Whitehorse to Prince George (From the Yukon Territory to central British Columbia)
The 1700 km journey from Whitehorse to Prince George took me a little over 2 weeks to cycle along the Alaskan, Cassiar and Yellowhead Highways. Unfortunately I cycled most of the stretch in bad weather (wind and rain) which made the going rather hard. However the experiences along this section will never be forgotten...
A trip from the Yukon down to central British Columbia
Date
Distance
Altitude gain
Place
02.07.2005
108 km
0790 m
Whitehorse - Squanga lake
03.07.2005
112 km
0960 m
Squanga lake - Morley river
04.07.2005
106 km
0850 m
Morley river - Rancheria
05.07.2005
100 km
0820 m
Rancheria - Junction 37
06.07.2005
122 km
1090 m
Junction 37 - Jade City
07.07.2005
126 km
0925 m
Jade City - Dease Lake
08.07.2005
101 km
1165 m
Dease Lake - Tatogga Lake
09.07.2005
143 km
1175 m
Tatogga Lake - Bell II
10.07.2005
---
---
Bell II (Rest day)
11.07.2005
095 km
0865 m
Bell II - Meziadin Junction
12.07.2005
153 km
1045 m
Meziadin Junction - Kitwanga
13.07.2005
104 km
0965 m
Kitwanga - Moricetown
14.07.2005
101 km
0910 m
Moricetown - Houston
15.07.2005
081 km
0570 m
Houston - Burns Lake
16.07.2005
135 km
0745 m
Burns Lake - Vanderhoof
17.07.2005
100 km
0725 m
Vanderhoof - Prince George
I left Whitehorse after getting a new bearing for my fork from Phillip (Phillipe's bikeshop). He has the most amazing bikeshop. In an old schoolbus he has bicycles and in the trailer he does the repairs. When there is a bicycle race nearby he simply moves his whole shop to the race location!!
I moved on along the Alaskan Highway for another 425 km, unfortunately I had head-wind which made the going hard but at least it was not raining. The Alaskan Highway is a constant up and down, dropping down to the huge rivers and then back up onto the Tesslin plateau again.
The scenery along the Alaskan Highway is just incredibly beautiful, full of lakes, mountains and forests.
...it is definitely not boring to cycle in the Yukon!
Before heading south along the 720km Cassiar Highway I crossed over the top end of the Cassiar Mountain Range on the Alaskan Highway. At this stage I was still fortunate with the weather....
After travelling along the Alaskan Highway from Delta Junction down to the Cassiar Junction I had cycled along a single road for over 1200 km. The going was pretty lonely and I only met one cyclist, cycling in the opposite direction along the 400km stretch between Whitehorse and the Cassiar Highway.
The Cassiar Highway (Highway 37)
The end of the Alaskan Highway, simply meant the beginning of a new Highway. I had heard a lot about the lonely and wild 720km Cassiar Highway and my heart was jumping when I set off one early morning from the junction down the road towards Jade City which is not a city but a hamlet, where nowdays 75% of the worlds jade comes from (Jade City has 2 souvenir shops and about 4 other houses).
