July 29th to Aug 1st - Iskut,Stewart,Telkwa

July 29th – Sun – to Iskut
We got to sleep in a bit this morning and left at 8 under high clouds. We are amazed at how nice the Cassiar Hwy is this year – the Milepost says “paved” which translates to great seal coating. We stopped at Jade City where Margo bought a ring and I got a pair of earrings.
We don’t eat breakfast when we leave early but take coffee and something for me to munch on like Cheerios. Terry got so hungry this morning that he ate a muffin with raisins & nuts which he doesn’t like too much. We stopped at Dease Lake for what turned out to be a very expensive late breakfast at Mama Z’s since Rumours Café was not open.
We stayed at Mountain Shadows RV park which is in a very nice setting off the highway. We had wifi there so I spent some time catching up on the blog and email. Then we all went for a walk to a nearby lake – first to the dock and then to a trail which leads to a part of the lake where you can fish from the shore. We actually got our satellite dish to latch on to the signal so happy hour, dinner and TV filled the rest of the evening.

July 30th – Mon – to Stewart
We had a short drive today (197 miles) so again left at 8. It rained a lot last night but was overcast this morning and then intermittent showers. We saw 3 bears on the road and a fox with breakfast in its mouth. The road continued good until we hit a section that was being resurfaced and was total mud. It was still smooth but we got absolutely covered in mud. The clouds were high enough that we had good views of most of the mountains. I continue to be amazed and delighted with the amount and diversity of wildflowers on the roadsides.
We stopped for fuel at Bell 2, stopped for pictures of glaciers once we turned onto 37A and checked into the Bear River RV park. When we stopped once for pictures & a pit stop, I noticed that the catch for one side of the mirrored sliding doors on the closet had come off so Terry wedged in the laundry basket and another tote so the door would not slide back & forth. When we got here, the clothes rod had a broken fitting on one end and one of the two support brackets was broken. So the first order of business once we set up was to repair the clothes rod and door catch.
After a late lunch, we all went to check out Stewart & Hyder. We stopped at the visitor information center and then went to the museum where a lonely employee kept Margo trapped while the rest of us wandered through the museum. We watched a film which turned out to be a rather long hour of slightly repetitive history of Stewart. We dragged Margo away from the employee - who followed her out the door after the film - and went to Hyder. As we were walking to the viewing platform someone told us that a mother bear & cub had just been there. Just our luck that all we saw were lots of spawning salmon and one immature eagle.
Back at the park we joined Dave & Margo for happy hour, then went our own way for dinner and cable TV.

July 31st – Tues – Stewart
We have to be crazy! We left at 5:45 this morning (after listening to rain all night) to try to see bears. There was one bear eating a salmon when we got there and it hung around for quite a while. It is amazing how the salmon scurry away when a bear comes to the edge of the stream or an eagle flies over. After about an hour, we drove about 18 miles – in Dave & Margo’s “putt putt” – further out the road from Hyder to the Salmon Glacier. We were actually being very optimistic as clouds were hanging low and we were hoping they would lift. We now have “imagine if you will” pictures of clouds over the glacier but mountains behind showing above the clouds.
The car was making strange wheel noises when we got back through Canada customs so we stopped at a car wash as the guys thought it very possible that dirt was causing the problem. The noise did quit but the car was still a mess so Dave used dry wash to finish cleaning it up.
After lunch we all went back to check out stores in Stewart. We were surprised by the unusual items in one grocery store and the amount & selection in the other grocery store. Pretty expensive – Margo read signs wrong and ended up paying over $6 for a gallon of milk. We stopped for ice cream, drove through all the parts of town that we could find and headed back.
When we were in a gift store, the clerk told us about taking some visitors to the dump to see bears so of course that is what we had to do after dinner. We saw 4 black bears scrounging in the dump – not the best way to view wildlife. Apparently mothers & young cubs and yearlings go there as they are likely to be beaten up or killed by grizzlies at the stream with salmon.
We were supposed to have wifi but couldn’t get it at our site and I wasn’t interested in splashing through puddles to sit outside on a deck to get online.

Aug 1st – Wed – to Telkwa
We made a change in our schedule due to the rain which is getting us all down. We were going to go to Prince Rupert but rain is forecast there for at least another 2 days so we decided to hit the Yellowhead Highway and head east. We had sunny breaks before we left the Cassiar but weren’t totally out of the rain yet.
We stopped for diesel at Kitwanga and then at the visitor center at Hazelton. After taking pictures outside and going through a little museum, we drove to the Hagwilget suspension bridge over the Bulkley River canyon. We walked across and took pictures and carried on.
We are staying at Fort Telkwa RV park where we stayed 5 years ago. It has a free high pressure wash station for vehicles and RVs which we took advantage of before parking and setting up. Margo and I did laundry which took a little while since there were only 2 washers and 3 dryers and someone else snuck in and did one load after Margo did her two and before I could get there.
Then it was time to drive back a few miles to Smithers. Main Street is done in an alpine theme and is fun to walk through. We found a liquor store and then found a place for dinner which turned out to be very nice. It was billed as a bar & bistro and had chicken wings as today’s special. We added nachos and a mixed appy platter to make it dinner.
When we got back, we all walked down to the river for a little exercise and to settle dinner. Then we played a game of Uno – I slipped past Terry to win again!