Day 76 – June 18

After a leisurely start to the day we drove I to Whitehorse with Jane and Ike in the LRT. Ike had arranged to meet a friend at a cafe so we dropped him off and then Jane, Diane and I walked around the Shipyards Park and visited a local craft store and gallery. We met up with Ike at the cafe where I got some suggestions from his friend where to fish locally, including a hand drawn map to his favourite spot right in town.

Shipyards Park

We visited another gallery before heading to a restaurant, the Chocolate Claim, for a soup and sandwich lunch, followed by a shared cranberry square, very tasty. Feeling the need to work off some of that lunch we drove up to Gray Mountain for a hike. Ike drove up the gravel road as far as practical on the LRT and then pulled off in a clearing to park where we began our hike.

One the way up Jane found an interesting rock that had some fossil markings on it, possibly of a fish fin, a leaf or fern. We hiked for about an hour and a quarter up what at times was a very steep gravel road, stopping periodically to turn around and admire the increasingly beautiful view back over Whitehorse and the Yukon River. A bit short of the summit we stopped for a group shot and then made our way back down the hill, which due to the slippery gravel underfoot was just as challenging as walk as the uphill leg had been.

The Yukon River

Almost to the top

We returned to the rv park where Jane and Ike went out to supper with friends in Whitehorse while we relaxed and reduced the food in our freezer. When Jane and Ike returned (somewhat later than they had planned I might note) we sat outside and had one last glass of wine together (on this trip) as tomorrow the LRT is heading east and south towards Fort Simpson and eventually home.

Wow… what a nice highway and not at all what we expected from what we had read. Sunny skies and straight roads welcomed us as we passed lake upon lake – with only fisherman, boats, and tackle shops for over 200 km. Phil, this is the road for you!

The highway was posted as 90km speed limit but it could really be driven at 100-110kmph, which we often did despite yesterday’s near escape. There was no traffic at all, just the occasional truck or car. And by the side of the road, a bear sitting there eating berries, looking at us. By lunch we were near Kapuskasing, another in a long line of small (3000-5000 populations) mining towns built along the train tracks. Not so charming. Each tried to stand out from the other. We saw giant snowmen, lumberjacks, fish and even a flying saucer in the town of Moonbeam (wonder who settled here?).

Frosty looking decidedly out of place

By mid-way however the road stopped being so welcoming with worsening conditions and construction taking place on every bridge, of which there were many. While the highway dropped to a single across rivers, not much work appeared to be taking place with no one in sight, very strange.

Must be Mike Duffy or Pamela Wallins riding 🙂

By late in the day we had hoped to be in North Bay but we ended up an hour or so short in Temagami at a resort on a lake, very nice. No bugs, all is good and the ribs and wings were excellent 🙂

Temagami – float planes, fish, boats and ribs

Off to Ottawa tomorrow for a hangout with Michelle and Dave then home late Thursday is the plan, we’ll see.

Woke to blue skies and a promise of 23 degree weather in Kenora as we headed out just before 9am. Still planned to make tracks east today as we headed towards Thunder Bay. This got delayed early as we past Egli’s Sheep Farm and Sheepskin products, just west Dryden. A quick turn around and 45 minutes in the store made the stop worth the time, as I ended my 5 year search and exited the store with a new sheepskin coat. My God but they are warm!

Sheared clean at Sheepville

The TC highway east (#17) has a 90km max speed. This plus lots of stops for road construction slowed us down considerably and we passed through Thunder Bay 2 hours later than expected. The Trans Canada Hwy splits at Nipigon into the TC 11 and TC 17. We did our research on which route was best and decided on the 11 as it was reported to have less traffic and was said to be more picturesque then the southern route.

Having chosen our route we stopped for gas, switched drivers, turn north and literally “took off” down the TC 11. Bad call, the first kilometre of this road is a 60km zone, and guess who was waiting for Sean, around the bend…. Yep the OPP! We pulled over into the driveway of a tiny church, and the stern-faced officer proceeded to inform us that we were driving 36km over the limit. I smiled sweetly and apologized as Sean did that verbal dance he does when he knows he’s wrong. You know, the one the starts with, and I quote “my GPS told me it was a 90km zone” and “I guess I wasn’t paying attention, as this is such a beautiful drive along the lake”…..just to mention a couple. After returning from the patrol car with our NS registration and insurance, he asked where we were headed, which was Sean’s cue to talk about our trip. You could see his face soften with each destination descriptive, especially when Dryden was mentioned, which just happens to be his home town……..JACKPOT!!! A 5min conversation ensued that ended with a smile and light warning, and we were off, having dodged a $296 fine and 4 demerit points. Lucky or what!