Every cyclist had told me that I would encounter bears along this stretch, just as everyone had told me that I would encounter bears along the Alaskan Highway. I had started to forget about all the creatures living in the forest and I cycled relaxed everday. My mornings would start off by cycling 25 to 30 km before I stop for my 'second breakfast'. A term which I use instead of a 'coffee break' because I do not drink coffee and my breaks involve a lot of eating (usually bananas, oranges, energy bars and on some days a nice big chocolate muffin). It was on this first morning after leaving the junction that I was looking forward to my big muffin 30 km down the road. As I was approaching 30km, I saw an ideal spot to have my muffin. 2 big black rocks ahead (one to sit on and the other to park my bike, just perfect). I put my head down in the terrible head-wind and cycled on to the rocks. But o s!#*!!!!! They were not rocks, they were 2 big black bears. I had realized this only 20 metres in front of the bears. I pulled my breaks, making a noise in the process. The one bear got such a fright that he leaped back while I just stood still. Within seconds I had my bear spray ready to activate the full 8 second load into the bears eye if necessary but I had head-wind which meant that a loadfull would hit my eyes too. So I stood still and watched. The bear was now curious what this object on wheels was and started to approach me. I could not turn my bike & I would definitely not run away (which would be the worst move that one could make) and so I stood still. The bear came closer and closer, his mate eating and enjoying the delicious ripe berries from a bush next to the road did not show any interest. But the one that I frightened was still coming towards me, 15 metres, 10 metres....., now I was getting worried!!! (I could not spray my emergency pepper spray because the wind was just too strong). The bear stopped about 10 metres from me...... during this period of time, I heard a motor far in the distance, and I was just hoping that the car would drive a bit faster to get to where I was as soon as possible. (A car comes by about every 10 minutes along this route). The car did reach me quite quickly and I was able to signal to the driver to stop next to me. He did this and in this way he acted as a barrier between the bear and myself. As I cycled on, the car still as a barrier for another 300 metres, the bear showed no more interest and joined his mate in eating berries. I cycled on another 10km before I ate my big muffin!!!
240 km south of the junction I got to Dease Lake village where I was able to buy more groceries and I pitched my tent near the village at a beautiful little lake. It was really peacefull and during the evening hours I was sitting next to the lake watching mother duck taking her chicks out for an evening swim when suddenly there was a noise in the bushes behind me....o no!! My first thought was not another bear!! But it was a beautiful red fox which had just caught a bird and ran straight past my tent with the bird jammed in it's jaw.
The weather however turned worse and worse as I went down the road. And always as I hit another 20km gravel section it would start pouring in buckets from the sky, causing mud to get stuck everywhere!
On a bicycle, nature is always very close and spotting wildlife from a bicycle is pretty easy!!!
On the 8th day of cycling without a rest day I had enough of the rain and so I decided to push on all the way to Bell II (a lovely winter heli skiing resort, built in swiss style chalets). I had heard about Bell II from other cyclists. It was the place to have a rest.12 $ to pitch the tent which included using the very clean showers, hot tub, sauna, pool table, lounge with TV etc etc. Before I got to Bell II it was raining really hard, riding through mud on a 10km stretch which was under construction. A worker volunteered to drive me through the mud, stubborn as I am, I thanked him for the great offer but refused and rode on in the pouring rain getting extremely dirty. I got to Bell II at 7:55 PM, just 5 minutes before the 'eat as much as you can' buffet was going to close. I was as hungry as hell and so before removing my 'stinky' and dirty clothes I filled my plate 3 times with heaps of roast beef and vegetables and ate like a king before setting up my tent and then sitting in the sauna for hours! The next day was spent relaxing in the hot tub. The people working there are really all so friendly! A place worth visiting!
At Bell II I met another 2 cyclists (Matt and Jake, only the second time I had met cyclists along the road). After an enjoyable evening in front of the TV and exchanging tips for our journeys it was time to say goodbye and continue on our way in opposite directions.
A day later the weather improved (only for 2 days) and the scenery was again spectacular and so I rode on to Kitwanga without getting wet. Kitwanga was also the end of the over 700km journey down the Cassiar Highway and I switched to the Yellowhead Highway (The Highway has a total length of 3462km!! Going from Prince Rupert all the way to Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba).
Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16)
Leaving Kitwanga I headed along the Yellowhead Highway which unfortunately has quite a bit of traffic and gets quite scarry when RV drivers pass by too close. Especially when they forget to pull in the stairs when they leave the campsite in the morning. It was a matter of a few centimetres and I would have been hit!! (It is usually a European tourist, they are simply not used to driving these big cars. Locals seem to show more respect!). When I had arrived in Alaska an alaskan said to me "do not worry about the bears, worry about the tourists driving their large vehicles" - all I can say is, he is right!
