We pulled out of Smithers after picking up the last of our supplies intended to last us the length of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. At about 545 miles we planned on spending about a week on this portion of our Grand Loop road trip tour of British Columbia. Mountains, forests and lakes were a given, throw in a couple scenic glaciers and maybe a few bears, and you have all the ingredients of a good adventure. The Stewart-Cassiar did not disappoint.
Days in Idaho were trending hot and smoky as we approached the end of July, August was looking hotter and smokier yet. It was time for an extended trip, and we set our sights north to British Columbia. British Columbia is huge. At twice the size of California, well, yes, it is that huge. Thinking of going to tour it for three to four weeks, it is hard to come up with a plan that will really give you a perspective on the province. We weren’t going to “see it all” but we had a few thoughts: try to see some bears in Stewart (BC) and Hyder (Alaska); drive the Cassiar and Alaska Highways (the BC portion of the ALCAN, at least), and generally try to stay out of crowds and away from wildfires. Then I ran across the British Columbia Recreation Sites. Numbering about a thousand, BC Rec Sites are minimally developed sites scattered across the province, with a lot of them being small campgrounds at lakes, and most of those being free to stay at. Our trip planning was done. I downloaded a copy of the waypoints, saved them to GAIA GPS and we had all the info we needed to head north on an extended road trip.
First thing in the morning we were headed for the ferry. If we missed the first one, our day would be spent waiting for the next one instead of exploring. It turned out we were the 3rd in line and it didn’t fill, better safe than sorry I suppose. It was a scenic ride from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay.
