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Friday, June 19, 2009

Hyder Hype, waterfalls and glaciers.

June 19th

Started the bike and one of my Piaa lights was out. crap. no spares on me anymore. pricey bulbs. I noticed that the other had a bit of an orange glow. oh well, i shut them off for now.

It was just starting to rain as i finished packing up the bike. I didn't put rain gear on since i didn't think it would rain hard today. boy i was wrong. I got about 10 kms up the road and pulled over to get the gear on. Then it rained hard, but i was dry thankfully.


I got to the road crew and was ushered to the front of the line. i love it when they do that. I don't know why they do, but they like to have the bikes up front. thank you road crews.

i had put on my piaa lights and both were working now, yet both were shining orange. odd. a few minutes later i looked down and both lights were out. dammit. now i have no extra lights on the bike at all, only the stock headlight (i blew out my good headlight on the crash)

I stopped for fuel, coffee and a cinnamon bun at Bell II lodge. i was just about to get on the bike and head out and up comes a bmw, riding 2up. of course we talk about the road (they were going north, i south) and asked where they were from. England. holy crap. They flew in to Vancouver and they were going to prudhoe bay, and then going all the way to the southern tip of argentina. They are trying to do it in 18 months. crazy! i'd love to do that trip, but maybe in a few years, and with a different bike. They took a picture of me and the bike and they're going to put it on their blog! i'm famous! infamous...whatever. hah. They told me that i should go to stewart, awesome views and all, plus at the junction south, the gas station isn't there anymore. good thing, because i don't think i would have made it to the next gas station down the line. stupid small tank.

i regret not taking a picture, but the camera was all packed away, and it was raining, etc. i'm dumb, i need a better way to get to the camera quickly.
Anyhow, their blog is www.1a-2j.com ... i'll be sure reading that one!


here's a picture of the junction. yup. all closed up.
heading to stewart, it's closer than the next gas station anyhow.




oh! a glacier. perty
Of course i had to take one with the bike. the glacier was really nice, VERY blue


All along there were dozens and dozens of waterfalls. i couldn't stop most of the time due to avalanche warnings of no stopping YEAR ROUND. by the looks of some of that snow i passed, they aren't kidding. it's a great ride to stewart, everyone should go check it out.Isn't there a song by TLC about this?



Here's the gift shop i went to. chatted with the lady running the place. says it's hard to find help since the mine closed. there were more than 2000 people 30 years ago, now a mere 450.
many places had for sale signs on them. sad, it's a nice little town.

not ancient, but neat. a lot of old buildings in this town.

the main street.



i went to hyder to see what the fuss was about. big whoop, i wouldn't go the custom's officer said "did you just go in, and pull a U-Turn?" hah. i wasn't there for long. I rode through, looked around and came back out. i told her i wan't to see what the big hype about Hyder was, but i couldn't find it. heh. she said what they meant was the ride into Stewart.


alaska's 1st masonry building, build 1896. Storehouse #4 build by the Army corps of engineers. man, those guys know how to build something that lasts. Except for the Alaska Highway, canada had to buy and rebuild it all. hah.


the stewart sign. neato. got it on my way out. the town has a lot of charm, and even though it's in a downturn, doesn't look neglected. go there.

had to take another pic of the glacier. so blue.Not going to make it to Prince George tonight, so i guess i'll be stopping at Smithers.
pics along the way


Stopped in Kitwanga for gas. saw this. kinda neat.

The mount on the bottom left is called battle hill and they used to fortify it against neighbouring tribes. a little part of canadian history. google it if you want more info. it's neato.

more Glaciers!
This one is right outside of Smithers BC.



love the clouds. makes it look volcanic.



I got a room and asked where a good steakhouse was and got directed to the Steakhouse on Main. the prices were a bit high, but the food was great. i didn't mind spending the cash.

the nachos were the best veggie ones i've ever had. the cheese all crispy...


I had been craving steak for weeks. yay. got one. it was good. i was full. no desert for me tonight.

The motel i'm at. great find. Has FAST WiFi, Cable TV, Very clean, A/C and coffee maker. This is essentially the view from my room. can't beat that for what i paid. Cheaper than the dump in whitehorse. want a good Motel in Smithers? Fireweed inn.

btw, fireweed (the plant) is called just that because it springs up in disturbed areas (logging) or after a fire.
ack 2 am, lights out.
oh... i figured that since i'm in the area, i'll probably go through the US to go back home, heading to Spokane washington, then idaho, montana, north dakota, wisconson, illinois, indiana, michigan than home. heh. that'll be a run...

2 comments:

  1. Awesome. Keep on truckin'!
    -Trap

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic scenery! The glacier pics are awesome :-)

    ReplyDelete