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Bell 2 Lodge
Gail packing up the car.Sniff sniff sniff... I can smell french toast. Perhaps that’s because I ordered them and they are on the table before me smothered in maple syrup waiting to be tucked into! Gail ordered pan fried potatoes with an egg muffin with cheese. I have to say, I preferred my choice, although I am sure Gail’s tasted good. We sat having breakfast at Bell 2 watching the snow still falling and sporadically ringing our newly purchased Bear Bells, just in case any should come wandering into the restaurant trying to steal my delicious breakfast!
We were having a relaxing morning as we didn’t have too far to travel today to get to Stewart. After breakfast we filled up the car to ensure we didn’t run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, paid the bill and then left heading back down the Stewart-Cassiar HWY towards Meziadin Junction.
The freshly fallen snow looked lovely on the trees and while looking at the mountains and Gail looking at the map, I spotted foxy lady, a pretty little fox running along the side of the road. She had such a big bushy tail and a pretty light face, so different from the
Bell 2 Lodge
Breakfast before we leave...mine is the French Toast! Mmmm mmmm good! English foxes. A short while later we saw another one, but this ones tail was all defluffed apart from a little bit of fur at the end. Poor thing!
A little further on we crossed a bridge and pulled over to stop to take a picture of a waterfall falling into the Skeena River. In order to get the picture we had to walk across the bridge, but this bridge was made out of grids of metal which you could see straight through to the swiftly flowing river below. Started to walk holding the car keys in my hand, but decided that perhaps that wouldn’t be wise in case I dropped them through the bridge and into the river below, so crossed back and put them on a wall. Hopefully a bird wouldn’t come and fly off with them! Sitting on a branch nearby was a little brightly coloured red bird - not sure what it was, but it sat there singing away to itself for the whole time we were there.
Passing back though Meziadin Junction the scenery changed. The mountains closed in and it reminded me of travelling through New Zealand and the Milford Sound. The
road was right in the middle of the narrow valley below the steep sided snow covered peaks either side. Avalanche area! Watch out! All along the route we could see evidences of previous avalanches, the splintered trees and big rocks sticking out of piles of snow coming right up to the road side, along with the scars of avalanches down the sides of the mountains, so it made us reluctant to pull over and take pictures.
Halfway to Stewart we came across Bear Glacier, a magnificent blue glacier flowing into the little river right by the road. It was spectacular! We would love to see this in summer when the river was thawed and watch the glacier breaking up into the water. Hearing some loud groaning and creaking, we couldn’t tell whether it was the glacier or rocks beginning to slide down the mountain behind us, so we hopped into the car and drove off as that stretch of road was strewn with rocks that had recently fallen.
Not long after we arrived at Stewart, which is situated at the head of the Portland Canal and right on the border with Alaska. Stewart is a small old mining
Stewart-Cassiar HWY
Low clouds over new replanted forest. town, looking very much like a Frontier town from the Wild West. There used to be more residents, but since the mines (gold in dem dar hills!) in the area closed down many years ago, most left leaving behind about 300. It’s a town which has a very friendly and welcoming feel to it, and the buildings once again are very rustic and from times past.
Rippley Creek Inn would be our home for the next three nights. It’s billed as Stewarts finest hotel, and is very unique in as much as it’s spread over three buildings, one of which is the old brothel! We were staying in the big old house, and the owner upgraded us to the best room for free with views over the Portland Canal and the mountains to the sides. Stunning views! Mind you, there was only one other guest that night, as we are out of season. The room was large, so we could splay out our stuff and not feel enclosed, plus with to very large windows, it felt like we were outside.
That evening we watched a bit of TV and ate the leftovers of cold lasagne and took a
drive around the town before retiring for the night.
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