Nugget City, Yukon

We have had lousy internet service the last few nights so today is catchup time for the blog (if service is better).  

We survived the night. We reheated leftovers on the BBQ and enjoyed a great dinner. Dry camping was not a problem. The new house battery held up well since we didn’t need much power. It stayed light way after we went to bed and it was light at 4:00 this morning. The roads today were the worst we have driven so far. The potholes were bigger and more numerous. It helped that we had very few other cars traveling with us. We saw no bears today but we did see a ring-tailed fox standing near the highway. He heard us coming and darted into the woods. We are surprised that we have not encountered any deer, moose, elk or caribou. I guess only predators around at this time of year. The views were not as scenic today as they have been. Not the dramatic snowy mountains as before. We did have some snow banks along the road and some of the creeks are still covered with a layer of ice.

We finally crossed into the Yukon but only by 2 miles. The campground for tonight is on the Alcan Highway. It’s pricey to stay here but in the wilderness, power and water are a luxury worth paying for.  Baby Nugget Campground has no nuggets or babies. Just 2 motorhomes (as I write this more have arrived). I guess we are ahead of the season. We talked to a clerk at the Jade House today who said it’s not unusual to end up at the tail end of a fifty RV caravan later in the summer. As an aside, the Cassiar Mountains produce 80% of the Jade mined in the world today. That’s a trivia answer that may win you the game someday.

This place is called Nugget City but I don’t know why. It contains a restaurant, 2 gas pumps, a general store (closed) and the RV park. Good news for tonight. Karen doesn’t have to cook and we are not eating leftovers. We are dining out and I’m starting with a piece of pie and then an entrée. Karen thinks not but we will see what happens.

Tomorrow we plan on a longer driving day so we can reach Whitehorse. We are planning a 2 day stay there to rest and investigate the museum and do some shopping. Sounds like fun.

Dease Lake, BC

Today was a day filled with bear sightings. Charlie got his first encounter and he was not a happy camper. He sounded the alarm and went into a barking frenzy with hair raised on his back. Fortunately, we were in the motorhome stopped in the middle of the highway. It’s a little strange to stop on a 60 mph roadway for pictures but there were no other cars for miles. The bear looked at us like we were aliens from another planet and then went back to munching dandelions on the roadside. 

We managed to move another 200 miles closer to the Yukon but the going was slow today. We encountered our first potholes and bad roads and they can really slow you down. It took six hours of driving but we finally arrived in Dease Lake. Not much of a town, expensive gas and free water to clean the bugs off the windshield. Life is good. We chose to stay at The Water’s Edge Campground just north of the town. The campground comes with no services so we are trying our hand at dry camping. We have a beautiful view of the lake from our campsite so we will enjoy this stay. NO MOSQUITOES! The camp host tells us they have not arrived yet this far north and I’m hoping that is the story as we head to Alaska. 

We have driven 1,300 miles so far and we will finally cross into the Yukon Territory tomorrow. British Columbia is a big province. It feels strange to see beautiful lakes with no houses, cabins or campgrounds on them. We are really into the wilds of northern BC. From here it is a 300mile drive to the nearest shopping, medical facilities, or banking (including ATM’s). We should have brought more Canadian cash with us. I didn’t realize before this trip that people could live this far from what we consider a normal life. We hope to refinance when we reach Whitehorse in a few days. Glad we brought the Visa. Don’t leave home without it! Ha Ha

Bear by roadside

View from campground

Dease Lake

Mehan Lake heading north

Mehan Lake

Stewart, BC

Today we set out with blue skies and bright sunshine. It has rained only one day so far. Our campground host from last night gave us some advice about native sights we should visit on our way up the Cassiar Highway. His advice was spot on. We found a couple places with totem poles dating back many, many years. The drive up the Cassiar was very scenic. Snow topped mountains in the windshield most of the way made the trip fly by. We covered another 200 miles today and arrived in the Bear River Campground in Stewart in a cloud of dust and a hoard of mosquitoes. This looked like a bad choice for an overnight stay. Stewart is a small Canadian town located on the Portland Canal. It is so small they have no bank or even an ATM. For major shopping or banking they need to drive 180 miles each way south to Terrace. They have a hospital but we are told it is nothing more than a first aid station! 

We picked our spot and then decided to drive across the border to Hyder, Alaska. This small section of Alaska can only be reached by boat, airplane or a drive in through Canada. The US government does not even waste the money on a border custom and inspection area. The drive was a bit of a waste of our time but at least we didn’t miss it. We did find a viewing area for bears fishing in a small river but viewing is best Mid-July to September. We forgot to inform the bears we were arriving earlier. The Fish and Wild life area was closed and empty. Good news: we had no problem find parking for the RV. We returned through Canadian Customs and arrived back at the campground, expecting to hide inside the RV from the bugs. To our surprise we found almost no mosquitoes or other bugs.  We enjoyed a great BBQ and evening in Stewart.

    Update: It’s 7:45 and I just took Charlie for his evening walk. It’s dinner time for the mosquitoes. Charlie has a love/hate relationship with them. They love Charlie and he hates them. Now we are locked inside killing off the last of the bugs that snuck in when the door was opened.

    News Break:  We had our first run-in with black bears today. While making the 38-mile drive from the Cassiar Highway to Stewart we spotted a bear on the roadside staring at us as we passed. They are a bit shy and he didn’t stick around to let me slide to a stop and get a picture. The second bear was in some low bushes next to the road with only his head showing. He also disappeared in a hurry. We are still hoping to get pictures to include in this blog.

St. Paul Anglican Church

Gitanyow Totem Poles

Bear Glacier

Salmon River

View from Bear River RV Resort