San Diego to Skaqway
Day 14 Stewart-Cassiar Highway |
Dease Lake BC New Hazelton, BC |
Day 14, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Backtracking a bit to ride the Stewart-Cassiar south.
He and Craig just patched up a gashed oil filter with some JB-Qwik Craig had stashed under our seat. Phil had some kind of aftermarket oil filter magnet that apparently got something worked in between that cut into the filter in the washboarded sections. He and Craig were just chatting at the pumps in Teslin when Phil looked down and saw the leak. It must’ve just started, as they decided no oil needed to be added after patching it.
Craig is a big fan of pork
and thought the tail on his
boar was pretty cool!
Right after Teslin Craig shot this video of us crossing one of those grated bridges. The water looks a lot closer in the video. It's actually quite a few feet down... Teslin Lake Bridge Video
Scenes along the Stewart-Cassiar Highway:
We stopped at the Cassiar Mountain Jade Store and Mine and picked up a little InukShuk made of jade as a little souvenir of the trip.
(REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk ).
On the Stewart-Cassiar we saw a pair of bald eagles in flight, such a peaceful sight. We also saw a Black Bear on the side of the road, chomping on greens. He noticed us, too. We were going to get a photo, but decided this guy was too interested so we kept going rather than doubling back.
The Stewart Cassiar Highway is more rugged than the ALCAN, and very beautiful. Lots of twisties, and a good deal of roadwork going on. There were a few noticeable landslides, as well, much of the area still flooded:
There's a lot of roadwork going on, but never a really long wait. And, most of the workers were happy to chat with the tourists on the motorcycle.
We stayed at Dease Lake at a nice motel, the Northwest Motor Inn. The area is quite, and still no Mosquitoes! However, there was also no coffee. Bummer. We did find that the little convenience store behind the gas station was actually a huge grocery store. It was like that Harry Potter movie where they open the tent flap and there are 5 bedrooms and a big living room. Surprise!
We had dinner at the restaurant across the parking lot from the motel. It was still light out when we returned to our room, well after 9pm. Wow. I had decided to knit a pair of socks on this trip, since they would be small and compact. However, I've never knit socks before. So, this is a bit of a struggle. The instructions have no photos, and very little to go on. I'm not having a lot of luck on this count.