years earlier and used them as lucky charms.
We spent two days exploring the Dinosaur Provincial Park, to really appreciate and understand what the Badlands were all about. Seeing the rock structures from all angles and even a few fossilised remains as well.

From Brooks we headed further south, almost to the US border, to our new abode in a little town called Hill Spring (population 129). Our journey took us through the land of endless fields of crops, combine harvesters and other farming paraphernalia. But before arriving at Hill Spring we called into Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to protect and commemorate the history of the interaction between the Blackfoot First Nation people and the Buffalo that once roamed these plains.
Before I continue, I know there has never been any Buffalo in North America, they are Bison, but the mistake of the early settlers still continues today, so I will run with it.
Before the 19th Century, the Blackfoot did not have fast horses or guns, so they had to catch their Buffalo by other means. One such method was to force the Buffalo over a cliff edge to their death below, hence the Buffalo jump. Very few sites like this, with such good archaeological evidence, still exist, hence its protection. The Blackfoot relied on the Buffalo for almost everything, food, shelter, cloths, tools, etc. and were very careful to manage this resource, as their survival depended on it. All this changed of course, when the European invaders arrived and almost hunted the Buffalo to extinction, and with it, destroyed a way of life that had lasted for more than six thousand years.
But you might be wondering where the Head-Smashed-In bit comes from. Well the legend goes that a young Brave wanted to view the Buffalo fall from the bottom of the cliff, but he got to close and got his head smashed in by falling Buffalo.

After a very interesting afternoon at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, we continued our journey to Hill Spring. This is a Mormon town, so they don’t sale alcohol or drink tea or coffee. No problem, we went to the liquor store before we left Brooks.

The main reason to be in this part of Canada is to visit the Waterton National Park. The park is in the Rocky Mountains and right on the border with Montana in the USA. In fact it forms the northern part of an International Peace Park, with Montana’s Glacier National Park to the south. It is a beautiful park, and we had three days of hiking along some of the nicest trails we have experienced in Canada. It is also well stocked with wildlife, we saw Black Bears on two of our three visits.

From as far south as you can go, before entering USA, our journey had to take us north to our next location of Canmore. I know we have seen beautiful scenery on our drives, but the one from Hill Spring to Canmore [via Hwy’s 22 & 40] has to be amongst the best. Driving off the prairies and up into the Rocky Mountains was awesome, plus we saw some Bighorn Sheep on route. Canmore is a special place for us, Anne lived there for a year, it was the place that we met and our good friends Brenda and Stephen live there. In fact it was Brenda and Stephen who had kindly offered us accommodation for our stay, so it was to their place we went first. Our four days in Canmore were very hot so we restricted our activities to a few short walks, relaxing in our very comfortable accommodation and socialising with Brenda and Stephen (plus Ruby the dog and Farley the cat). A very enjoyable few days.

It was then time to continue our journey west, to Vancouver and the last leg of Western Canada, Vancouver Island. But Canmore to Vancouver is a long way, so we decided to break our journey in Revelstoke.
Revelstoke is a small town on the banks of the Columbia River, with the Mount Revelstoke National Park towering over it. We stayed two nights in Revelstoke, which meant we could spend a day in the National Park. We took the summit road up to the beautiful alpine meadows, almost 2000m above the town. The views were spectacular, or it would have been if not for the white smog that hung in all the trees, the result of the forest fires that still burn throughout British Columbia and parts of Alberta (see note in personal observations below for more details).

Next stop Vancouver Island.

Personal Observations

On a number of occasions our host have been surprised by our next location. One such occasion was when we left the idyllic Tetsa River Lodge, bound for business town of Fort St John. Our host, a very forthright individual, said, “Why on earth do you want to go there, there’s bugger all to do”. We explained it was only to break the journey to Edmonton, to which she could see the sense. What we didn’t tell her was that we were staying two nights. Some times we need to stop and take care of the every-day chores, as these don’t go away when you travel like us – paying credit card bills, planning future travels, dealing with UK medical appointments, etc. plus the more enjoyable tasks of keeping in touch with friends and family. So if we expect a comfortable room and good Wi-Fi, we take advantage of it.

