To Jasper after chores.

Well it was a day of chores

and then a short 4 hour drive to Jasper. Mostly in the rain. Still great scenery. Coming up on the mountains from the west is a whole new experience.

Crossed the Fraser River about 20 times.

Set up camp at the Whistler Campground in Jasper. Only basic sites left. They are booked solid for the summer. Oh well I have been camping without electricity since the start of the trip why change that now. Still raining though even though the stupid weather network says it's sunny. Got a camp set  up and a fire going (with wet wood).roasting a potato over it right now and it is now pouring rain. I hate the weather network. Going to have some lamb shoulder chops once the rain lets up. But it better do so soon as I have the bottle of BC Malbec opened and poured in a glass....

The freewheeling Pierre Duchesne

Sorry I stole that title from an album I had as a kid. I wonder who will get the reference without googling it? So I packed up my lakeside campsite at six am. I had a long day of driving ahead to get to Prince George 950 km. But wait. Maybe I should try fishing in the lake for some salmon. Now I did not have a B.C. Permit nor did I have any salmon lures but I gave it a shot..... Oh well an hour later and no fish and time to hit the highway.

I passed the accident scene and there was debris everywhere. I tried looking online to see if it was a black pickup in the crash because one passed me the day before driving like a maniac.

No animals today. But lots of scenery.

The highway is very narrow and there is no buffer between road and forest so animals can just leap out. Which is why the speed limit is 80 kph. Trust me I was at or under the limit the whole way. Did not want to kill Bambi or yogi or bull wrinkle or me.

These are part of the coastal mountain range in Northern BC.

I checked into The Sandman Hotel. Looked nice from the road. I ate in the pseudo Japanese grill (they serve tacos). Tomorrow is laundry and oil change day and then off to Jasper which is only 2-3 hundred kilometres away.

Leaving Yukon into BC and the deadly Cassier Hwy

Left the campground on a sunny Yukon Morning. Within minutes I was in BC driving down Hwy 37, the Cassiar Hwy part of the Northern Circle route. This highway or better yet paved  path is much more dangerous than the Alaska Highway and scared the hell out of Chloe during our 2011 trip. In 2011 a family of four was killed along the highway as we were driving down. The scenery is amazing  but wildlife was restricted to black bears. Sorry Nat, no bison. I am sure there will be more.

A forest fire picture. How desolate!

I was heading for Meziaden Provincial Park for the night. Unfortunately I did not make it. About 500 km into my drive I came upon an accident scene. Traffic was blocked in both directions. Another fatality on Hwy 37. We waited in line for about 1.5 hours and finally an RCMP officer came down and told everyone the highway would remain closed until morning. The only option was either drive back to the Alaska highway and cut down thru Fort Nelson or camp for the night. I had just passed Kinaskan Provincial Park about 3 km before the accident. So I turned around and hightailed it towards the park. Many other people just set up camp on the road. Not me! I made it to the park ahead of a caravan of rv's all wanting to do the same. There were only 35 spots. I got one right on the water. The park was filled. $20 for a site and firewood. But no water or electricity or showers!

The lake.

So I set up camp. I quickly learned that tent campers are different from RV campers. RV campers head inside to eat and relax. Us tenters  stay outside, sit around the campfire and socialize. I had a pleasant evening with a gentleman from Whitehorse and a young lady from Washington state. She was returning home after tenting in the Yukon. Made me feel like a wuss. Sitting around the campfire having a beer or three. The RV people sat inside and watched videos or whatever....

On to BC and the Yukon

Well I planned that well. Instead of taking the long route following nicely paved highways and taking three days to get to Watson Lake. I took the shortcut using the notorious Liard "Hwy" it should be called Buffalo trail or something like that. But once again no traffic and awesome scenery. Hard to believe have far north you are when you are driving down this .....path.... Saw more Buffalo, killer sheep, and total arseholes. The Alaska highway lived up to its reputation as a dangerous road, not because of the road but because of the people on it. It's only two lanes, lots of gravel in construction zones, plenty of mountains, wildlife and did I Mention "arseholes" ( this was not the word I used when I encountered these choice individuals).

 The so called highway had its moments. Coming over a large hill and seeing this.

Some of the scenery along the Alaska Highway.

Mmmm. Bison burgers

Just doing the John Travolta thing from Saturday Night Fever.

Excuse me. Just 

As I passed this group a couple  got out of their RV to take a picture of another herd 200 metres down the road. The herd I had just passed were trying to catch up with the smaller herd. I warned the couple that they would soon be trapped between the two herds. Fricken granolas smiled and kept walking towards the herd. Darwin at work.

So there are lots of sheep. But people should not stop to take a picture in an 8% downhill grade especially when they are in front of me and a transport truck is behind me. I hit the brakes and the truck hit his brakes and his horn. Needless to say they accelerated quickly. I am sure that driver said more than just arseholes. I know I did.

Ok so they are cute. I should have brought one home for Elizabeth.

Yup another bull heading the other way.

Sign post forest. Google it. It's an interesting story. I stopped by to add a new sign next to the one Chloe and I put up in 2011.

My Yukon hotel.

Yellowknife to Blackstone Territorial Park on the Liard "Hwy"

Left Yellowknife in the wee hours of the morning ready for an exciting drive back down the Yellowknife Hwy, Mackenzie Hwy and then the Liard so called highway. The Yellowknife highway had no traffic. Over 320 km and I passed 10 vehicles. Saw lots of wood Buffalo from the Mackenzie herd. You must be getting sick of seeing Buffalo pictures. I did see a bear but he was shy and hit the bush before I could come to a screeching halt. The pictures below show the bridge over the Mackenzie River a major engineering feat (not often do I compliment engineers but in this case it is well deserved).

My poor truck took a major dust ate on the drive to the park and I thought it was sealed up pretty tightly. There is even dust all over the interior.

This is the view from my campsite at Blackstone. Pretty sweet  eh!

That's Nahanini butte in the distance and the river is call the Liard River.

The face of an unhappy fisherman. The River was too high and muddy due to all the rain.

The campsite for the evening. Grilled a nice steak over that fire. Just as I finished up some major thunderstorms hit. Holy crap batman is it ever loud in the river valley. But I was warm and cozy in my super truck tent.

Cameron Falls

Cameron Falls are located 47 north east of Yellowknife, NWT. The local guidebook says it's a 2 km hike to the falls. The local guidebook did not say that you had to climb two major mountains (hills). But lots of elevation changes but well marked paths lead you there. Of course when I get there "that guy" was there with his wife daughter and parents. You will see in the picture of the falls a middle aged idiot climbing down the falls. All the while his wife is yelling and his kid is crying. He eventually makes it out after climbing back up. Now this area had no cell service and the nearest city was Yellowknife. But the falls were nice lol.

Leaving for Fort Laird along the notorious Fort Laird highway in the morning. Camping in Blackstone Territorial Park near the Nahanini bluffs. Then a brief jaunt into BC as I make my way to Watson Lake, Yukon. 

Historic Yellowknife

Well as usual I was up with the sun. Yawn. Hit the road and walked down to the historic old town. Yellowknife is just starting to get that touristy feel but for now it mostly small art boutiques and a seal skin shop. I did get some nice shots of the bay taken from the wharf as well as from the Pilots Memorial.

Pilots' Monument and views

I walked past this place in the morning and could not resist heading back for lunch and NWT only craft brewery. Lucky me! The bug repellent IPA was outstanding! Service was great (waitress was from Ottawa) whitefish burger was also very good. Unfortunately they had no bottles ready for retail sale. 

Heading out to the Cameron Falls Trail for the afternoon.