After stopping in Geraldton for a few groceries, we arrived at MacLead PP at 7:30pm, one of the the few provincial parks on this 1300km stretch of road. The park was situated on a pristine lake and a-buzz with mosquitoes and the pending Walleye Fishing Championships. An enjoyable and horseshoes kinda day.

Day 75 – June 17

We awoke to clear skies after a violent but short rainstorm in the middle of the night that sent us scrambling to close the large window next to our bed. Our last serviced spot was just out of the wifi range of the site and as it was very close to the Robert Service Way the traffic noise was a bit of a distraction so Diane checked if we could move sites and possibly be closer to Jane and Ike. As a number of RV’s had pulled out in the morning we got a site across from them that had a better wifi signal so we moved some of our stuff to the site and then headed into Whitehorse.

The first item on my list was to try and organize a fishing guide. When we last visited Whitehorse I had hired a local guide and wanted to see if he was still in the business. My e-mail inquiries from Halifax had remained unanswered. I went to a shop that Ike had recommended but they did not have any spots available for at least a week. They did recommend another guide and thought that my previous guide still might be working.

I needed to make some phone calls or get some Internet connection. Due to a concern of roaming charges I wanted to check if there would be roaming charges for my Bell phone. We saw the Northwest Tell building and went there to inquire. Unfortunately it was their operations building but there was a phone number on the door and a pay phone nearby so we called. When Diane identified that she was from Nova Scotia the operator, Pam said that she was from Cape Breton. Continuing on with the conversation Diane mentioned the great waitress that we had the night before who also was from Cape Breton. Can you believe it was Pam’s daughter and she had mentioned the crowd of Nova Scotians that she had served the night before. This is a small town.

Pam couldn’t answer our question so we continued walking around downtown. At one point I was sitting on a bench along a busy sidewalk when someone who looked familiar walked by. I hesitated at first but throwing caution to the wind I pursued them down the sidewalk and when I asked if his name was Steve and he said yes I knew that I had tracked down my old guide. Did I mention that this is a small town. Unfortunately Steve had retired from the business but he did recommend another guide.

After walking around downtown Whitehorse, in ever increasing winds, we headed to the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre. This is a beautiful building just about to celebrate its one year anniversary. As they were between major exhibitions we looked at some of the permanent displays and watched a video on the making of a ceremonial dug out canoe, a project undertaken to bring youth back in touch with their culture. It was a well done video and at one point during the process when a major crack split down the side of the canoe, it was clear from the looks on the faces of the youth workers what an investment they had in the project. Fixing the canoe became yet another life lesson for them. The conflicts of culture and the loss to some of their First Nations culture is very evident at times and a large display in the cultural centre memorializing the loss of lives of First Nations women was very poignant.

The canoe from the video was on display and Jason, a very soft spoken First Nations interpreter at the centre took us into the locked display building to show it to us. His quiet pride, not only in the canoe but in his culture and their creation story, was obvious, giving us the feeling that we were standing in a sacred space not a museum display. He made the those inanimate objects come to life with meaning for us.

Wolf and Crow

We returned to the campsite and while Diane did a laundry I made contact with the guide who lives on Lake Labarge, made famous world wide by Robert Services’ epic poem ‘The Cremation of Sam McGee’. The earliest that he could take me out was on Thursday, longer than we had planned to stay in Whitehorse but as all plans are STC (subject to change) our plans changed.

Jane provided cold turkey and salad for supper and we supplied carrots, risotto and barbecued asparagus, making for a great meal. We had a chance to look at some of their pictures and got their advice on highlights of their trip to Alaska, which really whet our appetite for the next phase of our trip. Supper preparation and plans to eat outside were interrupted by a brief rainstorm so we retired to the BRT to dine before turning in for the night at a typically late hour. It will take a long time to get used to this midnight sun.

