Salt Spring Island, Whistler and Vancouver Canada

The Alaska Ferry from Haines to Bellingham, Washington was awesome, so glad I did that for a couple reasons.  One, I rode up to Alaska on the same road I would have taken back down, and I usually don't like doing the same road twice.  Secondly, it got me south nicely to avoid riding through the bad weather.

However, when I arrived Bellingham, I knew there was something missing.  I've missed seeing Vancouver and Whistler, Canada, so I got off the ferry, turned left and went back over the border to Canada!

I put out a message on Horizons Unlimited to figure out the best route and I can say that I got more responses from riders in this part of the world than anywhere!  Many ideas and many offers for places to stay..   So the little loop I decided from talking to everyone is up to Vancouver and on to the ferry to Saltspring Island, Vancouver Island, ferry back to mainland to Whistler and a visit to Vancouver City.. easy!

First job is to take the ferry to Saltspring Island to meet the absolute host with the most, Steve!  I know, I just got off the big Alaska ferry, and I turn right around and get on another one.. it's just the way this part of the world works!

On the way, I spotted this little guy all on his own ;-(

 

It just watched our ferry go by so slowly, and I never saw a Mom around. It was so hard to look at it's eyes, I really wanted to save it assuming the Mom was a goner.  A local man on the ferry said that rescue doesn't even pick them up anymore because there are too many already at the rescue house.  Urgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But I decided in order to cope the rest of the ride that the Mom told this little guy to wait there while she dove deep to get some extra fish.. ???!!! ;-)  Possible?? I hope..

So on the island, I meet Steve!

Steve and his wife Colleen own the local drinking hole (appropriately named "The Local") on this very cool little island.

Next stop from Saltspring Island is another ferry ride to Vancouver Island, one of the most popular destinations.  I have a very bald rear tire and we are hoping to find a replacement in Victoria.  Steve offers to take me there and show me around a bit.

So...!  On to ANOTHER ferry!!

We met this old guy riding his even older (not really) BMW.  He was super cool, bought that bike brand new.. which now has a bizillion kilometers on it.. Today is just a day trip for him.. good on him!  He's in his 80's!  The love of riding never fades, hey?

Off the ferry onto Vancouver Island, Steve takes me to a rescue center, knowing my other love is for the animals.  They have quite a collection of beautiful birds here..  I kept watching this Bald Eagle as I think he is watching the sky in hopes to fly.. Unfortunately, he was a permanent resident, not able to fly again.

The keeper brings out a totally cool barn owl for us to see on his way for a weigh in..

How good looking is this guy! 

Next stop is Victoria.. and the BMW shop who might have my tire..

and they do!  Hallelujah!  On my way here I nearly lost it on the corner when the old rear tire skipped pretty bad,  so I was only too happy they could help me with exactly the tire I wanted.

Oh man, that is so much better having that new tire on.. now for a quick little tour of Victoria town..

Views across to America.. we need to get a move on and catch the ferry back to Saltspring Island..

I really enjoyed my tour of this part of the planet.. a great time at Steve and Colleens house, nice big room, yummy food and my love of the washing machine.. clean clothes again.. biggest thanks for that too!!!

Next morning on to the ferry to mainland again to ride up to my next destination Whistler, Canada..

I know you've seen enough ferry photos, but this one was funny.  My bike is right up the front as usual, and I'm just standing up there taking some photos when I hear a message over the loud speaker.. "Lady with the motorcycle, please come to the bridge for an important message".. I was thinking, message?  Only person who knows I am on this boat is Steve, maybe I left something at their house?

I get up to the bridge and the Captain and Driver (not sure her official title), just wanted to meet me.  Ok.. cool!  Geez, if they hadn't said the message part, I wouldn't have needed to panic.. But anyway, they were nice and really just had a ton of questions.  They kept me up there the entire ride.

Back on the mainland again, some views on my way to Whistler, where another great host has offered a place for me to stay.. From what I hear about Whistler, it's a must see place, however, super expensive too.  So I am most grateful for the offer.

 

Most road signs here have the Native language as well.. Squamish I can sort of see the translation, but native Whistler is a tough one! ;-)  Ok, technically the Squamish word with the '7' in it might have been a bit tough without the English version as well... ;-)

One thing my hosts Jayson and Dorie say I must do is the Whistler Blackcomb - Peak 2 Peak Gondola ride.  There's no snow here yet, but they tell me it's the highest and longest gondola ride in the world.  http://ww1.whistlerblackcomb.com/p2pg/

It  holds the wold records for:  1) Worlds longest unsupported (free) span for a lift of this kind.. 2) Worlds highest lift of this kind 3) Worlds longest continuous lift.. OK..Gotta see it!

I didn't think it would be much of a problem getting into an enclosed gondola, however on the ride up,  I didn't look out the window much. I was in that little car alone and it was swinging in the wind, and.. and.. it felt like it was going to fall off.  I am a wussy, what can I say! I made it to the next station in that little car where I need to transfer on to the super size, super long, super high gondola over to Blackcomb Station. I really wasn't going to get on the next one, until a local guy I met totally convinced me I would regret it.

