Saturday July 11

Yesterday I had planned to end up at a campsite just south of Watson Lake. However, late in the day, I was admiring a beautiful, long lake to my right. When I saw a campground sign for the Teslin Lake Provincial Campground, I decided to check it out. The lake is about 70 miles long by two to five miles wide. Lakeside sites were available for $12, so I decided to spend the night there instead of pushing myself to Watson Lake. I would still have time to make it to Hyder the next day.

After a refreshing swim in the cold glacier-fed lake, I slept very well. No rain this time and I was able to stay dry. I was apprehensive about taking the Cassiar-Stewart highway, because I had read that it was mostly gravel, and there were very few services on the road. If I tell you a secret, do you promise not to tell? OK, the Cassiar Highway is one of the best kept secrets in the world. Hardly the forgotten backwoods gravel pit of doom, it was one of the most beautiful roads I have ever ridden. I had originally planned to make some time today, leaving the camera in my saddlebag, but after only a few miles out came the camera and it remained hung around my neck for the whole day. Many shots were taken that I only hope come close to recording the natural beauty I saw with my eyes all day long.,

The Cassiar-Stewart Highway (also known as rte 37) runs north-south in the valley between the Coastal Mountains to the east and the Cassiar Mountains to the west. I used to think that nothing in North America was equal to the power and beauty of the Rockies. Believe me, the Coast mountains on my right, and the Cassiars to my left competed for my attention all day long. Around each bend in the road was a new surprise. It was almost like two jealous siblings competing for attention "Hey look at what I can do". "That's nothing, watch this!" and on and on it went.

It is a bit unfair to compare the Yukon and British Columbia"s offerings to those of Alaska, considering the amount of smoke afloat in the air all week in Alaska. Alaska had the combined beauty of the steep sloping mountains plunging steeply into the bays and inlets in places like Homer, Valdez, Seward, and many others that I didn't get a chance to see. One thing that I did notice that is worth a mention is that the trees in Alaska weren't nearly as big as the same species found in BC. This is probably due to the very short growing season in Alaska, but for whatever the reason, the black spruce in BC are towering giants, that seem especially large when they are seen close to the road. Some of the black spruce in BC grew hundreds of feet with trunks as big as r . Even the Aspens were huge. If we are keeping score, I'd give Alaska the edge in the placement of the mountains close to the coastal waters, but BC wins hands down in how well the mountains are framed by huge trees, greener pastures, and enormous inland lakes and rivers. If I had one road that I want to revisit soon, it is the Cassiar Highway in British Columbia. Sorry Alaska, I love you too, but...

Oh I was so caught up in the trees, lakes, and mountains, that I almost forgot the biggest surprise that I almost ran into (literally) coming around one corner today. I was in the middle of a high-speed sweeper to the right, when I noticed a brown object in the middle of the road. It was moving slowly from left to right and was at about the center line of the road. Fortunately I had my camera around my neck and another one mounted and ready behind my windshield. Now, I'm no expert on judging the weight of animals, but I;d guess it was about a 600-700 pound Grizzle just out for a stroll. I stopped the bike at the side of the road and took about 8 pictures. By now, other people had also stopped, so emboldened by the strength of numbers behind me, I followed on foot to the edge of the road and parallel to ti as he turned left and walked along the side of the road, looking over his shoulder as if to say "hey, you looking at me?" He took a right and disappeared into the underbrush . Finally, I had my first grizzly! Somehow I don't think the excitement of the meeting was mutual.

A nice older couple I was chatting with at a rest stop suggested I might want to try the Meziadin Lake Provincial Campground about 40 miles before Stewart and Hyder. They have a small convenience store, internet, services, and it is on a lake, all for only $12. I ccan still be in Hyder early tomorrow and on the road out of there soon after. That wa sit then. Another 150 miles or so and I'll be done for the day. The last 150 miles of the Cassiar was even better that I had seen up top that point. Most of the way, the road felt like my private road. I saw nobody else going my way and only a half dozen or so coming in the other direction. With the setting sun flickering through the huge aspen trees and glinting off the white caps of the Bell Irving River to my right that seemed to be racing me to Meziadin Lake Campground, I checked in and set up camp. As a bonus, I still had time to make use of the free internet connection to make this post.

Today has been a great day!