The Road to Jasper

August 20-24, 2011

It rained all night, poured rain in the morning and rained the 40 miles back to Cassiar Highway from Stewart. I took photos of the rain, fog and mist through the window while we were driving.

Bear Glacier

When we got to Bear Glacier, we stopped; I rolled down the window and took a couple photos.

Gitanyow

Back on the Cassiar, we took a two-mile detour to the town of Gitanyow to see the totem poles, which are scattered around a large grassy area. There was a sign in front of the museum saying that it cost $5 to enter the museum and to take photos outside, but the museum was closed.

Then we visited the Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site where the Gitwangak tribe had built a small fort on a hill from which to raid other tribes for food, slaves and control of trade routes in the 18th century. When the enemy attacked the fort, the ferocious warrior chief 'Nekt and his warriors rolled huge spiked logs down the palisade walls to vanquish the invaders. During battle, 'Nekt wore a grizzly hide with pieces of slate glued to the inside as armor and carried a magical club. He was eventually killed when an arrow struck him in the back of his leg. He fell and an enemy warrior beheaded him. Plaques explain the history as you walk along a short trail up the hill. Nothing remains of the fort. A bear had left evidence of his feast of berries on the hill.

We drove through the small village of Gitwangak, stopping to look at the quaint St. Paul’s Anglican church and bell tower and several totem poles beside the road. We saw a few more totem poles in the small town of Kitseguecla.

That night we stayed at the pleasant ‘Ksan Campground in Hazelton, which is next to ‘Ksan Historical village, a replicated ancient Gitxsan village.

We walked along Skeena River to old Hazelton, a tidy, well-maintained village with nice houses, historic buildings and a small boardwalk along the river.
It rained all night. It was pouring rain in the morning, but by the time we left, the sun had come out. The rest of the day it was mostly sunny or overcast, but, by the end of the day, it was pouring rain again.

After a couple stops we arrived in Smithers where David changed the oil in the truck, while I walked down main street. It had a bit of a Swiss alpine theme to it. It was nicely landscaped with mountains visible in the background. All the stores were closed, so it was almost deserted. A man with a camera approached me and wanted to know my opinion for the local newspaper on whether there should be a manned snack bar at the Smithers airport. I told him I wasn’t a local and had no idea.

We continued on to Houston, home of the 60’ fly fishing rod and a 975-lb/11’ tall grizzly bear that had been eating people’s livestock. He was caught, killed and stuffed and now stands in a glass enclosure in front of the visitor’s center.
We arrived in Vanderhoof around 6 pm and looked for a campground. The first campground we tried had campsites, but none with hookups, (which we discovered after having been told there were hookups and to pick one. We drove around and couldn’t find any). The next campground we tried was too expensive (much higher than our 2011 guide indicated, which is quite common). The owner wasn’t going to give any discounts and was rather rude, so we left. We ended up in another “RV park”, which was really just a few spaces with hook-ups next to a motel. The owner was much friendlier and gave us a discount. I don’t know why the RV parks were so expensive here. There’s nothing very special about Vanderhoof. It’s just on the way to Jasper.

The following day we drove an hour to Fort St. James National Historic Site, a restored Hudson's Bay Company post with seven original buildings. We looked around the small museum, watched a short video about life at the fort and then visited the fort. Built in 1806 and used until 1952, the fort was where Indians and trappers brought their furs and traded for guns, pots and other goods. Several buildings had interpreters who described what life was like and answered questions. They were very good and made it interesting.

