Grizzly!

Debbie & Diane were kayaking on Sunday afternoon toward the creek outlet of Meziadin Lake. They were heading into the outlet cove and a grizzly bear came charging out of the woods toward them, about 50 yards away! Almost peed their pants!! They paddled farther out into the lake, watching over their shoulders to make sure they weren’t being followed.

They turned around and headed back toward the outlet, while remaining farther out in the lake. Debbie was ahead of Diane and heard splashing; not sure if it was Diane paddling or the bear swimming. All of a sudden the bear appeared at the point of land just outside of the cove. They scrambled out of there with their hearts beating fast! It sure gave them something to talk about. Wouldn’t you know, neither one of them had a camera so we had to search on Google for this picture. They continued kayaking toward the other end of the lake for another hour, all the while thinking about that bear.

We left Meziadin Lake on Monday morning to complete the last leg of the Cassiar Highway. We stopped at the native village of Gitanyow where we spent time viewing a number of classic totem poles, many of them very old. After turning east on the Yellowhead Highway, we made another stop at Moricetown Canyon on the Bulkley River. The salmon were running and several natives were using dip nets to catch fish. It was fascinating to watch; we could have spent hours here.

We stopped for the day in Smithers (not Smothers, or Struthers), at the Riverside Golf and RV Resort. We had full hookups for the first time in a week, and we could watch the golfers on the course. The gals all headed into town to find a laundry; clean underwear was becoming a priority! We barbequed some of our Alaskan salmon for dinner, then settled in our motorhomes to watch a little of the Olympics on TV. It’s a little different for us, because since we’re traveling in Canada, there is no American emphasis in the coverage.

Tuesday our travels took us to Vanderhoof, BC for two nights. We’re camped at Dave’s RV Park about a mile east of town. We had some hard rain on the way, but we outran it, so it was fine by the time we reached the park. It was haircut time for the ladies, and for Tom as well, so we headed into town to find a haircutter. We found one who trimmed us all in short order. We noticed that the new Pixar film, Wall-E, was playing in town so we went back to town after dinner to watch the flick along with every kid under 12 years old in town. Enjoyed the film.

Wednesday morning we traveled about 40 miles north to the small community of Fort. St. James. This is the third time Tom has been here and the second for Debbie. In 1980 or thereabouts, Tom along with three friends, Bud, Bob & Doc, drove here and took a short ride on a float plane to Trembleur Lake, a short distance north. They stayed in a remote lodge on the lake and fished for four days or so before returning to Fort St. James and then home. The second trip was in 1988 when we, along with our good friends, Bob & Janie, took a ferry to Prince Rupert, traveled the Yellowhead Highway to Jasper Park, then to Calgary and home. We spent part of a day in Fort St. James, visiting the historic trading post and fort, established in 1806 by Simon Fraser.

In the twenty years since we’ve been here, they’ve added a very nice visitor center and an on-site café at which we enjoyed lunch. We walked through the well-restored buildings and learned about life in the 1800’s from several costumed docents. We also saw a moose hide being cured under the watchful eye of a native elder woman. It was a very interesting time.

Tomorrow we’ll head to Prince George, only about an hour away, to reprovision at Costco before turning south toward Vancouver. We’ll spend a couple of nights enroute, arriving in Vancouver on Saturday.

You’ll hear more from us then, if not before.