The Cassiar Highway
We have left Alaska behind, traveling through British Columbia on the Cassiar Highway, a narrow road some 450 miles long. Most of it has no lines, and some parts have no asphalt – just gravel. We started out on the Yukon Plateau then drove up into the Cassiar Mountains. We stopped at a store which sells jade mined in these mountains – their product consisted of boulder size specimens; large, sliced pieces you could use as countertops; to small, polished charms carved in Vancouver, and figurines, some of which are native made. Apparently three-quarters of the world’s jade comes from the Cassiars. Two of the three days on this road have been rainy, reminding us of Oregon, but also, two days we were camped on beautiful lakes, one site right on the water. We have one more stop in Alaska. We will drive 40 miles off the Cassiar to Hyder, AK. Hyder is so small (population 100) there is not even a US Customs to pass through out of and back into Canada! In a few more days, we will head for Prince George and then on to Lake Louise and Banff in Alberta.
Contrary to what we were warned about, we saw (felt) few mosquitoes in Alaska. This may again be due to the cooler summer. However, as we proceed south through BC, the bugs are among us. We are not complaining about the cooler weather, though, as we have heard the reports of the triple digits down in the lower 48. As we head east, into the prairies of Canada, we will be getting warm soon enough.