Well, it seems like only yesterday I was hunting with my buddy Larry in central BC. In fact, it WAS only yesterday.........I left there shortly before noon and drove to the town of Burns Lake, usual driving time one hour. Right. Two hours on the road put me there, although to be truthful there was one exceedingly long stop for highway paving and other spots under construction.
BUT!!!! There in Burns Lake, on the way out of town, was a highway sign advising that Hwy 37 North (my intended route) was CLOSED due to flooding, please get more info from www.drivebc.ca or whatever. So I set up my laptop, and Praise The Lord I had a good connection. THANKS SUNSHINE INN!!!! Well, the info was not encouraging - the highway was closed in both directions, but they intended to attempt to pilot a northbound convoy through at 9 am, precious good that did me at noon. There were no guarantees, but there was the possibilty of piloted convoys today (Tues 13 Sep), blah blah blah, typical government bureaucrats covering their well-padded bottoms. The alternative was to turn around and go back through Prince George and up the Alaska Highway, about another ten hours of driving and Lord knows how much fuel. But I was committed to meeting Phil in Whitehorse, so I resigned myself to retracing my steps. I got back into the truck and saw immediately that the scrolling sign had changed the wording and was now saying that piloted convoys WOULD happen today. Hallelujah, Praise The Lord!!!!!
So I drove on to Kitwanga BC, at the beginning of Highway 37 and decided to camp there at a lovely campground run by an older couple. They have salmon fishing right on their 360 acres of paradise, but there are several grizzlies around that had been terrorizing guests in the last few days - including a mother and two cubs (grizzlies, not guests). So I decided that discretion is the better part of valour, cooked a delicious gourmet meal of Mister Noodles (curry chicken flavour, yum yum) and a summer sausage sandwich on Wonder Bread (only $4.29 a loaf at Fraser Lake). Fortunately I also had some pinot grigio to wash down the sumptuous feast, and found a bottle of rye in my fridge as well. By shortly after 9 pm I was sawing logs in the camper.
Even with the early bedtime, 7 am seemed like an uncivilized hour to rise. It may have been that the temperature of about 4 or 5 inside the camper contributed to my reluctance to toss aside the covers. But I needed to make the RV with the pilot vehicle about three and a half hours north, by 11 am. I had a lovely Tim Horton's coffee, prepared in my mother's ancient potato pot that she bought when I was still a boy living at home, and which once upon a time had real teflon in it. Now it has poisonous flakes of teflon-like material that add flavout and minerals to my camper cooking.
It was an interesting drive, and I made it with plenty of time to spare to "Bell II" where a convoy formed up and were piloted up the road for about 50 km or so. After the pilot vehicle left the convoy, the Nascar Northern Grand Prix happened, as if my magic. I had no idea that motorhomes could do 130 uphill with oncoming traffic, for example. I found a roadside "pullout" after a few klicks of madness, and waited for the gong show to pass me. Much to my surprise, I did not subsequently see any of them upside down in the ditch. I stopped a few times to stretch my legs, cast a spoon into a likely looking lake for half an hour, and generally made it with only fifty percent white-knuckle conditions to the village of Dease Lake BC, where I am currently enjoying a wireless connection courtesy of the Dease Lake Institute for Learning or similar.
I have driven 500 km today and I am a bit the worse for wear, but I might give it a try to put another hundred or so km on the rubber before I rest for the night. Tomorrow evening I have to be in Whitehorse to meet Phil, and Google Maps just advised me that I have nine and a half hours of driving ahead of me. (I think they are likely on the high side, but maybe they know how slowly I drive, since they know all about me because of my gmail account and this blog...........)
Anyways, I will send this out now and start again next time I am plugged in, probably in the Yukon.
Doug
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