The beautiful old historical town of Hazelton was worth a detour. Set next to a river and a nearby canyon, below the Hazelton mountain range it's population is mostly made up of the 'Ksan Indians living in their 4 tribes: wolf, eagle, frog and fireweed. It was interesting to learn about these tribes and their way of living. The nearby 'Ksan historical indian village' was worth the visit.
I did not enjoy all of the stretch to Prince George along the rather busy road, probably also because of the rainy weather. At Moricetown there is a beautiful gorge where I was watching local native indians catching fish in an unusual manner, using a long pole with a huge hook on the end they feel for fish in the current and then pull the pole so that the fish sticks on the end of the hook - it was amazing to watch such a catch! I also met up with Charles (from Florida). He was the first cyclist since Whitehorse to cycle in the same direction! We spent the last 3 days on the same campgrounds. Charles is a real story teller and it was lovely listening to all his cycle stories!!
A day before reaching Prince George, Charles and I met up with Chris (from Berlin, Germany), he had been cycling all the way from Phoenix down in Arizona and he was able to give me some good tips (he was cycling to Prince Rupert). Charles and I had been trying to find out about cheap accommodation in Prince George. Chris told us to go to the CNC (College of New Caledonia). This was a great tip, very cheap and it also has a TV lounge, kitchen and I have been using the PC for over 3 hours at no extra cost. Charles will be heading a different way while I will be heading for Jasper after a 2 day rest.
A trip from the Yukon down to central British Columbia
I left Whitehorse after getting a new bearing for my fork from Phillip (Phillipe's bikeshop). He has the most amazing bikeshop. In an old schoolbus he has bicycles and in the trailer he does the repairs. When there is a bicycle race nearby he simply moves his whole shop to the race location!!
I moved on along the Alaskan Highway for another 425 km, unfortunately I had head-wind which made the going hard but at least it was not raining. The Alaskan Highway is a constant up and down, dropping down to the huge rivers and then back up onto the Tesslin plateau again.
The scenery along the Alaskan Highway is just incredibly beautiful, full of lakes, mountains and forests.
...it is definitely not boring to cycle in the Yukon!
Before heading south along the 720km Cassiar Highway I crossed over the top end of the Cassiar Mountain Range on the Alaskan Highway. At this stage I was still fortunate with the weather....
After travelling along the Alaskan Highway from Delta Junction down to the Cassiar Junction I had cycled along a single road for over 1200 km. The going was pretty lonely and I only met one cyclist, cycling in the opposite direction along the 400km stretch between Whitehorse and the Cassiar Highway.
The end of the Alaskan Highway, simply meant the beginning of a new Highway. I had heard a lot about the lonely and wild 720km Cassiar Highway and my heart was jumping when I set off one early morning from the junction down the road towards Jade City which is not a city but a hamlet, where nowdays 75% of the worlds jade comes from (Jade City has 2 souvenir shops and about 4 other houses).
Every cyclist had told me that I would encounter bears along this stretch, just as everyone had told me that I would encounter bears along the Alaskan Highway. I had started to forget about all the creatures living in the forest and I cycled relaxed everday. My mornings would start off by cycling 25 to 30 km before I stop for my 'second breakfast'. A term which I use instead of a 'coffee break' because I do not drink coffee and my breaks involve a lot of eating (usually bananas, oranges, energy bars and on some days a nice big chocolate muffin). It was on this first morning after leaving the junction that I was looking forward to my big muffin 30 km down the road. As I was approaching 30km, I saw an ideal spot to have my muffin. 2 big black rocks ahead (one to sit on and the other to park my bike, just perfect). I put my head down in the terrible head-wind and cycled on to the rocks. But o s!#*!!!!! They were not rocks, they were 2 big black bears. I had realized this only 20 metres in front of the bears. I pulled my breaks, making a noise in the process. The one bear got such a fright that he leaped back while I just stood still. Within seconds I had my bear spray ready to activate the full 8 second load into the bears eye if necessary but I had head-wind which meant that a loadfull would hit my eyes too. So I stood still and watched. The bear was now curious what this object on wheels was and started to approach me. I could not turn my bike & I would definitely not run away (which would be the worst move that one could make) and so I stood still. The bear came closer and closer, his mate eating and enjoying the delicious ripe berries from a bush next to the road did not show any interest. But the one that I frightened was still coming towards me, 15 metres, 10 metres....., now I was getting worried!!! (I could not spray my emergency pepper spray because the wind was just too strong). The bear stopped about 10 metres from me...... during this period of time, I heard a motor far in the distance, and I was just hoping that the car would drive a bit faster to get to where I was as soon as possible. (A car comes by about every 10 minutes along this route). The car did reach me quite quickly and I was able to signal to the driver to stop next to me. He did this and in this way he acted as a barrier between the bear and myself. As I cycled on, the car still as a barrier for another 300 metres, the bear showed no more interest and joined his mate in eating berries. I cycled on another 10km before I ate my big muffin!!!
