THE JOURNEY TO ALASKA BEGINS!

Hudson Bay Mountain & the Bulkley River in
Telkwa, BC.
The view from our campsite.

     Yay!  We are finally on our way to Alaska, one of our dream destinations.  Can't wait to get there. The very next day after returning to Seattle from Connecticut we made a beeline straight across the Canadian border to Hope, British Columbia (BC).  The border crossing was a breeze, but the lanes between the border agent's booths were such a tight squeeze that both Nancy and I had our heads hanging out of our windows watching as we crawled past various obstacles mere inches from the rig. Nancy almost bopped her head on a post.

Nancy attempts to steal this giant piece of Jade
from a Cache Creek, BC store.

     Hope, BC turned out to be an interesting place.  First, upon pulling into our campground, we were totally surprised to find that Dave and Kathy Scranton, our friends from the Balloon Fiesta and Quartzsite, were our neighbors.  After assuring them that we were not stalkers, we had a great happy hour and dinner together.  It was great fun catching up with them and hearing about their Alaska plans.

The world's largest gold pan.
Quesnel, BC.

     Hope, nestled below the steep cliffs of the Fraser River gorge, couldn't be in a more scenic location.  In fact, this is the primary location for filming the flick "Rambo: First Blood."  They have a Rambo tour map so aficionados can view movie locations.  Fortunately, I had the movie in my collection so I spent an evening watching the movie and recognizing several Hope locations.

Flood Falls as it cascades down the steep cliffs
which surround Hope, BC.
This is the view from our campsite. 

A prairie dog greets us at E.C. Manning Provincial Park
near Hope, BC.

     The best thing in the Hope area was a trip to "Hell's Gate" on the Fraser River.  "Hell's Gate" is the most narrow spot on the river as it passes between sheer rock walls hundreds of feet tall.  We took a gondola ride into the gorge where a mini tourist village awaited to give us a close-up view of the powerful, surging, swirling, boiling rapids.  This is a "big" river and the cfs (cubic feet/second) of the water was truly awesome.

"Hell's Gate."
The view of the Fraser River and the mini village at the
base of the gondola ride.

The entrance to the Hell's Gate Rapids.

The suspension bridge over the narrow part of the Fraser River.
It was dizzying watching the powerful, swirling rapids
flowing beneath our feet.

     Next we traveled to Quesnel, BC (the "s" is silent) and scored a campsite directly on Dragon Lake. Quesnel offered the opportunity to visit Barkerville, BC; a fully preserved historic gold mining town. We arrived at Barkerville in a swirling snowstorm 2 weeks before the town actually opened for the season.  The town is very cool and, since we were the only visitors, we had a great time wandering around admiring the old buildings.  We understand that during the season, the place is jam packed--at least we avoided that.

A little snow in Barkerville, BC.

Barkerville, BC a little later in the day.

     The next day after Barkerville guess who arrived in our campground--Dave & Kathy.  Once again we only had one evening to spend together, but we made the most of it.

Nancy & I about to explore Dragon Lake.
While on the lake Nancy was buzzed by a bald eagle.
Thanks to Dave Scranton for the photo.

     We are now in Telkwa, BC camping on the Bulkley River at the base of the snow crowned Hazelton Mountain Range.  On our way here we saw our first black bear--Hurray!!!  Telkwa is near the middle of BC and the days are growing longer.  As I write this it is May 10, after 11 p.m. and I can still see a glimmer in the sky from the setting sun.

Yellowhead Highway 16.
Tintagel Cairn.
The large stone near the bottom is from the walls of a Norman castle, 
alleged to be the birthplace of King Arthur.  
King Arthur--fact or fiction?

The world's largest fly fishing rod.
I'd like to see somebody try to cast this 60' anodized aluminum baby.
Houston, BC on the Yellowhead Highway.

     In a few days we will be truly leaving civilization as we embark on our journey up the Cassiar Highway in British Columbia where gas stations are few and far between, where cell phone service is nonexistent, and where fellow travelers may be separated by hours.  Although it might seem lonely, this stretch of highway is supposed rank amongst the most beautiful roads in Canada as well as being in the middle of grizzly bear country.  We will be completely out of touch for the next 7+ days, so we will see you on the other side.

The view entering Telkwa, BC.
Hudson Bay Mountain.
Notice the insects on the windshield.  If you don't wash the windshield
every day you may not be able to see out of it by the end of the next day's drive!
At least the mosquitos have not yet arrived.

     CHEERS!

     To view a map of our 2016 journey along with our Alaska journey, open the link below.  If you can't get access let me know.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jVAnYSd0GgVuECnrG5amwDkxslw&usp=sharing