Across the Border

We left Bothell, WA about 9 AM on Thursday and got to the US/Canada border at Abbotsford, BC about 10:30 AM. All three rigs went through the same Immigration/Customs lane, so it took a while for us to get across the border. We were "tailgunner", so we were last through. Of course, we got into a long discussion with the border agent about the amount of booze that we were allowed to take into Canada. They seem to believe that we'll sell it to Canadians, and circumvent their tax system. Anyway, we had to park and take our list of booze into the Customs building and got into a whole new discussion about the same stuff. Long story short, we've still got our stash of alcohol and it didn't cost us anything. We'll have to be more careful, though, when we exit Alaska back into Canada. We can't count on our "innocent" looks forever.

From the border, we picked up Canada Hwy 1 through the Fraser River canyon and stopped at the "Hells Gate Air Tram" for a tram ride down the canyon wall to a restaurant and, guess what, - a gift shop. >We had lunch at the bottom and walked out on a suspension bridge over the river. The Fraser River is forced between two canyon walls just over 100 feet wide and it is about 175 feet deep at that point. The rapids are massive, and with the snow melt, large trees go shooting down the rapids. Not a spot for rafters, at least not until the water drops a bit.

About 10 miles past Hell's Gate, we stopped at a campground in the village of Boston Bar for the night. It was a rustic but very nice spot with full hookups, cable TV and wi-fi. Real wilderness camping, huh? It rained for a little while, but by dinnertime the rain was gone and we ate at a picnic table and enjoyed a campfire.

The next morning we packed up and got on the road around 8:30 AM, on our way to Quesnel, BC, about 275 miles closer to Alaska. Quesnel is a city of about 10,500, and is a major forestry area, with 2 pulp mills, a plywood plant, and 5 sawmills, planer mills and an MDF plant. Because we have a smaller fuel tank than our traveling companions, we needed to stop for fuel when we reached Quesnel. Canadian and American money are just about the same value, so we don't get an exchange rate bonus. Diesel cost $5.10 per gallon, which is not much different than what we've paid in the US on this trip.


We stopped at 10-Mile Lake Provincial Park north of Quesnel, and found three nice camp sites right next to the lake. We'd planned for a campfire, but a nasty, cold wind came up, forcing us indoors for dinner. We plan to stay here for two nights, so that we can spend Saturday in Barkerville, a gold rush town about an hour from Quesnel.