RV ALASKA - Off the Cassiar, Onto the Yellowhead

When Alan and I left Meziadin Lake Provincial Park on the morning of August 19^th, we were flying by the seat of our pants.  Until our reservations in Washington State kicked in at the end of August, we had no place to be and all the time in the world to get there.  Our plan was to just keep working our way south through western Canada, stopping to enjoy any parks or attractions that caught our attention along the way.  While I agreed that this plan made perfect sense, having to make reservations along the way continued to stress me out.  That day, we’d be coming to the end of the Cassiar Highway near Kitwanga, British Columbia, and picking up the Yellowhead Highway east toward the city of Prince George.  After guesstimating our approximate end-of-day location, I decided upon yet another provincial park.  This one was a real gem, too!

Date(s) – August 19th – August 21st

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 14,509

Wildlife Sightings to Date – For all the talk of what an amazing wildlife corridor the Cassiar Highway was, you couldn’t prove it by our experience.  I know others have had much better luck than we did, but our only wildlife sightings along the last stretch of the Cassiar were of 1 ptarmigan and 2 eagles.  No bear, no moose, no caribou, no nothing – and not for lack of trying, believe me.  During our two full days at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park, we spotted 3 loons and 4 ospreys.

At this point, our tally of wildlife sightings stands at: 1 fox; 4 feral horses; 3 loons; 2 ptarmigans; 5 ospreys; 99 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 4 seagull chicks; 16 swans (including 2 fuzzy cygnets); 9 sea lions; 27 seals; 17 sea otters; 4 cow moose; 1 bull moose; 5 grizzly bears (including a sow with 2 cubs and the back end of one grizzly retreating into the brush); 8 black bears; 1 coyote; 1 snowshoe hare; 3 rabbits (including one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 9 deer (2 of them bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 3 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) of the Day – As soon as we hit the Yellowhead Highway and turned east, small towns and gas stations became more plentiful.  We still had the 10 extra gallons of gas with us, but now that we didn’t have to fret about planning our next gas stop so specifically, a weight dropped off our shoulders.  Back home, we take gas stations for granted.  The northeast is so highly populated that gas stations are a dime a dozen.  In the remote areas of Alaska and western Canada, we developed a greater appreciation for a service that we never thought twice about prior to this trip.

As with many of the provincial parks, Meziadin Lake had no dump station, and we were due to dump our tanks.  Online research pointed us toward the Visitor Center in New Hazelton, British Columbia, with a free dump station available to travelers.  Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t say that dumping our tanks was a highlight of the day.  But while we were at the Visitor Center taking care of that necessary chore, a man and woman walked up to us and asked if we had seen any more bears the day before.  It was a couple we had been talking with at the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site, and they had left Hyder shortly before we did the day before.  They were traveling in a large Class A, and had stopped at the New Hazelton Visitor Center for a midday break.  As we continued chatting, talking about where we all lived, we found out that they currently live in Alabama – and they also have property in the mountains about 30 minutes from our house and only 15 minutes from our son and daughter-in-law’s.  This trip has certainly underscored the fact that it really is a small world.  A chance meeting in a small town in western Canada – who would have thought?!

These provincial parks – I just can’t say enough good things about them!  Alan and I landed at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park outside of Smithers, British Columbia.  Smithers (population: 5,378) was large enough to present no problem for anyone needing to reprovision.  As for Tyhee Lake Provincial Park, the campground was big, but sparsely populated, and the lake itself was lovely with a recently renovated picnic area complete with brand new tables that had a beautiful view of the lake.  Very few visitors and a serene setting allowed us to really enjoy our downtime and the peaceful setting.  In fact, we enjoyed Tyhee Lake so much that we ended up spending three nights there.

Lowlight(s) of the Day – Ending our travels along the Cassiar Highway with such a disappointing showing of wildlife.  Enough said.  I know I’ve been whining and complaining ad infinitum.  My apologies.