Day 74 – June 16

Having paid for an hour rental for a canoe the night before, Diane and I were up at 6:15, packed up and on the lake by 7:00. The mist was rising off the lake as we set out and the lake was flat calm. Unlike the night before where there were several fish jumping, there were few signs of any fishy activity as Diane paddled me around the lake. Have I mentioned lately that I have a great wife?

A beautiful morning on Boya Lake

No such thing as a bad day’s fishing

We were on the road before 9:00 and following a sighting of a young black bear along the road we crossed over in to the Yukon before 10:00. The road signs read Yukon – Bigger Than Life. Not having had breakfast yet we pulled over at the Nugget City restaurant, a spot mentioned in Jane and Ike’s blog. For $5 we got wifi and while we ate a full breakfast we caught up on emails and I posted up to date. We were back on the road before noon. Still no word from Jane and Ike who are having the same wifi access issues as us and I fear they are on their way to Fort St John to meet Graeme and Alex. Sean and Carla have been posting regularly to the blog and are now in the warp drive segment of their trip, burning a path home.

The Alaska Highway pays no respect to straight line borders and at Swift River we passed back into BC only to return to the Yukon at the Morley River. We drove along the the very long and narrow Teslin Lake and as the highway was in good condition, sometimes the gravelled sections were in better shape than the paved section, we felt that without too many stops Whitehorse was an achievable destination. All along the road we kept an eye out for Jane and Ike in the LRT and in places where we stopped, parked close to the highway so as to be visible.

Based on Jane and Ike’s blog it looked like the Hi Country RV Park, just outside the Whitehorse downtown would be a good spot to set up camp. Conveniently located on the Alaska Highway just west of the downtown we found it without any problem and rolled in at about 4:30. This is a very popular spot, offering full services including wifi and cable TV and we were fortunate enough to get the last full service site. As there was a great signal at the office we sat there for a few moments to FaceTime Laurel and Ian as it was Father’s Day and the whole family would be there.

Just as we were about to connect I happened to look in my rear view mirror and what did I see driving in behind us but the LRT and Jane and Ike walking towards us. A few heads turned at our vocal greetings and hugs. The LRT had made reservations for their return trip on their way through earlier in the month. Although it had been less than three weeks since we saw them, it felt longer and we were very happy to see their faces.

They had made arrangements to go to a new local restaurant, the Wheelhouse, with friends that evening but a few quick calls saw the reservations changed and we scurried to get presentable. After a string of dry camping sites with no showers the clean hot showers of Hi Country felt luxurious.

We had a very pleasant and laugh filled dinner with their friends before returning under very bright skies to the campground at around 11:00. It would be very easy to develop sleep deprivation in this climate as you tried to jam so much of the beautiful summer weather into your schedule, especially after a long dark cold winter. As we felt the last time we visited here, we could spend a lot of time here and based on Jane and Ike’s reviews of Alaska, an even more spectacular destination awaits us.

Well, we left our RV park just east of Regina and headed further east in lousy weather. The drive is mostly uninteresting (actually quite boring) but it is getting us closer to home with each kilometer. The highways are twinned and run through a myriad of villages along the way. Each village has a grain elevator. Nuff said! The entrances and exits to these villages are uncontrolled and run across up to 4 lanes of high speed traffic. It is not unusual to come flying along at 120kmph and see various gigantic farm machinery pieces trying to cross the road. A little unnerving… But being able to see some 100 miles down the road helps 🙂

So far we have made good headway from Banff yesterday morning and we are now in Ontario, albeit just Kenora. The area is very nice and a haven for campers & boaters as this is Lake of the Woods region. The accommodations range from tenting to massive house boats and float planes and of course hotels and inns. The Best Western is right on the edge of the lake and perfectly round and about 10 storeys high, it must offer beautiful views but does look weird…
Further eastward bound again tomorrow…

Yup, Ontariario

Only other pic is of this motor home, while not as cool as the one towing the helicopter this one has pop-outs on pop-outs, a first for us. But given the bug count, he might have the right idea versus venturing outside.

Big, big rig, may be over compensating perhaps. The owner looked the martian off of bugs bunny.