First stop on the Peak 2 Peak ride in Whistler

Luckily I got into a gondoloa car that has 2 other people, a couple visiting from England.. thank God!

Maybe because of the people, this one was far less scary then the little ones coming up.. makes no sense, but that's how it is.

Truly fascinating that we can ride this far on a string from mountian peak to mountain peak.

Nearly there, and a great view of the ski runs that will be super busy again in no time..

While I was up there.. it was very cold.  I definitely should have brought the winter jacket!  So I stopped into the cafe for a super size hot chocolate.. yes!  and even better, a large piece of banana bread.. well worth the trip!

Shortly after a little bird seems quite interested in my banana bread.. do I have to share?!?

Gee whiz, save me some!!

Must be a Mom, she shoved as much in her mouth as she could, took off and came right back.. this time landing in my hand.

No worries, little birdy.. take my bread and fly away without even a little thank you! ;-)  Too cute.

I was really impressed with the whole day really.  I ended up loving the Gondola ride, being on the mountains and seeing how much of Whistler is used by the mountain bikers when there is no snow.  And one last special treat before arriving back to town.. bears!

I saw those 2 little black dots in the distance and I wasn't sure, but when I got closer,  it was a Momma and baby bear! 

Next day, I'm off to Vancouver.. where I have yet another fantastic host waiting for me, Todd!  As soon as I arrived, he realized that he saw me speak at the Horizons Unlimited meeting in Canada about a month before.. I was embarrassed as it was my first presentation, but he was super cool.

Todd and his wife live in a highrise right in Vancouver.  I have heard so many good things about this city, but I simply don't have time to explore.. I need to make my way quickly down to California for my second HU presentation coming up shortly with many stops along the way.. so I just stayed the night and left in the morning, doing no justice to Vancouver at all. I'm glad I stopped here though and got a quick view.. very impressive town!

View from my bedroom in Vancouver

Sorry for the supersize blog post.. need to make up a bit of time where I can.

Bears, Hyder Alaska, Stewart BC, and Yukon Territory Canada

It's all about the cute little bears in this part of the world!!

I made a mad dash through British Columbia and had a plan to travel up the Stewart-Cassiar Highway toward the Yukon.

One of the great recommendations from nearly everyone is to take a 67 mile diversion to Hyder Alaska..












Why not.. I've never been to Alaska, I am so excited to go there.. on this road I can not STAY there, but come back on the same road back into Canada.  However the highlight to this diversion is that I'm likely to see more bears around here because they are protected.. Do I want to do this??

This guy just looked at me and said "Whatever, I'd rather eat my tree than you!" ;-)

Well, that's either a dog or another bear up ahead!

Scaredy cat... it's blurry but I had to include this photo because I loved his little bear feet pads.

All up I saw 4 bears on my way down the road.. and the following day I saw 2.  They were just like any wild animal and more scared of me than I was of them, and other than the first one, none stayed still for photos.  Even though I considered it, I didn't see the point of getting off my bike and chasing a bear into the woods so I can get a better photo.. ;-/

In general I am really glad to see these bears though.. They are not as big as I imagined and they are not as scary as I imagined.  I actually feel like now, if I'm not a total idiot and leave food or toothpaste in my tent, it's as though I don't feel I would panic as much if I heard a bear sniffing around my tent at night.  I still hope it doesn't happen, just saying I shouldn't be ridiculously worried about it, which I have been.

One thing I will stop quickly for are these gorgeous glaciers along this road!  I feel like this part of the world can be called the "Sherri Jo's Glacier Tour"! ;-) This one is just spectacular!!

Bear Glacier

I arrived Stewart, had a quick look around this tiny town, then carried on to Hyder Alaska.

Hyder, Alaska

My first stop was this pub (picture below), of where I knew from research had camping and I was ready to stop for the night.  There was not a single other camper let alone tent around.  So I went down the road to another camping option which had a few RV's.  I asked about camping here in a tent and they said, "Oh, you don't want to do that".  And I asked why?  They said there are too many bears around.  Well, the absolute cheapest room I could get in HIS hotel was $90 and that wasn't going to work for me.

So I went back to the RV camp owner, who is the same guy as the pub owner, and said I will have to find a way to camp here tonight.. and then he said, "We can't have tents here.  The people in the RV's will complain because people in tents are cheap".  I just looked at that guy, couldn't believe that came out of his mouth and walked away.

And this comes from a place that uses a mobile home for a post office!

Hyder Alaska Post Office

I also enquired at 3 more places about where I might be able to stay tonight.. They ALL said to not camp in a tent.  A man was killed here just last summer.  Okay then, maybe I do have to pay the $90?  I asked one more man at the small dusty hardware store about camping, and he said the same, except he added.. "Well nobody else has really been killed here except that guy and the reason he got nailed by the bear was because he got drunk in his tent and threw up on himself"... Disgusting!!

I don't see this being repeated by me!!

