Leaving Hyder to Lava Park

---

Sorry it has taken so long to update the blog. Sometimes the opportunity does not present it's self.

Sunday August 28, 2011
Rain!

When I left the bar last night it was raining. When I woke up this morning it was raining. I can only assume that it was raining all night. It rained until 3 pm. I had spent the whole day in my tent except for a few pee breaks. I had to move on. I broke camp and crossed the border into Stewart and had my first meal of the day at around 5 pm. I was absolutely starved.

The grocery store was still open. I was surprised that a grocery store in such a small town would still be open on a Sunday. By the time I had my food packed into my bike bags it started raining all over. Across the street was the Information Center. They had a large covered picnic table area. I leaned my bike against a picnic table and unpacked my sleeping bag and slept right on the deck out in the open in down town Stewart. I have to get away from all this rain.


Monday August 29, 2011
Leaving Stewart

Well breaking camp was quick; just roll up my sleeping bag. It had rained through the night. I had picked the perfect camp site. I slept more comfortably then I expected. The rain had stopped momentarily so I made a break for it. I made much better progress than I had expected. Getting back to Cassiar Highway was not as hard as I had expected. It was overcast all the way to the Cassiar and rained on and off. As soon as I got to the junction the rain and overcast skies disappeared. It was cloudy but the sun was shining.

I rode 110 km’s and saw 2 bears towards the end of the day. I saw no bears on the highway from Stewart which was a bit of a surprise considering how many I had seen heading to Stewart. I camped on the side of the highway.

A few things of interest about Stewart. Stewart is Canada’s most northerly ice free port. Stewart holds the Canadian record for snowfall 911.2 mm or 27 feet in one season. . The Portland Canal is the 4th longest fjord in the world. And there are72 snow avalanche paths between the Meziadian Junction (where you turn off the Cassiar Highway to head to Stewart) & Stewart.


Tuesday August 30, 2011
Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park

This morning was very cold. My coldest morning yet; it required a lot of motivation to get out of a warm sleeping bag. Last night I heard wolves howl for the first time. Unfortunately they were so far off I could not appreciate the howling. The sun came out first thing but things got overcast fairly quickly. Fortunately I never got rained on today.

I only had to ride 35 km’s down the Cassiar Highway till my turn off. I then had 50 km’s of an unmaintained wilderness road. The road was hard packed dirt with rock and stone pressed into it. This made for a very bumpy and slow ride. Some parts were worse than other parts some parts were slick with mud. Loaded down with all of my gear I would have preferred to avoid such a rough road. The wear and tear on the bike can’t be good. I am taking a side road that leads to the Nisga’a Lava Bed Prov. Park. I never really gave volcano’s much thought and I did not realize there were any in Canada, let alone lava.

I am coming through the “back way” and the evening so I have no information on the area. But the area seems very interesting. Apparently this is Canada’s most recent volcanic eruption (1750). Apparently about 2000 people from 2 villages were killed and buried here. I think you can even hike to the volcano. Such a shame I can’t take some more time here.

Trying to find a camping spot I kind of got stuck in the dark. A guy even stop to see if I needed any help. I was stopped on the side of the road because I had noticed something that turned out to be an owl. It has been years since I had seen an owl and was hoping to be able to try to take a picture of it (in the dark). The picture never turned out. Anyways the guy gave me direction to a place to camp at Lava Lake. He said that it was only 4 km’s ahead. He also insisted I take a vitamin water off him. Ten minutes later he came back to tell me it was closer to 12 km’s not 4 km’s. I thanked him for coming back as it was now very dark I would have been real lost looking for this camping area.

Minutes later I had a young native family insist that they drive along side of me to offer light and a warning to other motorist that I was on the road (for my safety). They rode beside me right to camp area. Actually it was a picnic area with no camping; but that is minor detail. The guy even chopped me some fire wood and made me a camp fire. Lava Lake is on the outskirts of the park.

Today I rode 115 km’s way into the dark which was not the wisest thing to do. I saw only 2 bears and an owl way up in a tree in the dark. There were so many stars tonight; I think more than I have even seen in Belize. I don’t usually take time for a fire and am usually in my tent pretty quickly at night so I don’t get to see to many stars (or hear wolves howl).

---

Photos

Black Bear On The Cassiar
Coming my Way

Comments

[Dad]

Native Family
Really nice to hear how that native family drove along side you to the camping spot in the dark. Nice to know there are people out there like that.