Day 73 – June 15

Due to the mosquito induced sleep deprivation of the previous night we chose to ignore our usual 7:00 alarm and we lounged abed until 7:45. An early morning check of the trap line confirmed our hope that our furry stowaway had either come and gone Ninja style in the same night or had abandoned ship during the day due to the roller coaster highway we had been on. visions of the little bastard staggering down the side of the highway suffering from motion sickness while barfing up the last of our pistachio nuts gave me some small satisfaction. After breakfast and cleanup I tried a few perfunctory casts from the boat launch dock but based on the knowledge of the park manager success was unlikely so I didn’t postpone our departure.

We were well past due for a grey water dump and a stock up of fresh water having been dry camping for several days so again based on directions from the park manager we kept an eye out for a spot where we could get both water and dump our tanks. In her German accent she had explained that there were two similar names of resorts up the road and she told us which one to go to. Best we came away with was the the place we wanted started with a ‘T’. Not far down the road we saw the Todagin Guest Resort. Assuming this was the spot we drove in the longish driveway to arrive at what appeared to be a farm.

We were greeted by a tall soft spoken very pleasant Amish woman (soft spoken Ahmish may be a redundancy) who was sitting in the sun reading her Bible. She took us across the property to the farm owner who told us that what we wanted was Tatogga Lake Resort. OurAmish guide was visiting the owner of the property and we spent some time talking to her, discovering that in winter she and her husband were trappers further north. So hands up who else has met a female Amish trapper. Big check on my bucket list.

Further down the road we stopped at Tatogga Lake Resort where for $10 we did a tank dump and took on water. We also bought gas – rule of the north, never pass a gas station. Inside the restaurant, which which had a full sized stuffed moose and mountain goat next to the tables, we unsuccessfully tried to log on to their wifi while we had coffee, tea and muffins.

Moose on the menu

Our Amish trapper lady acquaintance had suggested that we check out a local trappers store further down the road so we dropped in to explore. We pulled into the parking lot to find three small pomeranian dogs yapping around the yard. Not dissing pomeranians but not exactly my image of trapper dogs. The owner had an inflatable canoe that I was jealously eyeing, next trip I will have a boat with me and leave the bicycles home. Once I engaged him in conversation I got the whole tour, including his new CanAm quad, with track accessories and found out that he owned 3,000 square miles of property. In disbelief I asked him again and yes he said 3,000 square miles. To save you the math that is approximately a square of land 54 miles on each side, the best part of the distance from Halifax to Truro – he doesn’t have many neighbours.

After a few photo stops we arrived at Boya Lake Provincial Park at about 5:00. The water in Boya Lake is aqua blue. As we approached, it looked like a giant swimming pool laid out before us. As there were a few mosquitoes in the air we spent some time picking a site that would take advantage of the winds off the lake. As we were surveying sites we were paying close attention to a bank of rain that was moving across the hills on the other side of the lake. Sporadic flashes of lightening amongst the dark cloud added to the spectacle.

Something is brewing

We found a site that had a great view of the lake and as a few drops of rain began to fall I quickly set out the awning and table to provide some shelter for our planned barbecue of the night. Just as the night before the storm abated as quickly as it had arisen, returning the lake to a mirror finish. A small campfire provided enough smoke to keep the bugs at bay so we sat outside and ate while the far easterly hills slowly took on shades of pink from the reluctantly setting sun. Although we had been staying at campsites overlooking lakes for the past three nights, for me Boya Lake provided a perfect mixture of scenery, weather and lack of bugs that it was one of my favourite campsites. With the clear air, blue sky and calm waters reflecting the mountains beyond I was content to sit for hours and just have the view engulf me. Peacefulness should be breathed deep and savoured long. We went inside just before 11:00 with still enough daylight to read in bed.

Feel the calm

You are feeling calmer…

You are now fully relaxed

Day 72 – June 14

After having plugged every imaginable entry point for the mosquitoes that had plagued us the night before we went to bed. I don’t know what woke me at 3:00, the bright sunshine or the hoard of mosquitoes buzzing over our heads. I have no idea what their point of entry was but I had visions of a line up of the little blood sucking vermin at a tiny take a number please dispenser awaiting their turn for the all you can drink buffet awaiting them inside.