So I came to a new idea.. I am literraly only 4 miles away from going BACK to Stewart Canada.  I decide to cross back through the border and check out my camping options there, not because I expect less bears in such a short distance, but because I didn't want to be in a grass patch by myself behind the pub all night NOR was I going back to the stupid RV guy.

However, I was SO excited for the possibility of camping in Alaska!!  Therefore, I rode away disappointed...

Stewart, BC

So there was a really nice and normal campground in Stewart.. the attendant said to take the precautions, there are bears around that wander through, but I should not die tonight because a bear wants to eat me.  Whatever.. bears or not, I'm tired and set up tent.

When I did this, the people in the only other tent here came and asked if they could set up near me because they were scared.. I was happy for them to, better for both of us!  It's really quite dense woods here, and a beautiful creek running right behind my tent site.. Magical really!

I couldn't get a photo to show both, but there was a mountain through the trees and straight up was this patch of blue glacier ice.. and I'd look down and see purple mushrooms.  VERY magical and now I feel like Alice in Wonderland!!!

Purple Mushrooms!

I survived the night (of course) and knew ahead of time that this was going to be a full rain day.  And I had a super huge ride ahead of me today.  So I packed up somewhat in the dark early morning rain and hit the road.

Leaving Stewart, BC

Oh boy,  this is my very first full on - hard core- big rain day on the bike since arriving North America.. ever since I left Europe!

My mistake was that I had been riding in such warm weather all across America and to here that I was not in the habit of having my heated jacket handy.  I was so cold...!

There's not really any towns to speak of on the Stewart-Cassiar, but luckily a couple key fuel stops. Being the end of summer, there was little or no traffic, so it was just me and the rainy road all day.

By the time I made it to this first fuel stop about 200 km down the road.. I was shaking in my boots.  I filled my very favorite Safari Fuel Tank, was about to get back on the road and thought.. If I was in Russia, here is where I'd have a cup of tea.  So I did!  Always does the trick and lasted me for a few minutes.  It even looks a bit like Russia around here.

My heated jacket is buried way at the bottom of my pack, and if I had a real brain, I would have taken the time to take my gear off the bike and dig it out.. but I chose to continue on and suffer through the cold rain then dig it out when I have all the gear off anyway for the night.  Ding dong!!!

I laugh at this photo below because I look so ridiculous, wet and cold the whole day completely miserable. I point a camera to myself in the rain and being a creature of habit.. I smile.. It's a lie!!  I was not happy this day!! ;-)  You know, I don't want to sound too much like a woosey rider.  But I had been traveling for weeks across America and Canada in hot summer sun, no rain.  This was just my first full day back to reality of cool wet weather.  I've had many rain days before and since then, plus I have many more ahead of me..  (just wanted to clarify that as this is the perfect place for me to whinge to someone other than myself about it..ha! ;-)

What I did love about this ride is that it reminds me a bit of Australia.  Not the landscape, but driving hundreds of kilometers with no towns in between.  This is the real wild Canada, it's gorgeous and I love it!

I made it to the end of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway.. far too wet and cold, I decided to do hotel tonight. Quite expensive here and was not keen to pay the price, but I was a bugger of a guest and got my money's worth.  Took the tent in and hung it from the curtains to dry out from the night before, the dirty wet tarp I washed off in the tub and hung from the shower curtain.. turned up the heat and let all my wet gear and myself dry out.  Got a really cheap bad meal at the pub next door, then went to bed.. you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.

Plus, it had wifi there and I was able to see the weather tomorrow will be MUCH better..

And it is!

What I do notice is that the colors of the leaves are starting to show up as yellow.. After coming out of a very hot summer in America, it was a surprise to see that autumn is truly here.  A very big sign I am traveling very North!

My goal today is to make it to Whitehorse and stay with another great facebook friend, Shelley Williamson!

Welcome to Whitehorse!!  and...... here is the horse!

Whitehorse, the town is actually not named after a horse at all. If I had to assume and guess, I'd say it may be the name of a First Nations Chief.  However, the term "white horse" comes from the standing wave or whitecaps the stampeders during the gold rush would deal with in the river rapids just outside town.  River traffic was the most used form on transportation on the Yukon River until road and air options could be established.. Eventually Whitehorse became the capitol of the entire Yukon Territory.

Isn't it cool??  A local artist had literally just finished this awesome work of art this year.

Shelley shows me around this very Yukon town of Whitehorse.. a fascinating place really.  We are nearly at the same latitude as Anchorage Alaska.

In the 1800's, the discovery of GOLD is what brought so many people here.  They called them stampeders, as many of 30,000 people came into the area at the first word of the discovery.  This place that Shelley shows me, Miles Canyon, was the most difficult part for them to get through.  They'd come on rafts or small boats with supplies and would only be lucky to make it through this fast moving rock walled canyon. Several men drowned.

Eventually the men were stopped upstream and could only pass through this canyon if they hired a skilled pilot.  A few years later they managed to build a horse-drawn tramway to bypass the canyon completely.

Shelley was a fantastic host.. nice big warm house, great food and funny stories.  I was so glad she invited me for a visit.  Amazing lady who is now in Africa helping the people there.

Next stop, The Arctic Circle!! ;-)