Page 5. Into Northern British Columbia, Canada and riding south down the glorious Stewart Cassiar Highway.
My original plans did not include this road. However, as I was getting closer to British Columbia and got chatting to different folk, it was clear this route was the preferred way. An 800km tourist road mostly, used a lot less by commercial traffic. It seemed the bike tourers I’d met were loving it so I was keen to see for myself.
I’d also been warned that there weren’t many resupply points, it’s really not littered with cafés and shops so before leaving Watson Lake I loaded up with rice and beans at the supermarket. Sat outside the shop I made note of the potential food points along the way whilst scoffing a tub of yogurt and fruit for second breky. Bike touring is partly an eating contest and it’s less fun if you’re not getting enough calories so it becomes a focus a lot of the time.
Riding onto the Cassiar from the Alaska Highway I was instantly on shorter steeper hills. The super long flatter big road sections were over and it was clear I’d be riding something different here. I was in a new Canadian province now too which was exciting stuff, progress.
A short first day to a campsite called French Creek was enough, I felt shattered but I’d planned to have a day off in a few days at the next small town. The mosquitoes were back in full force again too and they were as bad as some of the Alaska days, this worried me as I was running low on spray. The first camp spot was nice and secluded but it was almost unbearable with them. In the morning I was in such a hurry get out of there, basically running out the woods, I forgot all my precious food left hung up in a tree and had to go back for it.
I was on my own little time plan to Jasper but still wanted to enjoy this route. I usually made the effort to drop off the road and check out the lakes and recreation sites wherever there was one.
I cocked up on the opening times at a shop/café called Jade City and got there a bit late. This wasn’t really a problem but I needed bug spray desperately. I was using loads and the previous day had been rough. I made myself a coffee outside the store and started eyeing up a couple of RV’s parked nearby. I went knocking on the door of the biggest one and shamelessly asked for help. The friendly folk were more than happy to give me a full can of spray out the garage, sorted, I was then actually excited for another wild camp.
That evening the road section was beautiful as it meandered closer to the Cassiar mountains. The river was opening out to various lakes too and I spotted a perfect fishing spot down off the road. I got down there and set the rod up, with a bit of perseverance I managed to catch a decent size trout. That was tea sorted.
Typically, in those parts, where there’s fish there’s bear, I had already seen several black bear over the last few days. I broke the rules a bit that night cooking a fresh one right where I was camped. I was possibly getting a bit complacent but having the fire roaring gave me a nice false sense of security.
Riding on the next day the road continued through beautiful scenery but I was feeling shattered again. The little place called Dease Lake was a welcome rest point, I booked myself into a campsite there for two nights and had a cheeky day off. It was nice being somewhere social and a stunning place for a stop, another huge crystal clear lake where the Dease River opens out.
I got the buzz back to pedal again after a day off and had a great days ride though to basic campsite on Kinaskan Lake. The provincial park areas are nice but the catch is that a basic pitch is the same price wether you’re in a big motorhome or on a touring bike. There were no pitches left but the warden said I could camp in the day use area and asked me to pay $25 anyway. Cheeky, I thought but I’ve had my fair share of cheeky free nights. It could have been better to ask around and share a pitch again but I was very happy with my little spot by the lake.
It rained heavily early the following morning on Kinaskan and I made the fatal error of leaving my groundsheet sticking out on a slight hill. Waking up in a pool of water and a wet sleeping bag was a bit sad, breky and packing away in the rain sucks too so it was an uncomfortable morning. The afternoon brightened up though and at lunch I dropped down to another lake to get off the road.
This is where I met Kingston, he was touring north to the top on Canada on the Dempster highway. He had a job at a camp near Inuvik lined up for winter there too which is next level hardcore. I totally forgot I still had two beers in the bag from Dease Lake (the shop would only let me buy a 6 pack) and they were still cold from the grim morning! I happily handed him one and his face lit up startled that I was carrying cold beer on the bike, it was unusual.
As you’d expect I had plenty of time to think on the bike and something I needed to consider was to slow down and take it in. Chasing km’s becomes a focus sometimes rather than chilling out. Looking back it seems as though I skipped through this region quite quickly. In reality I was going comfortably, with the long days of light and the huge stretches of nothing in particular it made sense then to keep riding and stop when it suited. It was chilling.
A few more days enjoying the road and I made it to Hyder which is at the end of the road from Meziadin junction. It’s an incredible section, down a valley of glaciers, waterfalls and a wild rivers, cycling (mostly downhill) there was a crazy cool experience. Hyder is in what they call the pan handle of Alaska too so I was back in America but there was no border crossing. The place is a bit lawless and off grid, I liked it.
Besides it being a quiet town in a beautiful spot, everyone was crazy friendly there, real special place to hang out and I made a few good friends. A highlight was visiting the glacier nearby and fortunately the clouds cleared for us, the views were mind blowing. It really is a monster still.
A Lad called Alex was at the campsite there too, he was travelling around and working on the road from his Tesla which was interesting. He offered me a lift back to the junction so I happily agreed and avoided riding the uphill return to Meziadin Junction. We said goodbyes and a brilliant coincidence happened as I was getting lunch at the cafe there. My German friends Frankie and Neils arrived at the same time. Loved seeing them again, it would be Frankie’s birthday the day after and we all stopped the night at the campsite nearby.
They went off to Hyder too the following day and I carried on down the road for a few more days. After a close encounter with a grizzly bear on the road and another beauty of a secluded lake camp, I popped out into Highway 16 in northern BC.
The highway 16 connects to Jasper in Alberta and was mostly a dangerously busy non interesting road to ride. I ended up taking the train from Smithers to Prince George to avoid the traffic which was a great decision. This skipped a dangerous highway, banked me a few days chill time and let me ride the last nice scenic section into the rocky mountains!
This ones been a little harder to share since it was such a huge highlight. Twelve days on the Cassiar was an amazing part of the tour, the kind of wild Canada I imagined.
Load of photos in the gallery here and you’ll notice it all mostly looks the same, there’s a whole lot of that up there.
Thanks,
CW
My One Year Bike Tour 