BC Wildfires
More than one million hectares (10,000 square km) have burned in the province this wildfire season, making it the worst in BC's recorded history. There are over 150 wildfires currently burning across the western province, as of the 28th August.
A state of emergency declared in the province on 7 July was recently extended to 1 September.
About 3,500 people in BC are currently under evacuation order and some 12,000 are under evacuation alert, which warns residents of impending danger.
BC has spent over C$375m ($295m; £230m) so far this season to fight the fires.
Some 3,800 provincial personnel, including frontline fire fighters and support staff, are helping battle the blazes.
Another 600 out-of province personnel and 1,500 contractors from the BC forest industry are helping fire-suppression efforts.
According to Nasa, the smoke plumes caused by the BC fires and captured by the space agency's satellites "were thick enough and high enough in the atmosphere to break records".
There are currently no hard numbers when it comes to property and infrastructure damage caused by the fires. But the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, which provides car insurance to the province's motorists, said on 23 August it had received 124 claims so far.
On 1 August, officials said some 300 buildings had been destroyed.
The fires have also affected wildlife. Images released online and to the media by the Tsilhqot'in National Government, which represents six First Nations communities in BC's central interior, show the charred remains of wild horses in the Chilcotin Forest.
BC experiences up to 2,000 wildfires a year but the majority are contained within 24 hours.

We started our Yukon adventure properly, once we arrived in Whitehorse. Whitehorse is the capital of Yukon with a population of 30,000, which equates to almost 80% of the whole Yukon Territory. It’s an attractive town set on the banks of the Yukon River.

This time round we had two nights and one day to enjoy what the town had to offer. The day’s activity consisted of a walk along the river and visit to the world’s longest Salmon ladder. The Salmon ladder had been installed to enable the Chinook salmon get past the Whitehorse Hydro-electric dam, and continue onto their spawning grounds up stream. The ladder is also part of the longest salmon journey in the world, 2000 miles from the Pacific Ocean to their spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the Yukon River.

From Whitehorse our journey took us northwest to Haines Junction and the Mount Logan Lodge, 9km out of town. Haines Junction is the fourth-biggest town in Yukon, but with only a population of 900. The drive to Haines Junction was spectacular as usual, with the Kluane Mountain Range looming larger in front of us with every kilometre we travelled.

By the time we arrived at the lodge, the mountains were to be at the bottom of the garden, literally. Although just off the highway, the lodge is actually in the Kluane National Park, Canada’s largest and contains its highest mountain, Mount Logan at 5,959meters.

We had three full days at the lodge and made the most of it to explore the Kluane National Park on our doorstep. Our first day started with a lung-bursting hike up towards the summit of Sheep Creek Mountain. All around us were amazing views of snow-capped mountains, glaciers, and river canyons and in the distance the rarely sighted Dall sheep.

That was followed by a more relaxing drive along the edge of Kluane Lake.

Kluane Lake Reflection

Kluane Lake at Destruction Bay

And then, one of the highlights of the whole trip, a flight deep into the heart of the Kluane National Park.

We took the flight from Silver City airstrip in a Helio Courier H295, a four seated plus pilot, light aircraft. And were joined by two friends staying at the lodge with us. Tom, the pilot, flew us out over Kluane Lake and then deep into the Kluane National Park interior. We flew up glacier flows, over mountains, around mountains and eventually landed on the Hubbard Glacier. Words fail me to explain further this incredible experience; you had to be there, as they say (perhaps the photo’s might help). Stepping out onto the glacier and knowing we were the only people up here was incredible and to see Canada’s highest mountain, Mount Logan, up close was amazing. We then took off from the glacier and followed a similar flight back, but at a lower altitude, awesome. During the flight, Tom (a New Zealander) our pilot, gave us a load of amazing information about the environment we were in, a few of which are listed below:
1. The St Elias Mountain Range, which we were amongst, is the highest coastal mountain range in the world;
2. Canada’s highest mountain, Mount Logan, has the greatest girth of any non-volcanic mountain in the world, at well over 100sqkm;
3. Mount Logan was first summited on 23 June 1955, by an international team of Canadian, British and American climbers. It took 65 days to climb, including the hike in and out of the region.
4. The Hubbard Glacier, which we landed on, is 1400m thick in some places and over 5km wide;
5. Apart from the first 10-20km this National Park is almost impenetrable, without the aid of an aircraft;
6. The Kluane National Park is part of a greater trans-frontier park that stretches deep into Alaska; and
7. That transfrontier park, Kluane / Wrangell–St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek International Park, is the world largest protected land area. However, this was a “porky Pie”, it is in fact the forth, after the Ahaggar National Park, Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area and the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

