Cassiar Highway

3 Sep

September 1, 2019

We started out this morning at 9:30 AM to begin our drive on the Cassiar Highway. The Cassiar Highway (BC Highway 37) was completed in 1972 providing access to the communities of Stewart, BC, and Hyder, AK. We experienced outstanding scenery and a wildlife viewing. We saw 1 Black Bear on our drive today. That was exciting! 

We passed several lakes; Aeroplane Lake, Good Hope Lake, Vines Lake, Pinetree Lake, and Dease Lake. We probably crossed as many rivers as there were lakes. 

There was considerable snow damage from an early snowfall last week.  Since the trees and plants had not lost their foilage, the weight of the snow branches and toppled many trees.  The fireweed looked like it had been trampled. 

The highway was winding and narrow with sections of bermed road with 2-to-5 foot drop-offs from the road shoulder (basically, no shoulder). It is a good thing the scenery was beautiful!

Driving through the heart of Jade Country, we stopped in Jade City to shop at the Cassiar Mountain Jade Store. There are several Jade mines in the Cassiar Region. The Princess Jade Mine in the Cassiar Mountain Range, about 90 miles from Jade City, accounts for 90 percent of the world’s Jade supply. Yes, we made a contribution to their business!

We are spending the night at the Mountain Shadow RV Park in Iskut, BC. The RV Park is located in northwestern British Columbia, in the picturesque “Iskut Valley”. It is a quiet, secluded, park-like setting with spectacular mountain vistas and lake view. The lake was picture perfect, complete with a floatplane!  Their advertisement says that it is “A Slice of Heaven in the Wilderness”… we think they may be right!  The RV Park is for sale.  Maybe we should try our luck at the lottey?  

Our trip today was 200 miles from Nugget City, YT to Iskut, BC. Iskut is about the halfway point to Hyder, AK. 

Will we see Bears in Hyder tomorrow???