Septermber, Terrace, BC
Having previously ridden most of the Yellowhead highway I would definitely avoid it. It has a good shoulder but definitely too much traffic. Leaving Terrace I headed toward a powerline road that should be able to take me near Smithers. There were few options to get into the alpine and I took the first road going up.
It was slow going with some rain on and off and I was able to see the powerline that I will be following. It should be the same powerline bringing power from Kemano to other parts of BC.
To my surprise a jeep drove down and they told me that there is a nice shelter up at the top.
the sky almost cleared in the evening but I am still too close to the coast and its very rainy
I saw a bit more in the morning of the coastal range. This road and shelter are maintained to access a little radiotower.
Then it was back on the logging road, its really nice to have the drone and be truly able to see the scale of it all.
in late fall these giant log piles are burned, they can burn for days on end but now in some areas they are chipping them down for stove fuel.
The road got smaller and rougher and there was great camping at a lake near the pass.
There was quite a bit of rain and some of the grades along the way were definitely not rideable. I was eventually happy to get on a real road and what I could see of the mountains was amazing but will have to wait for another time. I had few ambitious plans to connect trails to Smithers but with the rain, just getting somewhere drier would be better.
even the great canadian dogs knew better than to run around in the rain. No need to be a wet dog when you have your own bed and RV porch :)
It was a long wet day and I finally found a dry patch of land along the powerline.
I rolled toward the little town of houston for camping and a grocery stop. It was bustling with activity with the coastal gaslink pipeline, the old mill site now full of pipeline segments and various strongly worded signs warning of interferance with construction.
Then it was onto the huckleberry mine road toward the Nadina lake and along the Ootsa Reservoir to Prince George.
They had everything set along the way, wide road, kilometer signs and plenty of traffic. All clicking like a well oiled machine.
Maybe a little too well oiled and it sticks to everything!
I was happy to turn off on the Old Thasta FSR and also happy to see that painted rock had survived the big blazes of 2018 unscathed
The rest of the area didnt fare too well
there were some free range forest cows scattered around
I ended up camping at Poplar Lake rec side a nice evening and sunset. It was starting to get cold and the mosquitoes were much more manageable.
It was a nice and easy ride along the Ootsa Reservoir sometimes looking across on the other side and at my map and wondering what it would be like over there. I wanted to do the Mackenzie Trail this summer but ended up going for the ferry in the last moment.
On a tip by a friend I went to The Verdun fire tower, complete with a great view, power outlets, heater and of course - cell service
The next day was a long ride to Cheslatta Falls, not too many photos
condensation/dew while camping was off the charts as usual but I either pack the tent wet all day when it rain or stop and try it if its a sunny day
Otherwise it was a long day and it’s been a while since I have ridden such long distances. Nothing too interesting just a lot of trees along the way
found a trailer license plate that I could carry (since mine bear one is still in Patagonia), saw a bear and the bear saw me
I was up before sunrise on the last day and on the way to town. One logging truck stopped to ask if I was lost, it was a really small road going from nowhere to the Blackwater Road.
and the plan is to take a little break to make some video edits and try to catch up on the see the world episodes. I still look back on 2013/2014 and wonder how I was able to ride on the highways, it is so much nicer, calmer and safer out in the vast Canadian forests.