After all of that, the next day we took it easy. We explored Haines Junction (didn’t take long) and visited its great Village Bakery. Day three, and we were ready to hike again. This time, three short hikes in the south part of the park, all with different terrain – sub-alpine, rock glacier and lakes.

Sadly it was then time to leave Kluane, but more adventures awaited us, so not too disappointed. For the next three days we were mostly on the move, back to Whitehorse for two nights, then on to Watson Lake for one night, taking in sights on the way. That pretty much finished our Yukon sector.

From Watson Lake we headed back into British Columbia, still on the Alaska Highway, but travelling east this time. With the exception of some kamikaze Squirrels and Chipmunks (running across the road in front of the car – fortunately they all survived) and arrogant Ravens (who flew off the road only at the last minute), wildlife sightings in Yukon had been fairly sparse. However, the drive into British Columbia changed all that. The road going in this direction was particularly nice, following the Liard River and then gradually rising up into the Rocky Mountains. Then with about 100km under our belt, we came upon the first highlight of the day, two small herds of Bison right by the roadside, the first ever sighting for me and only the second time for Anne. Hundreds of photo’s later, we eventually moved on, happy even if we weren’t to see anything else in the day. But then, marching out of the woods came a Black Bear. He or she, headed for a small pond, jumped in, cooled off, grabbed a few berries and marched back into the woods, amazing. But our luck hadn’t ended yet. A further 100km down the road, we came across a flock of Stone Sheep, licking the salt off the side of the road. We were now getting cocky about what we might see next, but at the same time believing it couldn’t get any better. Then, just before our destination it did, we came across a full-grown female Moose drinking and eating in a small roadside lake. What a day for wildlife, we even saw a North Western Toad at our lunch stop.

For the next three nights, home would be a Cabin near the Tetsa River, just outside the Northern Rookies Provincial Park. This was a time for a few short local hike and a bit of relaxation. Because it was hot, exceptional hot for this part of the world, 33C in the shade when 12-14C is the norm. Then it was a journey breaker in Fort St John, before arriving in Alberta’s capital Edmonton.

Personal Observations

When we started driving along the Alaska Highway, Anne remarked how busy it was compared to when she was last there, about 20 years ago. So we decided to do a survey of who/what was using it. We picked the 435km stretch from Watson Lake to Whitehorse and found that the most common vehicle was an RV. See survey results below.

Salmon is one of Canada’s biggest industries and also a vital ingredient in the health of the ecosystem. However, their numbers are falling every year, over-fishing, habitat loss and pollution being the main culprits. The government is now starting to take measures to rectify this, and one of those measures is the fish hatchery that was associated with the salmon ladder we visited. At around 6 years of age, salmon return to their birthplace, spawn, then die. With only one chance to reproduce, they need a bit of help, and that’s where the fish hatchery comes in. The hatcheries, collect eggs and sperm from the salmon, breed the fish in a safe environment, tag and mark the young fish for future monitoring then release them back into the river. This increases survival rate enormously and will hopefully help increase fish stocks for the future.

We were reliably informed that the Chinese are now regular visitors to Whitehorse in the winter. Why, you may ask, as it is bitterly cold and covered in snow everywhere. The reason is, they believe that if a child is conceived when the Northern Lights are visible, then it will have good fortune for life.

