Day 22: Jasper through Prince George

This is one of those “what a difference one day of driving makes” entries.  We are in a different province (British Columbia), a different time zone (Pacific), and a different environment.

We left Jasper early, filling up the gas tank since the next available gas station was over 90 miles away.  We were surrounded by the rugged, snowy, rocky mountains that we had been experiencing for the past week, taking Route 16, the Yellowhead Highway, named for the one of the blond-haired early trappers who looked strange to the native people. (We also went through the town of Tete Jaune, same origin, but from the French perspective.)   There was a fair amount of road construction along the way, so it was somewhat slow going.  We passed Mount Robson, the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies, and the mountains started becoming rounder, greener, and smaller.  Two rows of them defined the Robson Valley, a dairy-farming area. 

Much of what we drove through was very remote, with few houses or towns.  There were many marshy lakes and fast-running creeks.  Road signs warned to watch out for moose on the highway, and we didn’t see any moose but we did see one black bear and one coyote. 

Original plans were to stay near the small city of Prince George, but we arrived there in early afternoon (given the time change) and it seemed too early to pull in, so we filled the gas tank again and headed north on Route 97.  About 50 miles north of Prince George, we pulled in at Crooked River Provincial Park, on Bear Lake. 

This is our first experience with a provincial park, and so far it is positive.  There are no electric or water hookups, but there are very clean restrooms and tidy campsites with gravel base and picnic tables.  The sign at the entry said to select a site and “an attendant will come by to collect the fee”.  Very trusting. (The very young attendant did come by a few hours later to take our $16 and fill out the necessary paperwork.)

After setting up, I took Ranger for a walk around the campground loop and came upon a man from California.  He had turned in at the entrance to the park just ahead of us, and we had followed his truck and trailer around while selecting a site.  I asked where in California he was from, and (another of those “small world” situations) he was from Santa Cruz, where my sister and brother-in-law live and where Kelly completed her undergraduate degree.  He and his wife had left there on May 1, heading for Alaska, and they are now on their way home.  They chose to tour by connecting with a caravan of visitors with a tour guide who explained various sites along the way via two-way radio and who made all the arrangements for campgrounds and so forth.  He stated that Alaska was definitely worth the trip, not at all a let-down after all the planning and driving.  He also gave us several tips of “must-see” places, including Dawson City BC and Valdez AK. 

Ranger and I relaxed while Dan did some bird-watching along the lake (with good results, finally---many more birds here than at higher elevations).  With the time change, it was an early bedtime for us both before continuing on to Dawson Creek tomorrow.