Day 11 July 12, 2024 Dease Lake British Columbia to Continental Divide Lodge Yukon 222 miles
Today is complete cloud cover and cooler. Only a few rain drops. We started the day by going to Charlie’s Repair shop to see about getting an oil change. He couldn’t do one but gave Rob an oil pan, a piece of cardboard to scoot under the car and oil disposal. So we pulled over to the side of his driveway and Rob changed the oil. Charlie called Rob vintage. We don’t think he has ever been called that before.
Then back to the gas station for a fill up before leaving. That gave us a late start of about 10:00 am. Fortunately we planned a shorter day. The gas station is also a small grocery store. Outside the grocery is a large metal rooster with caribou antlers.
Not far out of town we encountered the first construction work of the day. They are crack sealing. That means they are filling the holes and cracks with road mix and then covering that with what looked like oil. They were using a pilot car that went much further than the work area. A semi actually passed us while we were all in the pilot car line. Never had one do that before. He must have thought the line was over.
Much further down the road another group was crack sealing another long stretch of highway. The weather must cause real havoc with the roads. They are all full of cracks, pot holes and bumps. We just keep bouncing along.
All along the route are lakes, rivers and creeks. Sometimes you can see a long stretch but mostly we only see glimpses through the trees.
We came to Jade City where they mine jade. Looks like a tourist trap to us but there are a lot of vehicles in the parking lot. Outside are numerous big rocks that have been sliced and polished to reveal the jade. The area produces about 1 million pounds of jade annually.
Oh my a wild animal. A porcupine was right beside the road. Glad it was not on the road. Those quills are deadly on tires.
Next up was Good Hope Lake. This is a Native Nation town. They have gas and diesel but as we remembered from before they are only open limited hours and prefer to sell to Native Nation residents. So on we go.
We ate at a small turn out at the entrance to a provincial park. One vehicle stopped and took a picture and two French speaking bicycles also stopped. They had never seen anything like it.
The landscape opened up into a large valley filled with trees. The mountains are further away and shorter. These are the oldest mountains in British Columbia. They are more like New England with evergreen trees rather than hardwoods.
Then we came upon a huge area that had been destroyed by wildfire. We didn’t ever see a date but it must not have been too long because new vegetation has not started. Many of the burned trees are laying on the ground like giant black toothpicks. The forest has been destroyed as far as we can see in all directions. A short section the hills are like giant mole hills all very close together.
At last we have reached the Yukon. Good bye British Columbia at least for now. A small sign says goodbye and a large sign says hello.
We filled with gas at the junction of the Cassiar Highway and the Alaska Highway. We have been traveling on the Cassiar Highway for several days. The Alaska Highway seems much smoother and wider. Probably explains the more semi trucks. Still lots of RVs in all sizes. The right-of-way between the road and the trees is considerably wider and full of wildflowers in all colors and sizes. In many of the sandy cuts words are spelled out in rocks. This was originally done by the Fort Nelson swim team in 1990. Many of those words are no longer legible because many of the rocks are missing. Other travelers have continued the practice however.
Our lodging tonight is at the Continental Divide Lodge. We pulled into their gas station. The clerk came running out saying we were the coolest thing she had seen come off the highway. We even got a discount on the room and a free load of laundry.
Spoffords Travel 