240 km south of the junction I got to Dease Lake village where I was able to buy more groceries and I pitched my tent near the village at a beautiful little lake. It was really peacefull and during the evening hours I was sitting next to the lake watching mother duck taking her chicks out for an evening swim when suddenly there was a noise in the bushes behind me....o no!! My first thought was not another bear!! But it was a beautiful red fox which had just caught a bird and ran straight past my tent with the bird jammed in it's jaw.
The weather however turned worse and worse as I went down the road. And always as I hit another 20km gravel section it would start pouring in buckets from the sky, causing mud to get stuck everywhere!
On a bicycle, nature is always very close and spotting wildlife from a bicycle is pretty easy!!!
On the 8th day of cycling without a rest day I had enough of the rain and so I decided to push on all the way to Bell II (a lovely winter heli skiing resort, built in swiss style chalets). I had heard about Bell II from other cyclists. It was the place to have a rest.12 $ to pitch the tent which included using the very clean showers, hot tub, sauna, pool table, lounge with TV etc etc. Before I got to Bell II it was raining really hard, riding through mud on a 10km stretch which was under construction. A worker volunteered to drive me through the mud, stubborn as I am, I thanked him for the great offer but refused and rode on in the pouring rain getting extremely dirty. I got to Bell II at 7:55 PM, just 5 minutes before the 'eat as much as you can' buffet was going to close. I was as hungry as hell and so before removing my 'stinky' and dirty clothes I filled my plate 3 times with heaps of roast beef and vegetables and ate like a king before setting up my tent and then sitting in the sauna for hours! The next day was spent relaxing in the hot tub. The people working there are really all so friendly! A place worth visiting!
At Bell II I met another 2 cyclists (Matt and Jake, only the second time I had met cyclists along the road). After an enjoyable evening in front of the TV and exchanging tips for our journeys it was time to say goodbye and continue on our way in opposite directions. 
A day later the weather improved (only for 2 days) and the scenery was again spectacular and so I rode on to Kitwanga without getting wet. Kitwanga was also the end of the over 700km journey down the Cassiar Highway and I switched to the Yellowhead Highway (The Highway has a total length of 3462km!! Going from Prince Rupert all the way to Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba). 
Leaving Kitwanga I headed along the Yellowhead Highway which unfortunately has quite a bit of traffic and gets quite scarry when RV drivers pass by too close. Especially when they forget to pull in the stairs when they leave the campsite in the morning. It was a matter of a few centimetres and I would have been hit!! (It is usually a European tourist, they are simply not used to driving these big cars. Locals seem to show more respect!). When I had arrived in Alaska an alaskan said to me "do not worry about the bears, worry about the tourists driving their large vehicles" - all I can say is, he is right! 
A day before reaching Prince George, Charles and I met up with Chris (from Berlin, Germany), he had been cycling all the way from Phoenix down in Arizona and he was able to give me some good tips (he was cycling to Prince Rupert). Charles and I had been trying to find out about cheap accommodation in Prince George. Chris told us to go to the CNC (College of New Caledonia). This was a great tip, very cheap and it also has a TV lounge, kitchen and I have been using the PC for over 3 hours at no extra cost. Charles will be heading a different way while I will be heading for Jasper after a 2 day rest.