Vancouver is on the Pacific coast of Canada and surrounded by mountains and forests. It’s the biggest city in western Canada and has been ranked in the top 25 of the world’s best city to live in. It has a relaxed feel about it and was an ideal place to spend a few days to get over our jet lag.

From Vancouver we started our journey north. First stop was Brackendale, just north of Squamish, and still on the Pacific coast. Squamish sits at the mouth of the Squamish River, as it empties into Howe Sound, and is sandwiched between the snow capped Coastal and Garibaldi Mountain ranges. Its location provides stunning views in whichever direction you look.
An apartment in Brackendale was our base for our week of exploration in the area. With good weather we managed to visit something different each day. One day it would be the leg-shattering climb to Chiefs Peak, for the view over the Squamish valley and Howe Sound. Then the next to the spectacular Shannon Falls, to see water plummet of the mountain down almost onto Highway 99. We also managed some beautiful hikes around lakes, along hidden creeks, through dense forest and even out along a sand bar at the mouth of the Squamish River.

We were also lucky with the wildlife, several good sightings of Otter, a Bald Eagle with a kill, a pair of Peregrine Falcons, numerous waterfowl and even an inquizitive chipmunk intent on stealing our lunch on the top Chiefs Peak.

For something different we hiked the “Trash Trail” near Whistler, so named, as part of the area was once a rubbish dump. The trail took us through forest and alongside the Cheakamus River, before arriving at our goal, the train wreck site. Decades ago a train derailed south of Whistler, near what is now Function Junction. Seven train cars were left scattered next to the Cheakamus River. Since then the train cars have been transformed into forest art, now covered in paintings and verses, all hidden away amongst the trees.

At the end of our stay in the Squamish valley we had planned to travel north along the 99 then up the 97 to stay in the William Lake area. However, this had to be cancelled as our host there were evacuated from her house due to wild fires. This year British Columbia is suffering badly from wild fires. They happen every year, but the number and size this year is particularly bad due to a very dry spell and careless people. After monitoring the local news we decided to skirt round the worst of the fires and try to head north on route 5, with a stop at Blue River. The journey to Blue River was a long one, passing a few minor fires on route, and from Kamloops onwards, having a smoke haze and water dowsing helicopters for company. Although the big fires were on the other side of the Cariboo Mountains, wind was blowing the smoke in our direction.

We had one day in Blue River and attempted two hikes, both failing due to swarms of mosquitoes at both locations.

Our journey then continued northwards to our next destination, the town of Prince George. Prince George is the forth-largest town in British Columbia, but not one of its most attractive. We had six nights in there, more than we had intended, but forced on us by the wild fires in the Cariboo Valley (where we had hoped to stay). In fact we weren’t the only ones suffering this way, 8,000 Cariboo residents had been evacuated to Prince George when the fires got too close to their homes. During our stay in town we met a few evacuees, talking to them put our minor inconvenience into prospective. During our six-day stay, we kept ourselves busy, helped by having two nice places to stay. We managed to do three local hikes, visit the art gallery, shop on the local market, have an evening at the Drag strip, as well as working on our latest photo book.

Outside of the Brighton Speed Trials, which is on public roads, we had not been to a Drag meeting before. This event was held at the Nitro Motorsport Park, just outside of Prince George in the woods. It is a permanent, professionally run Drag Strip, not dissimilar to Santa Pod (UK’s professional strip in Bedfordshire) but smaller and a bit more laid back. Although there were no Dragsters at this event, a small entry of Nitro Modified Vehicles, motorbikes and private cars kept us entertained for a couple of hours. On top of this, it was fun to be at this local run event and be involved in all that goes on. Just for the record, 9.1 seconds was the fastest over the quarter mile, by a big old American Nitro Modified saloon.

