Canada Alaska 2008 Motorcycle trip Day 12

Day 12 -
View Larger MapWe left Smithers after a great breakfast and headed north on Hwy 16. Eric took some pictures right outside of town along the Hwy.

We were told we had to see the Native fishing set-up in Moricetown, so we stopped in Moricetown to take pictures of the fish-trap and fish ladder area in a very fast flowing cool narrow gorge. We parked on the bridge over the river's narrow gorge area and took pics. The locals (First Nation Residents) named Earp and John, working on their trap set-up, called Eric down to the water to help them lift a log walkway they use for gaffing and netting fish at the fish ladder. Eric was happy to help them and was glad his Garne Balance Oiled boots were waterproof. He stood in 6" of water with no leaks or traces of water afterwards.
We got to highway 37 (Cassiar hwy) around 13:30.

Right at the start of the Cassiar we stopped in Kitwanga and took pictures of a cool old church. A short way up 37 we took a side road to stop at Gitanyow First Nation village to see the totem poles. While there we got snacks at the General Store next to the totem poles and took pics of the totem poles. Several people from different countries in cars and RVs stopped while we were there. One family in a RV from Germany saw Eric’s black sheepskin on his seat and asked if it was a Bearskin. Eric disappointed him when he said it was just a dyed sheepskin.

Traveling up the Cassiar, before we reached our turnoff for Hwy 37A, we saw some bears. Eric saw 2 bears, one of which Jennifer saw. Jennifer also saw another bear that Eric missed. All these Black bears were right next to the road. We hadn’t seen any Moose yet, but we took pics of the moose signs (not Moose sign!). At 14:00 it started raining more. We were expecting it so we were nice and dry in our Kilamanjaro Gear. We rode north to 37A and then headed west for StewartBC / Hyder AK. 37a is a beautiful Highway/Drive. There were beautiful Glaciers, tall mountains, many waterfalls. The mountain tops were in the clouds. The vegetation visible from the road gave us the impression that the canyon the 37a winds through is a rain forest.

As an interesting point: Eric had been running regular gas for the last day and he had gotten much worse mpg than when he used premium.

We rode through Stewart BC and Hyder AK before we stopped. Hyder is much more frontier/primitive and all dirt(mud) roads with potholes. Interestingly enough, there was no border check going from Canada into Hyder AK, but we had to show our Drivers Licenses and answer questions at the Canadian border before being allowed back to Stewart BC.

At Stewart we stayed in the Ripley Creek Inn. We met a fellow rider named Jim Kaufmann from Houston TX area who had arrived at the Inn before us on a 2003 KLR. He was riding solo. He used to work for Tucker Rocky and had newest cool “post Kilamanjaro” First Gear gear.

When we were walking around town before dinner we met Stu and John from eastern Canada. They were on their way to Inuvik (past the Arctic Circle) up the Dempster Highway in Canada. Stu works for “Motorcyclemojo”, a Canadian Motorcycle magazine. Stu was riding his own GSA and John, his brother, was riding the borrowed first Honda Varadero in Canada (the test Varadero). Eric was drooling over the Varadero. John told us how when it was raining on the highway the Varadero windshield would build-up about a cup of water in a strange pattern in the center of the windscreen and then suddenly dump the water in his lap! He said waterproof pants (and not chaps) are required and it was his only complaint about the bike.
We asked Stu and John if they wanted to ride together to the Dawson area, but Stu said he had an appointment with the Mayor of Inuvik in just a few days and they had to ride long days to get there on time. It didn’t sound like they would be doing much relaxing!

Jennifer and Eric had dinner at the Bitter Creek Cafe. Jim Kaufmann came in right when we ordered so we ate together. It was Gourmet good food and good company. We were glad we stayed in Stewart BC as Hyder AK is much uglier than Stewart BC. Both are very old pioneer towns though.