The warehouse had lots of furs from every wild animal out there, including bears, lynx and beaver. One of the interpreters, a native woman, said her family still traps all the animals we saw in the warehouse. They eat the meat and sell the furs at an auction in Prince George, even bears. She said she personally likes eating beaver and that the tail, which is mostly fat, is the best part.
From there we drove to Prince George. It hadn’t rained while we were at the fort, but now it started pouring rain, and there was lightening. We decided to try the first campground we came to, Blue Cedars RV park. It was $33.60 for water and electric. Full hookup was the same price (a first in our experience), but they didn’t have any available. She said she only had one site left and provided no discounts. It was late and raining, so we took it. David unhooked the truck because we were going to go to CostCo. He set everything up and then discovered the power didn’t work. He tried to fix it but couldn’t. Not only was it pouring rain, the site was very muddy. We drove back to the office. The woman wasn’t there, but a man emerged. David told him the power didn’t work. He said it was working yesterday, but he would take a look. He came out with a volt meter, checked it and said it worked. He said the people last night hadn’t complained and that our trailer was wired reverse. David said “No, it’s not.” The guy said his meter said it’s working. David said, “It says that now because it doesn’t have a load. You put a load on it, and it will fall to 0.” David got our electric heater and plugged it in to prove it. The man still didn’t believe him. So, he left, got his power grinder and plugged it in. It didn’t work. Meanwhile David had plugged our extension cord in across the road in an empty site. The power worked. The owner said we could leave it there. David said it was an expensive cord, and he didn’t want people driving over it. David said we may just move on down the road. The man said that sounded like a good idea. Then David asked him for a refund, and the man said he’d think about it. Imagine that! David said, “No, you will give us a refund.”
Meanwhile, I was online trying to find another campground but wasn’t having luck. A couple of them were too far out of town. One didn’t have power turned on yet. One was badly rated. We had gotten there around 4 and left an hour later. When we left, I went to the office. The owner was helping someone else. When he got to me, he got out the receipt, asked me to sign it and gave me the money. I didn’t say a word.
We stopped at the closest gas station to get gas because we had only five miles of gas left in the tank. Then we went to CostCo where we got propane and groceries. We left around 6. I still didn’t have a plan and knew David was tired. But I had seen a WalMart. Although I had read that Prince George had a city ordinance against RVs parking overnight in WalMart, I thought we should check it out. When we got there, I walked over to another RVer who was sitting outside with his two big dogs, one of whom got up and rubbed against me. I asked him if RVs could park overnight, and he said yes. I went inside, and they confirmed, so I came back, told David, then went back inside for some groceries and a cat toy that the cats enjoyed for a few minutes.
The next day the sun finally decided to stick around. There were a few things I wanted to see in Prince George, but we were eager to get to the Rockies, so I just picked one.

We drove up to the Connaught Hill Park to see the scenic views. What views there were, and mostly they were blocked by trees, weren’t all that scenic. The park was very manicured--mainly a huge grassy area with mature trees and several landscaped flower beds--pretty and tidy.
After that we continued along Highway 16, stopping to walk a short trail to a “moose observation” deck, but we saw no moose. We also stopped at a crowded, cramped rest area for lunch and afterwards hiked another short trail through the woods.

But the highlight was the Ancient Forest, 50 miles farther down the road. First we drove up a steep gravel hill to a parking area but discovered we couldn’t park or turn around. David had to back down, but the trailer brakes don’t work backing up, so he couldn’t steer well. Other people were waiting, so it was a bit hairy, but he got control and made it down. There was enough room to park along the road. We walked back up and took the 2.3 km hike up to a temperate rainforest of huge cedar trees. It was cooler among the trees and wet and muddy with lots of ferns, a waterfall and the fearsome devil’s club. We did the loop, stopping to read the interpretive signs, which were interesting and had information we hadn’t read before. Very neat place. After our hike, we drove another hour to a campground.

The next day was beautiful--sunny in the low to mid 70’s. We were low on gas so we turned off the highway at the first gas sign and started driving along a country road with no idea how far the gas station was or whether or not it was open. After a few miles, we decided we’d better turn around while we could.

At our next stop we walked down a steep trail to some wonderful waterfalls, Rearguard Falls, the destination of the strongest and luckiest salmon on an 800-mile migration journey. We didn’t see any salmon.

A mile farther we stopped at the Mount Terry Fox rest area. Terry Fox died at 22 of cancer in 1981. He had had bone cancer, lost a leg to it and decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer. After 143 days, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and had to stop. He raised $25 million for cancer.

We stopped at the Mount Robson viewpoint, got gas for over $5/gallon, and went to the visitor center where I got lots of useless brochures full of ads and virtually no practical information. A mile farther along we stopped and walked another steep trail to the delightful Overlander Falls.

The road was winding up and down through the mountains with lots of fast-moving cars and trucks. We got to Jasper National Park around 4:00. I took Neptune out briefly. He trotted off, found a trail and just started walking down it without so much as a glance behind him. I took him back to the picnic table. Then he saw a squirrel and took off after it, terrifying it and nearly catching it. Well, I think he would have caught it if I hadn’t had him on a leash. Can’t take the wild out of the cat.