D2D Day 6 Prince George, BC to Stewart, BC 434 MIles

Good day friends and family,

Mother Nature threw us a curve this morning, sunshine in lieu of rain for a change--sweet. We left Prince George around 8:00 am headed west on Canada 16, the Yellowhead Highway. We hadn't gone 50 miles before I saw a stainless steel (Made in China) hose clamp dance across the highway behind Lane's bike. I pulled ahead of Lane and confirmed that once again one of the four hose clamps holding the tool tube to the bike had departed the tube for parts unknown.  We pulled over and secured the tool tube with bailing wired carried for just such an occasion.  We were back on the road in ten minutes.

Riding northwest from Prince George we entered the Lakes district between Burns Lake and Fraiser Lake, well named for the numerous beautiful lakes in the area. It seemed odd that we did not see one boat or fisherman on any of the lakes. 

I’m taken with the odd and interesting names of places and things in Canada, like the Push Back Creek, the Van Hor-Lick Creek (I’d like to know the genesis of that one) and the Horsefly Likely Resort to name a few.

I apologize for not getting some great from-the-saddle photos to share but when one is bundled up against the chill with insulated waterproof gloves it’s nearly impossible to shoot pictures, and if we stopped every time we saw a beautiful sight we would never cover the miles we need to make in a day.

On one occasion today we stopped for road construction lasting for about 30 minutes, setting us back some. The highways have generally been in good repair allowing us to easily make 65 to 70 MPH most of the time. The maximum posted speed limit in British Columbia seems to be 100 kilometers per hour, about 60 MPH.

We’ve been a little disappointed in the wildlife viewing. Today we saw four deer alongside the road, three alive, one dead, a coyote and a black Labrador retriever.

Late in the afternoon the rain began to fall once again. The temperature dropped and I turned my heated vest on. After 400 miles of forests, farms and rolling hills we finally arrived at the junction to Stewart, BC, and its stepsister, Hyder, Alaska. We turned west and headed toward Stewart down a beautiful thirty mile long canyon. In spite of the rain and low clouds, one could not help but to be impressed by the incredible beauty of the area with its towering snow-capped mountains, glaciers and waterfalls around every corner, and a river flowing alongside the road.

 We pulled into Stewart around 5:30, checked into our hotel and had supper in the hotel pub. Tomorrow we’re going to check out Hyder, where the United States doesn’t even bother to man a customs booth. Then, it’s up the Cassiar Highway through Dease Lake and on to Watson Lake, home of the signpost Village, more on that tomorrow.

Here are a few photos from today's ride.