The other two lowlights of the day are related to the policies of the provincial parks in British Columbia.  First of all, there was a $5.00 fee to use the dump station – even if you were a registered camper.  That, to me, is nickel and diming guests, and it annoys me to pay extra for an amenity that’s included free at most other campgrounds, as long as you’re a registered guest.  If you know that you’re going to dump your tanks, you can pay your $5.00 fee to the campground operator at the time he or she stops by to collect your camping fee.  If you’re not sure, you can pay the dump fee in the drop box at the dump station if you do empty your tanks.  Since we didn’t know how long we’d be at Tyhee Lake, we didn’t pay the campground operator.  Instead, since we did end up dumping our tanks on our way out, I took advantage of the opportunity to get rid of some of my Canadian $1.00 and $2.00 coins.

The second lowlight was a direct result of the park’s policy requiring the campground operators (CO) to visit the campsites to collect payment.  On the afternoon we arrived, the CO stopped by around supper time, and asked how many days we were staying.  We told her we weren’t sure yet, but we wanted to start with two nights, and that’s what we paid.  Late the following afternoon (after enjoying our time in our camp chairs down by the lake), we saw the CO near the entrance to the park and stopped to let her know that we planned to stay one more night.  We offered to pay her then and there, but she declined.  She told us that someone would stop by our campsite the next day between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to collect payment for our third night.  Fine.  Be that way.  The next day, Alan and I took our camp chairs back to the lakeshore to enjoy the peace and quiet of the park, but we made sure we were back at camp by 3:00 p.m.  We were hoping that the CO would show up early so that we could follow through on our plans to have dinner in Smithers on our last night in the area.  Guess what!  The CO never showed up.  We hung out at our campsite well past 6:00 p.m., and ended up skipping dinner in town.  (Read that as putting less $$$ in the local economy.)  Since we left early the next morning, we got a free night of camping, and British Columbia’s Provincial Parks system earned itself a solid demerit for wasting our afternoon.

Campground(s) – While I will never like the “drive around and pick your site” process or the fact that you have to wait for a campground operator to come around to collect your payment, we could find no fault with Tyhee Lake Provincial Park itself.  As for our campsite – wow!  As we drove through the campground attempting to identify a “good” site, we came across an absolutely gorgeous pull-through site, and quickly circled back around the block to claim it.  This site was so long that we could have fit two of us in it.  It had enough greenery around to keep it private even though it was on a corner where two roads intersected – plus, it had electric!  We paid $34.00 per night (Canadian dollars) and considered it a bargain.  There were plenty of other perfectly fine sites from which to choose, but we were lucky – we got the best one!  Wink, wink.  Note: Because we didn’t pay for our third night, our actual camping fees at Tyhee Lake averaged out to just over $24.00 per night ($68.00 for two nights of camping plus the $5.00 dump fee).  Better yet!

Observation(s) – At some point during this lengthy expedition, we realized that we needed to pay close attention to the offerings at the gas stations.  I wish I could remember when the lower octane first started turning up, but I don’t.  It could have been in western Canada, Alaska or even the western United States.  “Regular” unleaded was no longer 87 octane, but 85 or 86.  We often run 87 in the truck, but Alan occasionally chooses gas with a higher octane depending on the terrain through which we’re traveling.  In any case, we never run with anything less than 87.  At whatever point the lower octane became an option, we had to be careful to not just hit the button on the left when filling up.

Pics(s) of the Day

By our last day on the Cassiar, we were no longer believing these signs.

But the scenery was spectacular!

A "non-braided" river in British Columbia

This sign greeted us upon our arrival at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park.

A serene afternoon at Tyhee Lake

No, we're not parked in the road - that's our site, #49!

Not too shabby, right?!

Up Next – This time, when we pulled out of our campsite at Tyhee Lake, we actually did have a plan.  I had found a private RV park just south of Prince George, British Columbia, that promised an ambience more like a state or national park than a private RV park.  It sounded perfect!  After a quick one night stay there, it would be on to our final provincial park of the trip – Skihist Provincial Park in the Thompson River Canyon.