After trying unsuccessfully to ignore them for half an hour I finally got up, flashlight in one hand, wet face cloth in the other and and set off on my own personal mission of genocide. Smashing and swinging my way from one end of the beast to the other I cut a satisfying swath of devastation through the buzzing winged hoard, leaving a path of carnage in my wake. I did make one unfortunate discovery on my tour of duty as I noticed a hole chewed in the package of corn left on the counter, we had picked up another even more worrisome stowaway, a mouse.

Having reduced their numbers considerably I returned to bed. Through the night Diane had perfected a way of sleeping burrowed under the sheets with only a small breathing tube left. Unable to sleep in those conditions my bald pate became the pâté du jour for the constantly increasing number of diners and sleep was far from my mind.

By 5:45 I was willing to take my chances outside so I grabbed my fishing gear and headed for the wharf. The gale force winds of the previous night had abated and the lake was mirror flat, perfect mosquito weather, so I was prepared for the worst with my can of bug spray along with my bear repellant as we had been advised that there had been a bear sighting in the park. So I was ready for both ends of the spectrum of species that might want to eat all or part of me. I fished from the wharf, not the most likely vantage point, until 7:00 when I knew our alarm was set to go off and then returned to the BRT to find Diane in full antiseptic clean up mode. Everything that might have come in contact with our four legged nocturnal visitor was wiped down with antiseptic cloths and put back in place, sort of a forced spring cleaning.

Due to the cleaning delay we did not head out until after ten. We wanted to drive to Stewart, a westward diversion from our northerly route. Driving to Stewart is the epitome of the saying ‘it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey’. The road to Stewart is called the Glacier Highway, and as you might have suspected, there are glaciers along the way. There are places where the road is at elevations of 7000 feet and higher. The snow caps that we had been seeing in previous days only at the mountain tops were now, in places, right at road level. The Bear Glacier, the most spectacular along this road sticks it icy tongue right down into the Bear River that parallels the highway. With very little effort one could have glacier ice for a beverage.

On the road to Stewart

Bear Glacier

B & W for Carmel

As was the case the day before, the sides of the mountains and hillsides are marked with waterfalls, fed by the melting snow and ice of previous winters. Full of sediments gathered on the trip down the mountainside these waterfalls run a milky white, a real contrast to some of the beautifully clear streams we had seen on Vancouver Island. Most of the rivers we have crossed over the last couple of days, including the Skeena are running at close to flood conditions, swelling to their banks and full of debris. We had a couple of wildlife sightings, a wolverine (very rare to see one of these), a mother bear and her cub, a very mangy looking wolf who wasn’t quite as nervous of us as I would have liked and one unfortunate sighting of a dead bear cub alongside the road.

We arrived in Stewart which reminded me of a small Skagway with its low buildings and numbered avenues situated right at the base of tree covered hills. We stopped at the information centre after a short walk along the Estuary Trail, which due to disrepair of a bridge is no longer a loop trail but a return trip. The woman who works in the centre was very helpful, a former resident of Upper Stewiacke, some 37 years ago. Based on her recommendation we went to the local bakery for coffee and muffins, it was sort of a baked goods and java version of Cheers with locals coming and going, helping themselves and one character seemingly a permanent fixture, I think his name was Norm.

Stewart’s Estuary Trail

Bear Glacier

Following a stop for gas and a visit to the hardware store for some welcoming devices for our furry co traveller we were on our way back again to highway #37 and north towards our destination for the night Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park. The drive north was uneventful and the road was in good condition but the scenery was spectacular, it is hard to get complacent about mountains, snow and forests, even when they go on for hours and hours. We arrived at the park about 5:00 and quickly found a lovely spot right by the lake. We nervously stepped out of our vehicle in anticipation of hoards of mosquitoes but to our pleasant surprise only found a few.

