Tuesday, July 18, 2017

July 15, 16, 17 Fraser Lake, Smithers, Kispiox, Hazelton, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Port Edward, Kitwanga, Stewart and Hyder

Saturday, July 15

On the road by nine planning a stop at  Beaumont Provincial Park to see Fort Fraser but no luck in finding the fort so drove up the opposite side of the lake to a First Nation village which had a huge new school. Saw a large eagle's nest on top of a hydro pole with two small eagles poking our their heads..
On to Fraser Lake, large ice rink, bringing back memories of their midget hockey team playing in a tournament against our boys.
Rain for awhile before stopping at Burns Lake for fuel then on to Houston for a lunch break. Ate in the city park which has the world's longest fishing rod and. Small historic village. A school ,  church and house for the late 1800's, all decorated for Christmas.

In the back yard was an ancient fire truck, grader and snowmobile.
On to Smithers and Mauriceton where a fishing experience is shared with the  onlookers, catching those salmon in a long poles net right off the rocks. We shared .this event with a tourist bus of Amish people from Pennsylvania.

Parked our trailers at Seeley Lake Provincial park then head in to Kispiox to see the totem poles and Hazleton, both Old and New, lots of history here with the recreated structures and a sternwheeler sitting on the Skeena. Impressive Old Town.



Sunday, July 16

Moved our trailer from Seeley Park to Kleanza Park to be closer to Kitwanga for Monday, then  carried on to Thorndale and Terrace.
My goodness, that city has grown, a whole new section of box stores and a Skeena Mall.
The Port Edward Cannery, now a National Historic Site, took 2 hours to tour, a wonderful young guide, William, had all the information. We were all amazed by the production lines here, both manual and automated.







The boardwalk housing unit was much longer than one would expect with different cultures in individual sections, the First Nations, Japanese ,  Chinese and European.
First Nations were the majority, each with their own very small home because they brought their families, slept up to ten.
From there, we went to Prince Rupert, checked out Cow Bay, the fire hall museum, the sunken gardens, the port and ferry terminal.Found a fish market, yeah! Fresh sole a now in our freezer. 
Back to Terrace, stopped at Historical Village, town founder home and dinner.
Back to the campground at 8, big day so,early night.

Monday, July 17

Started the northern route today at Kitwanga after seeing their totem poles, the historic Anglican church and the bell tower with a 1898  church bell from London.


Dave tried to find the home where he had delivered a new truck four years ago.
At the Meziadin Junction we turned west to Stewart and Hyder. 
We did not know there was a Hyder BC and two kms later, a Hyder , Alaska.
27 km of dirt road past Hyder we were at the foot of the Salmon Glacier. Many stops on the auto tour of this road, mostly mining related. One cannot even imagine how anyone could navigate these ravines to build the mines for silver and gold.
We did the estuary boardwalk in search of grizzlies but the park ranger said that the fish were eight hours away and he was busy removing a beaver dam so the fish could get through. We couldn't wait eight hours for the event!
A mama bear and two cubs, a single marmot and a marmot family all came to the roadside. For photo ops, cute darn things!

Before heading back to the Bear River Campground in Stewart, we stopped to get "Hyderized" at the Glacier Inn.
But they are closed on Monday so will return for opening time on Tuesday

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