Our route from Prince George was west, back towards the coast. After an overnight in Smithers, nice little town with the Hudson Bay Mountains as a backdrop, we continued our journey to Prince Rupert. The road from Prince George was a bit uninspiring, but as we got closer to Smithers the forest thickened and the mountains appeared, making the drive much more interesting. On this stretch we made a number of stops to explore the local surroundings. The first was Twin Falls, here a short hike brings you to the waterfall cascading from a glacier high up in the Hudson Bay Mountains, very impressive.
This was followed by Moricetown Canyon where the Bulkley River squeezes through its narrowest point and has been favourite fishing spot for the Wet’suwet’en people for many years.
It was then on to the single lane suspension bridge at Old Hazeltown. This current version was built in 1931 and spans 140 meters across the Hagwilget Canyon, 80 meters above the Bulkley River.
Our final stop, other than some amazing scenic viewpoints, was the Totem Poles at Gitwangak. Dating back to 1875, around a dozen still stand where than were originally put, other than that, little is known about them. There was also a very unusual church tower in the village.

Finally we reached our goal, the town of Prince Rupert, after a very enjoyable drive. For both our days in Prince Rupert, it rained. This gave us an opportunity to do indoor activities.
An informative few hours were spent in the Museum of Northern BC, learning about the First Nations in the area and how they interacted with the arrival of Europeans. We also found out that ownership of Kaien Island, where Prince Rupert is located, had been disputed for many years between the United States and Canada. It was only when Canada established a sizable settlement there that the dispute was finally settled in their favour.
We also had an interesting tour of the North Pacific Salmon Cannery Museum, just down the road in Port Edward. Salmon had been caught in the Skeena River, then processed and canned there since 1889, only ceasing operations in the late 1990’s. The site was more than just a Cannery though; it operated as a town for 5 months of the year, for over 100 years. There were workshops, houses, shops, a restaurant, and a post office, even a bank.
The rain did ease for a short period though, which gave us a chance to stretch our legs. Just outside of town was the Butze Rapids trail, a path that winds through second and old growth forest and reminds you that the town is surrounded by woodland.

The day we left Prince Rupert was dry and quite bright, which was good as we had a long drive to Stewart. The day’s drive got more enjoyable as we progressed, with dramatic scenery, on the aptly named glacier highway into Stewart, the most spectacular. Highway 37A into Stewart cuts through a canyon with glacier capped mountains on either side, finally arriving in town with 1000’s of miles of wilderness beyond.

Stewart is a small town of 700 people, right on the Canadian border with Alaska. In fact it was this border crossing that was our reason to visit. Just across the border is the tiny Alaskan town of Hyder. With a population of around 70, and no transport links to any other part of Alaska, it relies heavily on Stewart. So much so, it operates on Canadian time, uses the Canadian Dollar not the US and provides its children with a Canadian education, schooling them in Stewart. All these quirky things aside, what interested us was Fish Creek, just outside of town, and where we made for as soon as we arrived.

When the Salmon are spawning, Fish Creek attracts a lot of bears, so much so the US Forestry Service have built a platform and provided wardens for people to view them safely. We had been told the viewing was good this time of year, but never expected to be so lucky on our first visit. Five separate sightings of Black Bear, with one catching a Salmon, and one Grizzly Bear strolling up and down the creek catching Salmon as he went. On top of these great sighting, there Bald Eagles overhead all the time and even a Marmot turned up to display itself. What an afternoon, one we won’t forget. We returned to Fish Creek the following day and had more great sightings.

From Stewart we started a 1100km drive into Yukon and to its capital of Whitehorse. To make the journey more enjoyable we made two stops on route, at Dease Lake and Watson Lake. The first day the wildlife was just as prolific as Fish Creek, with four Black Bear and one Grizzly Bear sighting. The second day only provided us with one Black Bear sighting, we were getting greedy now. And day three a female Moose in the distance. The scenery, however, was spectacular almost all the way.

Personal Observations

Vancouver buses allow up to two bicycles to be transported. Not inside, but on a bicycle rack fitted to the front of the bus. So boosting their green city credentials.

The Yukon locals say they have four seasons a year, June, July, August and winter.