I am a little late in getting this post out.
I made a decision on Friday morning (regardless of the weather) to begin driving west of Prince George and then up the Cassiar Highway north to the Yukon and Alaska. I left early on Friday morning and the weather was fairly good. No rain which was great.
I rode about 400km Hwy 16 through some nice country west of Prince George. HWy 16 ends at Prince Rupert on the coast.
I was headed to the intersection of Hwy 16 and Hwy 37 . Hwy 37 is also known as the Cassiar Highway which until recently was one of the only routes north. The road has been gravel for most of its life and is mostly paved now.
A couple from Seattle recommended that I take this route instead of the more popular route that heads west and north from Price George.
This was a great choice. The weather was good and I felt like I was the only one on the highway. I was pretty disappointed with the trip through Banff and Jasper National parks because of the traffic and large number of tour buses.
Once I started north on the Cassiar I had 200 or so km until another junction where I could continue north to Watsons Lake or head west to the border fishing towns of Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska. The 200km ride was probably one of the best motocycle rides I have been on in 25 years. This area is very very isolated and I only met a couple of cars and trucks going in the opposite direction. There was also tons of wildlife, lost of deer, the odd moose, and bears!!! This is where is where I saw my first grizzly bear. It was making a quick road crossing about 200 yards in front of me. It had just come up an embankment from the nearby river. I think it was a young grizzly from its size. I didnt stop where it crossed just in case its mother was following!!
When I came to the 200km junction I stopped for a moment and then made a left on the to the Stewart Highway also called the Glacier Highway. This 65 km stretch was very curvy and basically was cut out of he canyon heading west to Stewart and Hyder. This 65 km was awesome and even better than the previous 200km. One of the highlights was that it went right beside a glacier icefield. I did a quick stop and took a couple of pics. This was much better than sharing the view of the Columbia Icefield with 30 buses and hundreds on tourists.
I had the glacier to myself. I preferred this area over the Banff and jasper Parks any day.
I finally arrived at Stewart and Hyder AK. It was everything I expected. They are very small towns with only a few buildings and businesses. There is a ship terminal where tankers dock.
I checked into the King Edward Motel, had a quick bit to eat in the little restaurant, and then went to bed.
Sorry about the pictures but that is the best I could do...
I made a decision on Friday morning (regardless of the weather) to begin driving west of Prince George and then up the Cassiar Highway north to the Yukon and Alaska. I left early on Friday morning and the weather was fairly good. No rain which was great.
I rode about 400km Hwy 16 through some nice country west of Prince George. HWy 16 ends at Prince Rupert on the coast.
I was headed to the intersection of Hwy 16 and Hwy 37 . Hwy 37 is also known as the Cassiar Highway which until recently was one of the only routes north. The road has been gravel for most of its life and is mostly paved now.
A couple from Seattle recommended that I take this route instead of the more popular route that heads west and north from Price George.
This was a great choice. The weather was good and I felt like I was the only one on the highway. I was pretty disappointed with the trip through Banff and Jasper National parks because of the traffic and large number of tour buses.
Once I started north on the Cassiar I had 200 or so km until another junction where I could continue north to Watsons Lake or head west to the border fishing towns of Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska. The 200km ride was probably one of the best motocycle rides I have been on in 25 years. This area is very very isolated and I only met a couple of cars and trucks going in the opposite direction. There was also tons of wildlife, lost of deer, the odd moose, and bears!!! This is where is where I saw my first grizzly bear. It was making a quick road crossing about 200 yards in front of me. It had just come up an embankment from the nearby river. I think it was a young grizzly from its size. I didnt stop where it crossed just in case its mother was following!!
When I came to the 200km junction I stopped for a moment and then made a left on the to the Stewart Highway also called the Glacier Highway. This 65 km stretch was very curvy and basically was cut out of he canyon heading west to Stewart and Hyder. This 65 km was awesome and even better than the previous 200km. One of the highlights was that it went right beside a glacier icefield. I did a quick stop and took a couple of pics. This was much better than sharing the view of the Columbia Icefield with 30 buses and hundreds on tourists.
I had the glacier to myself. I preferred this area over the Banff and jasper Parks any day.
I finally arrived at Stewart and Hyder AK. It was everything I expected. They are very small towns with only a few buildings and businesses. There is a ship terminal where tankers dock.
I checked into the King Edward Motel, had a quick bit to eat in the little restaurant, and then went to bed.
Sorry about the pictures but that is the best I could do...
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