Diane felt the need for a bath and plunged into the very icy waters of the lake emerging gasping for breath and I swear a full inch shorter, who knew that women suffered from shrinkage too? I busied myself trying to fashion a shroud for the outside intake for our vents, the prime suspect for mosquito entry and proceeded to drop a pair of scissors down into the engine compartment. Anyone who works around equipment knows the sickening sound of clink, clank, clunk as some tool unbelievably comes to rest before its logical destination of the floor or ground below. Half an hour later I was on my third revolution through my vocabulary of four letter words, seriously contemplating launching into the hyphenated section when from under the vehicle with the aid of a mirror I spotted the scissors resting in the bottom of the radiator fan shrouding, a very bad place indeed for them to be on these bumpy roads. Tens minutes later, grease to my elbows and in a lather of sweat from working around the heat of my 10 cylinder monster I emerged, now also in need of a bath.

Learning from Diane’s experience and lacking her tolerance for cold water I cowardly turned on our hot water and showered using the outside shower. We had bought wood for a fire, a generous bundle by some of the southern standards, as it was a beautiful calm night but a darkening cloud on the horizon moved in quickly and even before we could run around and get our laundry off the line it began to sprinkle. The sprinkle quickly turned into a full blown rain and the lake that moments before had been mill pond calm was whipped into white caps. I was thankful that I wasn’t out in a canoe. Almost as quickly as it came the storm passed over and slowly the lake returned to calm.

Having abandoned the notion of a fire we had retreated to the BRT and were playing crib, at 10:30 and it was still bright enough to not require a light. We interrupted the games to step outside and watch a beautiful sunset before retiring to bed, the skies still dimly lit. We won’t be seeing any stars for a while.

We left the parking lot, I mean campsite (it was actually OK), at 09:00 or so and headed to Banff Springs Hotel for brunch. Food was awesome despite it being a buffet. They will literally make you anything you want so I had a Denver omelette and bacon buttie while Carla had yogurt, baked apples and an omelette with too many veggies for my liking. We wandered the grounds after then headed to the confluence of the Saskatchewan and Bow Rivers right in Banff. Then off down the road dodging major rain showers and storm cells eventually reaching just east of Regina. A long but good day.

Big lobby – nice hotel

The World’s largest TeePee, an actual tourist stop on the highway to Moose Jaw

Saskatchewan has a very (yawn) exciting topography ZZZZZZzzzzzzz….

Saskatchewan, like eastern Alberta, Manitoba, and western Ontario are what the Americans would call fly-over states. Not sure why they exist except to ensure Canada remains the 2nd largest country in the world perhaps? Not sure…

And the highway between Moose Jaw and Regina is now the worst stretch of road we have encountered thus far and we have seen some bad stuff. At least they are working on it… actually not!

Cumulo-nimbus clouds barring the way

Whether good luck, karma or whatever, except for a few sprinkles we dodged several major storm cells.

We left Jasper after a decent brekkie and no bear attacks. 2 minutes down the road towards Banff we encountered many, many Elk with babies (Elklets perhaps?) hanging about.

Elks & Elklets near Jasper

Shortly after we encountered a black bear snacking by the side of the road on berries.

Berry Bear

These animal sightings were in addition to the myriad of sights we witnessed along the way. The Athabascan River falls, the Columbia ice fields, a lake where they take Windex from, many more mountains and streams as well as a cable car ride to the overlook of Banff. Banff was too cool although I have seen more Caucasians in Beijing. You are either older (much older than Carla or I) or Asian of any age or young Caucasian (not tourists but someone has to do the work of catering to all these well-heeled (not us) folks. It is a very nice place and was my first time. It was Carla’s third! It won’t be our last.

Very creeping! Columbia ice field.

The Columbia ice field was very neat except for the plethora of signage suggesting all the people who had died there by wandering off the paths sent a chill up your spine. Folks typically die of hypothermia before they can be dug out but they are always well preserved… sorry… This is the place where they drive those goofy buses out on the ice… One of these days, just sayin’

White Flower Thinghies
(anenome somethings or just white flowers in snow also works)

Where Windex comes from…

Lake Louise = imagine how blue they would be if sunny.

Top of Banff Cable Car – (inset – 2 of the few Caucasian tourists found in Banff)

Canada’s oldest national park has parking lots for campsites, $#@^&$#

Hey, but all the free wood you can carry… With the extra daylight these days, dinner was at 10:30PM, fire lasted until 11:00PM and coma started at 11:01PM

Note: It pretty much rain or drizzled all day and yet the vistas were fantastic. This ice fields parkway is a must see and I would happily do the route again, from south to north this time…