Monday, August 20
Smithers, BC to Prince Rupert, BC
216 miles; sun and smoky haze, temps in the 70’s
Well, I took Catrina’s (from Whitehorse) advice and decided to ride west, take the ferry to Vancouver Island, ride down the island and ferry over to Vancouver City and then ride down to Seattle. This is mainly due to the heavy smoke from forest fires in south central BC. A delightful young couple from Calgary that I met at the Petro station in Stewart yesterday said that three hours east or west of Calgary the smoke was so thick you could look directly at the sun. Going west I was expecting blue skies today.
But when I left Smithers going west on Route 16 (Yellowknife Highway) I was surprised to see so much smoke. When I stopped and opened my helmet I could smell it.
Then when I got to the turnoff to the Cassiar I saw this warning. It seems to be getting worse by the day in most parts of BC. I’m lucky I rode the Cassiar when I did since the smoke would have obscured much of the natural beauty.
As I mentioned yesterday, riding Route 16 is quite a different experience than riding the Cassair. Here we have edge lines (never on the Cassiar, and often no markings at all), a paved shoulder, wide set backs, and you can’t see them here but usually high voltage transmission lines and billboards and various other signs, not to mention much more traffic, especially trucks. And most of Route 16 follows the Canadian National rail line – I never saw railroad tracks along the Cassiar, or the Alaska Highway, for that matter.
On a clear day the ride to Prince Rupert across the Coast Range would be a scenic, jaw-dropping experience, but the smoky haze today masked much of that. Nevertheless, I was able to see the outlines of the rugged mountains, and the rivers and lakes. This is the Skeena River near Prince Rupert, which the highway follows all of the way from Hazelton west.
I got to Prince Rupert before 4 PM today and checked into my motel. I have to be at the ferry terminal tomorrow at 5:30 AM for the 16 hour trip down to Vancouver Island.
Tuesday, August 21
Prince Rupert, BC to Port Hardy, Vancouver Island
321 miles by ferry; fog, smokey haze; temps in 60s
Today was going to be a long day – up at 4:30 AM and to bed at 12:30 AM – but an easy day for me. I took the BC Ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy. It was a 16 hour ride covering 320 miles, but I took it easy the whole way.
It was starting to get light as we waited in the staging area at the ferry terminal. The guys in the pickup were up at 2 AM to make it here in time, but had to negotiate a rock slide on the highway to get here. They were building something at one of the remote villages served by the ferry.
Two motorcyclists pulled up in line behind me. They were Olaf and Marcus from the former East Germany. They were into month six of a planned five year trip around the world, riding 20-year old Honda Africa Twins. They were in the middle of rolling their own cigarettes (including filters) when a lady from the terminal came up and explained this was a smoke free zone.
It was so foggy when we left at 7:30 AM that we couldn’t even see the shore.
This was a new, large, full service ferry, but I opted for my own breakfast of Grape Nuts and milk. Many of the motels where I stayed on this trip didn’t have breakfast, or at least unsweetened cereal, and having a box of Grape Nuts along came in handy. A good breakfast that didn’t take up a lot of time.
By 9 AM the fog had cleared and we could take in the spectacular views along the inside passage route, here going through Grenville Channel.
But within an hour the smoke from the forest fires in BC moved in and obscured the scenery for the remainder of the trip. We docked at Klemtu to unload the construction guys and a few other vehicles and passengers, and take on a handful of passengers and vehicles.
As we got near Port Hardy on the northern end of Vancouver Island we went down to the vehicle deck to get ready to disembark. I got back into my riding gear, got everything tucked away on the bike, and removed the tie-down strap. Olaf’s Africa Twin was parked next to mine, with a bunch of Harleys behind, and I think he was a bit mystified at the big bikes and the riding gear of their owners. Before we knew it they were revving their engines, filling the vehicle bay with fumes. They all wore black half helmets to comply with Canada’s helmet law. Call me dense, but I still don’t get it….
Wednesday, August 22
Port Hardy, Vancouver Island to Ladysmith, Vancouver Island
351 miles; sun and smoky haze; temps 60-75
I was looking forward to the ride down Vancouver Island, my alternative to riding the busy roads in the interior through lots of smoke.
And it all started out as planned, with signs suggesting I might even see some wildlife.
But with an hour of leaving the smoke began rolling in. By the time I got half way down the Island the two-lane had turned into a four-lane divided highway and there was traffic to contend with. The eastern side of lower Vancouver Island is pretty heavily developed, much more than I had expected. My adventure to the remote northern parts of North America was rapidly coming to an end, and it was going to be an adjustment.
This was the first day I didn’t have a room reserved for the night and I had to hunt for two hours before finding one. That lesson cost me precious time and a high priced room, but it was near the ferry terminal for tomorrow’s passage over to the mainland and down to Seattle.