Exploring northern BC

NOTE: this posting was written on the evening of Sunday March 27th. 

We said goodbye to our friend Jasmine this morning, the last familiar face until... we meet some people in Whitehorse! Jasmine has degrees in forestry and physio, and in both of opinions, is a pretty ideal person to spend time with. She took us to the largest urban park in BC (even bigger than Stanley Park!) for an afternoon of hiking; along the Ridge Trail, we had a great view of where the north and south Thompson Rivers meet. Colin learned to identify some new species, and we were all delighted to find tiny little prickly pear cacti growing in the park.

It was confirmed for us on Friday night past, that wherever there are a few physios, there will be a great potluck with great company. We spent the evening with Jasmine's coworkers at a pizza potluck, which even included DQ ice cream pizza! A nice little bit of luck found us having an extended conversation with a couple of people that love Whitehorse, one of whom has been over 15 times, including driving from Winnipeg twice in one summer! At the end of the night, we were even more excited about our adventure, and had loads of ideas of things to see and do. We're going to get to Fort Nelson (via the Yellowhead and Alaska highways) without delay, and then take our time past there- apparently it will be stunning! Liard Hotsprings is on the to do list, as well as bison-watching along the roadside.

At the recommendation of the locals, we took a sideroad out of town this morning instead of the highway so that we could cross the North Thompson River on a cable ferry. It was a two car-sized raft, and had just opened for the season the day before when the ice finally broke up. It was a short ride but a unique one, and felt right to do- we couldn't travel through BC without using at least one (free!) inland ferry.

The Caribou mountain range around Blue River was an incredible spectacle on our drive today. Snow-capped peaks poked out all over the place, and with the blue sky, it was impossible to stop ourselves from saying wow every minute - in Lauren's case several times a minute.

We took this route back into the Rockies before heading north to the flatter side of BC. It was an ear pop-free days! We visited what used to be known as Canada's highest peak, Mount Robson, and also passed Terry Fox Mountain. We didn't know Terry had his own mountain! It brought back memories from two weeks ago when our visit to the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay was shortened due to closed bathrooms.

The mountains have become our new favourite things, more then Halloween, Thai food and pickles (for Lauren). Colin has always liked mountains more then pickles, even before ever seeing a mountain.

But all too soon we were out of the snow-capped mountains and into Prince George. It looks like the Haliburton Highlands area! This is where those who are travelling to Yukon must decide whether to go the east or the west route. As Lauren wrote last night, we are headed east to the Alaskan Hwy. Prince George is also where we lost our cell phone reception for the very last time. Our provider does not cover northern BC or the territories, so from now on our phone will not operate like before.

Tonight we're staying at the Alexander Mackenzie Hotel in Mackenzie, and it was small-town Chinese food for dinner. Mackenzie is home to the world's largest tree-crusher, but it seems like it was renamed the world's largest zamboni, in the town's failed bid for the 2011 Kraft Hockeyville contest.

(click here to see photos from Saturday and Sunday's journeys)

Goodnight!
Colin and Lauren