Price Rupert to Catch The Ferry

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Wednesday August 31, 2011
Terrace And The Sunniest Day Since The NWT

I woke up to warmer morning this morning; it was not a cold as the other day. My tent was also dry; no morning dew. This was a pleasant surprise not mention good fortune as I was camped under trees with no nearby sunlight to dry anything out.

As mentioned I have camped on the outskirts of Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park and this is most unfortunate. I would have like to have spent some time checking this area out. It really seems like an interesting area. Because I had come in through the “back way” and late in the evening I was unable to figure out any information on the area. And with the weather the way it is and has been I really have no other choice other than to keep moving. That being said I hope to come back to this area at some point and with the coolest town, Hyder so close I am sure it will only be a matter of time before I visit the area again.

Leaving the park one can see that this area is and has been very heavily logged/harvested. You can see that the area is being replanted but it seems that maybe they are removing too much trees at a time. I also saw a Bald Eagle soaring way up in the sky leaving the park.
It is only 80 km’s to Terrace so today was not a heavy day. It was also the sunniest day I have had since leaving the NWT. I have never been to Terrace before and was very surprised to find out Terrace is actually a city. This is my first city since Yellowknife; which seems like a life time ago.

It is not such a bad thing to visit a city every once in a while but usually the camping is not the greatest. The campground in Terrace is not so bad but it is fairly noisy with the traffic from the city and the showers are horrible.


Thursday September 1, 2011
Leaving Terrace

It rained throughout the night and into the morning. This was cause for a late start this morning. Usually when I camp in campgrounds I am pretty lax with my food. I typically leave it in my tent and hope all the dogs and kids in the area will keep the bears away. One of the last places I would typically expect a bear is in the municipal campground that is also on an island. So you can imagine my surprise when I exiting the outhouse this morning I scared a bear up a tree (which is only two camp sites from my camp site).

The weather in Terrace was a complete mixed bag of I don’t know what. The wind was crazy, parts of the city had some sun, other parts cloud and other parts thunder clouds and still other parts overcast and fog.
The guy at the bike shop said something about 4 different valleys converge on Terrace. So the weather comes from all different places and is capable of changing very quickly. I had my bike tuned up. It was in very desperate need of it. To date I have not had a flat tire and the guy tested my tire pressure. While the tires felt full I guess I was only at half pressure. What a huge difference riding the bike at the proper tire pressure.

I also replaced my 1 and only pair of pants at the Mark’s Work Warehouse. I wear the same pants every day all day. But I do change into jogging pants for sleeping. The pants were brand new at the Bass Pro Shop I went to with Steven on the way to Algonquin Park. They were completely covered in bicycle chain oil, ripped and repaired at the side (from the chain ring) and the seat was worn out from sitting on the bike seat. Last week I hooked the hole worn in the seat on my seat post and tore a huge ripe right in the ass. By the time I was finished lunch and on the road it was 4 pm.

I had a bit of climbing to do to get out of Terrace and then things levelled out. Climbing into the hills the rain started; lightly first then stopped and then started up again harder. I had just made the decision to ride straight on through to Prince Rupert through the night. I figured I am already wet; the rain is not likely to stop and even if it did it would be raining in the morning and I would be stuck. There was so much fog that I could not see the mountains anyways. It is only 150 km’s from Terrace to Prince Rupert which is not an impossible task for me. Moments later there was a lodge that offered camping and they had a huge pavilion that I could set my tent up out of the rain. And they had an indoor lounge that allowed me to dry my clothes out.

I rode 55 km’s through mostly crappy weather. The area is fairly mountainous but I mostly saw fog.

Friday September 2, 2011
Prince Rupert

I woke up to better skies. The rain had stopped but I was dry from camping under the pavilion anyways. The road to Prince Rupert was most level as it followed the Skeena River but later the highway veered from the river and there was minor climbing to do. Bald Eagles were plentiful along the river. At one point I had 2 adults perched 50 ft. from each other. They would not sit still for photos though. The sun peaked its head out a bit around lunch but the day remained very cloudy. I did not get rained on for some very strange reason. The day was pleasant enough and I rode 95 km’s into Prince Rupert. I got lucky; I am camped under a covered shelter (again) at the local camp ground tonight. This is a good thing has I have an 11 am ferry to catch to Queen Charlotte Islands tomorrow. I don’t want to be stuck because of rain.

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Photos

A View Showing The Effects Of Logging
Look closely at the tree line to see where the trees had been removed and replanted.

Typical View For The Day
Lots of fog and clouds

Typical View For The Day
Lots of fog and clouds