Boya Lake to Kitwanga along the Casier Highway

Today was a long day but that doesn’t mean I was just driving the whole time. First on the agenda was (of course) coffee. However it wasn’t as convenient as yesterday with a Starbucks right on the corner.
A hundred miles after cleaning up my campsite was Dease Lake where I got a free cup of coffee with filling up my tank. My next planned stop was for gas again at Bell II resort. There was however a few unplanned stops like stretching my legs, restrooms and photographic detours.
Just south of Dease Lake is Istuk and the middle of the Cassier Highway where I’m guessing is the highest point in the pass. I finally had reached snow levels and with the weather that had been with me for the past couple of days was now turning to whiteout and fluffy conditions. The road was not very icy but was very slushy.
It was really nice snow, very picturesque. So I stopped to take a nice snowy picture of the snow covered hillside near a lake and stream with the snow cover trees and shrubs and I locked myself out of the car!
First thoughts that came to mind I won’t write here but for the most part I was laughing at the situation that I had gotten myself into. I was wearing a sweatshirt over a thin t-shirt and jeans. Not ideal in the conditions outside.
Luckily a trooper (Mounty!) was not far behind me. I had passed him earlier on the road when he had pulled over, for whatever reason, a camper. With the tools in the back of his car we were able to open my car without doing any damage. I was probably only outside for 15 minutes. I am one lucky S.O.B.
Despite the mishap, today’s drive was has been the best day so far. After the morning run in with winter, the road dropped into the Ningunsaw Valley. It was beautiful. The road eventually turned into a deep canyon all the way to Bell II. My Father had suggested this route through Casier because of the scenery. I decided not to spend much time at Bell II after overhearing a couple talking about the pay phone (satellite) was $5 a minute.
My Dad had also visited Hyder, Alaska along this route. Well, not along the road but 40 miles off the road. The drive getting there was amazing. It was deep valley road that wined sharply as it followed a river to the Pacific Ocean. Hyder was at the very end of the road and yes I did get stopped at customs coming back into Canada despite that I had parked about 100 feet from the border.
Until today I hadn’t seen much wildlife on this trip. Just before I hit ‘winter,’ I saw a moose. Blue skies and warmer weather found me just outside of Bell II. From there to my detour to Hyder and all the way down to Kitwanga, I counted 14 black bears along the road and 3 of those were cubs.