The Stewart-Cassier Highway (Rt 37)

The Stewart-Cassier Highway (Rt 37)
As we thought about driving to Alaska (the first thing was…holy crap…we are driving to Alaska!) the question of which route came up. We were sitting in the ‘Sound of Music Meadow’ dispersed campsite (an amazing little spot way up in the hills) in Montana pouring over the maps. The AlCan (Alaskan Highway) would have been the obvious choice. But wait, what’s this little route over to the west? Route 37? The Stewart-Cassier Highway? Never heard of it, lightly used, long stretches through the mountains, perfect!

As soon as we hit The Stewart-Cassier it felt right. We found a little city park and several BC campgrounds (all free). Glaciers, the mountains, the great bear scare!, more mountains, more glaciers, wolves, bears, lynx, totems, no traffic, no guardrails, no cell service, 470 miles of awesome!

We did end up hitting the AlCan; all of 14 miles from Rt. 37 to Watson Lake!

The start…we’re off!
The nitty gritty
Traditional totems
Bear Glacier
Mountains, mountains and more mountains!
And gorgeous lakes!
And beautiful rivers!
And tons of wildlife, most of which disappears so fast you can’t get a picture.

 

Bear Lake

It was a cold and rainy afternoon when two road weary travelers rolled into Stewart, British Columbia in search of a place to rest their tired bones. The only campground in town was closed, for renovations, not to open until the following year. The exhausted travelers stumbled into the local tourist office seeking advice from the local elder. She shook her head and in a quiet voice told them the legend of the phantom bear of Clements Lake. She pointed her gnarled finger up the street at the local motel and told them they better bunk in for the night.

The travelers emptied their pockets and counted their pennies, not enough. The old woman looked down at the floor silently contemplating. She knew the owner of the motel to be a hard person who would not take pity or offer a handout. She slowly raised her eyes and gave the travelers directions to Clements Lake. Thanking her the travelers took a deep a breath and left as the old woman chanted a blessing.

Climbing into their old rig and heading north out of town the travelers found the turn off for Clements Lake. The sign hung askew on a rusted metal post, the road showed very little traffic. Easing onto the rutted lane they inched their way up to the lake. It was a beautiful place, a small lake with mountain waterfalls crashing down in the distance. Could this be the place of legend? The peaceful surroundings were in stark contrast with the old woman’s story. Was she playing a local trick?

Picking a site, there were only 2, the travelers set up their rig and jumped in the cold lake to wash off the road dust. They had just finished, thank goodness, when in drives an RCMP vehicle. The ranger rolled down his window and wanted to know if they had seen a crazed grizzly. The travelers having decided this was all a joke shook their heads laughing. Giving the travelers a funny look, the ranger told them an aggressive grizzly was charging log trucks on the main road and to ‘keep an eye out’, oh and cool Rover. He then spun his SUV around and spit rocks as he raced out of the park.

Totally confused at this point, the travelers settled in for an uneasy night.

Sweet dreams!

We later learned the lake is known as Bear Lake by the locals for the number of Grizzlies that hang around that area.

We are heading up the Dempster Highway into the Northwest Territory and to the North Sea, to put our toes in the water. We will probably be out of touch for 10 days or more.

Happy trails everyone!

 

Fresh Fish Fry

Yesterday, we traveled miles and miles across land that looked just like northern Maine paper company land. We passed more wood trucks than I could count (logs, boards, sawdust, and every other type of wood imaginable) and trains carrying the same. The British Columbia wood industry is Maine on steroids.

Last nightwe found a small British Columbia recreation area, Cobb Lake. BC has these recreation areas everywhere. A local told us to go to the ones with small signs because they are usually free, the ones with big signs cost $$$, great tip! Our neighbors were there for the week fishing. We met them while looking for the pit toilets (and got the lowdown on which ones not to use, always good to know). They had just caught a bunch of lake trout and invited us over for dinner (after a quick swim in the lake to wash off the road dust). So, last night we dined on fresh fish while watching Bald Eagles and listening to loons. A great evening.

Today, we put in quite a few miles to get us to the start of the Stewart-Cassier Hwy or Rt. 37 that will take us to the Yukon. The terrain has turned mountainous again and breathtaking. Tonight, we are sitting in a small community camping area next to a wood processing plant that will hopefully shut down by bedtime, it just went off-line, sweet.

I’m not sure what we will have for cell service heading up Rt 37, so I will blog again when I can, if Yogi doesn’tnibble on us😋.