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Smithers
Gail and Lynda outside the SDA church in Smithers. Gail carrying the care package of food they gave us before we left.We awoke to blazing sunshine and blue skies with puffy white clouds. We weren’t sure whether there was a church locally, but Gail managed to locate one on the internet a couple of minutes from the hostel, so we decided to have worship there rather than listen to a sermon online. The members were very warm and welcoming, comprising of a mixture of Canadians and First Nation people, and were extremely happy to have visitors. They remarked that it was seldom for them to have visitors as they were so far out of the way. The service finished at 11am and they insisted we stayed for potluck even though we were trying to leave as soon as possible as we had over a 200 mile journey a head of us with stop offs.
The resident Pastor from the US said grace and prayed for our journey later on that day and then Liisa and I were invited to be served first as we were visitors. Over 4 different types of lasagne, peas, ceasar salad and delicious garlic bread we chatted happily to with all of the members, they were very interested in our trip and wondered what has brought us
Smithers
Farm with a view. to their neck of the woods. We stayed much longer than we had planned but they were such warm and interesting people it was difficult to leave as well. Before we left we exchanged contact details with one of the members, and the ladies in the kitchen sent us off with a care package, well actually we were laden down with lasagne, garlic bread, fruit and tarts for our evening meal. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and their kindness will not be forgotten.
Not far from Smithers we came across Moricetown, a First Nations reserve and village - the oldest in Bulkley Valley where traditionally the native people took advantage of the narrow canyon to trap salmon. Not long after was New Hazelton, which is the Totem Pole capital of the world. We stopped off at the ‘Ksan Historical Village, a replica Gitksan Indian Village which is a reconstruction of the traditional Gitksan village which has stood at this site for centuries along the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers. There are seven communal houses on show, as well as many Totem poles and dugouts. Unfortunately as it was a Saturday and early on in the season it was
Yellowhead HWY 16
Psycho house on the hill at Moricetown along Bulkley River! closed, so we could only view it from the outside. Returning to the Yellowhead HWY we had to drive over a one lane bridge spanning the Hagwilget Canyon, through which the Bulkley River flows. It was rather eerie as it was far above the canyon and the sides of the bridge seemed quite low affording views into the canyon far far far below. Was quite glad when we reached the far side!
At the junction with the Stewart-Cassiar HWY (37) we stopped to fill up with gas and take a picture by the sign for Alaska before crossing the Skeena River and stopping at Gitwangak, a village which has many fine old Totems and St Paul’s church and bell tower.
The Stewart-Cassiar Highway is designated a remote highway that traverses through some of the most beautiful scenery in the province of British Columbia. It passes mountains, glaciers, rivers, lakes and canyons and travels up to the Yukon border and you can supposedly see a wide variety of wildlife along the route. We were only taking this road halfway up to the Yukon to Bells 2. After about 10 minutes on the road we saw something in the distance
which turned out to be an overturned truck. We slowed down and stopped as we weren’t sure how long ago this happened. Hopping out of the car we looked into the now squished cab and didn’t see anyone in there or any blood around, although we’re not sure how the driver would have gotten out. A guy in a pick up stopped too and he said it must have happened fairly recently as it wasn’t there earlier when he drove past. Perhaps the trucker swerved to avoid an animal or lost concentration on the road by talking on a mobile!
Once again whilst my head was in the map eagle eyed Liisa spotted more wildlife. This time it was something big, fluffy and white. Perhaps a big horn sheep or a mountain goat? On closer inspection it turned out to be the extremely rare Kermode Bear! This bear is so rare that it has frequently been thought of as a myth and most locals will go their lives without laying their eyes on the white fur! The bear is unique to Northwest British Columbia and is often called the ‘Spirit Bear’ or ‘Ghost Bear’ due to its pale ivory
colouring. The white bear can be born of black bear parents and get its colouring through a recessive gene, or alternatively a white bear can give birth to black cubs too. So, imagine our good fortune to see this ‘Spirit Bear’ munching grass on the side of the road for our prime viewing! We pulled over and sat and watched the bear picking away at the grass and looking for nice new tasty shoots. It seemed comfortable with us there photographing it, and even when huge trucks would roar past it didn’t seem to get agitated. After a time we finally thought we had better move on, more because it was getting late rather than through boredom of watching the bear.
Moving on we drove up to Meziadin Junction, the road junction with the road leading off to Stewart where we would be heading tomorrow. At the junction was a little gas station and a little rustic shop. Buildings now were rustic from a bygone era, many rundown and ramshackled, and coupled with the wilderness of the area we felt like we were in the Last Frontier! We saw few people on the roads, just the odd truck or
pickup passing us sporadically and four more black bears, making us feel all alone out here.
Just after passing through Meziadin Junction we saw our last bear of the day sitting up on the grassy verge high above us watching us driving on. He was a very large and nearly solid black on his face. After about 30 miles the pave road changed to gravel. Surprisingly the gravel road was very well maintained and smooth, no potholes or large stones flying around, however when a big truck would came towards us, we would have to slow down and pull over considerably to make room for these speeding bullets! The posted speed on the gravel roads was about 40mph, but these trucks would be going well over 70mph! Perhaps that’s how the other one ended upside down?
The setting sun was getting low and the snow was falling up in the mountains above us, (the annual snow fall is 65 - 100tf) so it was a welcome site when we arrived at our stop for the night. We had booked into the Bell 2 Lodge 2. Bell 2 is primarily a lodge for Last Frontier Heliskiing, but also for
travellers like us too. It’s situated at 1900 ft up in the mountains, and is a 5 star chalet style village. Our chalet was called ‘Wolverine’ and was very spacious with nice down duvets and a large Norwegian soapstone fireplace for us to use. As we were surrounded by snow and there was a nip in the air, we started the fire straight away after unloading the car and meeting one of the resident puddycats, who came in and stayed the evening with us curled up on the chair. Dinner that night was half the lasagne in our care package and the tarts. Our evening’s entertainment was a DVD with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock, one of our Walmart’s bargain bucket deals as the snow fell outside gently during the night.
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Camilla Nail
non-member comment
Thanks for Sharing your photos
Your girls had a blast! Once in a lifetime experience. My parents own the Gitksan Paintbrush Gift Shop in Kitwanga. It's funny you can tell a person about B.C. and they just look at you like you're making it up. But, until you actually go.. even your pictures look like they're not real. Only when you get to be there can you truly appreciate GOD"S Paradise. I had alot of pictures of a female Spirit bear and her 2 cubs in my parents front yard. Have you gotten to travel there anymore? I do every year in the summertime. Maybe I'll see you in the Gift shop! Camilla Nail - I live in K.C. Missouri