Day 94: Prince George BC

Travel day, we hit the road today and it was sunny. It was a 284 mile ride today and we started off by getting just enough fuel at $5.50/gal to get us to Prince George for some $4.50/gal fuel at Costco. We also dumped the waste tanks and filled up on fresh water as we will be dry camping the rest of the way home of 2400 miles. First stop tonight was a Savory Roadside Rest stop just pas Prince George. We stopped in Prince George just briefly to take advantage of the should I say cheap $4.50/gal gas. Back on the road, our next stop for the night and goal was Mount Robson Provincial Park. We plan to stay thhere a couple nights to explore the park. But for today, it was travel day and the only picture I took was of this bear we saw on the side of the road.

Day 93: Hyder - Fish & Bears

 

Coffee this morning on the lake was absolutely wonderful. The sun was out and it was a crisp 50 degrees and warmed to 60 today. We made the 42 mile ride in the Jeep into Steward BC/ Hyder AK. The was to see bears and have fish and chips at "The Bus". Well the Bus closed last week as the fresh Halibut was all eaten, sold, and gone. Diana and Jim manage "Alaskan Seafood" out of Hyder. Jim catches the fish, Diana cooks it up or sells it in there small market next to there home where they have done this for over 27 years. I was here and ate at the bus back 2018. She actually cooked out of the bus for 21 years until 2019. A small shack next to the bus is now the food source when open. Today, sadly, they were not. We did buy $100 worth of Cod and Rock fish at $14/$17 a pound. So we replenished or freezer of fish that we have eaten along our journey. We are now fully restocked for the journey home.

As for the Bears, we got to see them up close on the Hyder viewing deck. One big bear entertained us with his fishing skills in Fish creek that was full of chum and pink salmon. Many salmon had finished their full life cycle as hundreds were lining the bank belly up. The bear was feasting on fish eggs from the bellies of those not yet completing the cycle of life in their last stages of their journey. The smell was getting ripe, in a few days or week, it will be hard to stomach as all the salmon complete their path in life.

Fish Creek viewing platform

Dead fish in Fish Creek

Bears in Fish Creek

Fish Creek

Bears!

Stewart Boardwalk

Glacier on Stewart Hwy 37A

Stewart Boardwalk

Road to Hyder

Diana & Jims Alaskan Seafood

The Bus

Day 92: Meziadin Lake

 

Travel day, not much planned but to make it Meziadin Lake CG at the 37A turn off to Stewart/Hyder for a couple days. It rained all day pretty much so was not a lot of fun. The scenery through the rain and clouds was spectacular in its own way. It was only a 133 mile ride today, with one stop for lunch. We finished the day with a total of 7001 miles for the whole trip so far. The highway today was new and very smooth which made for a nice ride, even if in the rain mostly. Tomorrow we will take the jeep into Stewart B.C. and Hyder AK for our last touch of Alaska.

Miles: 133 / 7001

Day 91: Cruising the Cassiar Hwy

 

Our trip on the ALCAN was short lived. We have been watching the drivebc.ca site for updated info on the Cassiar highway 37 south of Watson lake. Forest fires have had the road closed the past two days. Luckily, some rain help us in our favor to cool the flames and they reopened the road but only with a pilot car for a 20 mile stretch through the still burning and smoldering forest. We got some good dashcam footage of the fire and it was smokey for 30 miles. While we waited on the reopening of the road, we drove 14 miles into Watson Lake to dump, fuel, grocery shop, and revisit the sign post forest with mom. Back on the road and through the fires, our first stop was Kinaskan Lake Campground where we got a nice spot on the lake for the night.

Miles: 280 / 6868

Fires on both sides of the road

Kinaskan Lake CG #44

Day 90: Back on the ALCAN

Back on the ALCAN highway today. We left Tutshi Lake and headed north to Carcross then, we took the cutoff to Johnson's crossing bypassing Whitehorse to the north. Back on the ALCAN we head southeast towards Watson lake. We stopped at Big Creek Campground where we had spent a night on the way up the ALCAN two months earlier.

Miles: 246 / 6588

Big Creek Campground

Day 89: Ferry to Skagway

 

Today we made the journey from Haines to Skagway on the Ferry. We loaded up the RV and Jeep on the Ferry for a 45 minute ride. It was really neat and we all enjoyed the trip. We fill up with fuel in Skagway and park the rig for another power walk and shop down town. Since four cruise ships were docked up, many people were hustling in the stores. Around 4pm it cleared out and by 5-6pm stores were closing. We snagged an ice cream cone, hooked up the jeep, and headed north. Our plan was to make it to Conrad provincial park for the night only about 55 miles from Skagway. We did not make it, we found a great spot on lake Tutshi that was a boat ramp and had room to park the RV. It was very windy that night and not much sleep was to be had with the howling wind. The big bonus was that the skies cleared enough around midnight and we got our first glimpse of the northern lights. Pretty awesome. Not as spectacular to the eye, but the iPhone camera really picked up on the colors.

Miles: 42 / 6432