Day 9 and 10 — The Adventure Is...

DAY _9

I woke to the sound of birds and the creek flowing over it’s smoothed stones. The lighting was incredible; diffused due to a light mist that hovered around and wound through the trees. I made good use of this and spent the early morning hours exploring the area and taking photos. Though it barely sprinkled the night before, I’ve learned to get used to constant mud, as the ground is always wet now the farther north I get. Back on the road, I grabbed breakfast from a little road house called Fat Jacks along the Fraser River. Another observation I’ve made, is that the few hotels, restaurants, gas stations and convienence stores that I’ve passed along the highway have begin to shut down for the winter and shudder up the windows to travelers. The signs that winter is ahead have become more real as I travel further North, even the diner I managed to get my breakfast from had already closed down the bathroom pipes for the winter. No snow yet though, and I wondered how long that would hold out.

I marked today as a driving day, because I needed to make some serious progress if I was going to reach my goal destination of Prince George, which was 450 miles and a 6-hour drive from where I was. So I got to it. During these long days of driving, I would listen to downloaded podcasts and audio books, as the cellular reception was patchy at best. The British Columbia countryside is absolutely beautiful. Large looming mountains topped with snow in the distance and dense forest along the roadways. I finally was able to post the first couple photos to Instagram, which felt relieving since I wanted to document my trip in real time and I had already been on the road for more than a week. On my drive, I passed through some old gold mining towns and saw another black bear and this time I was able to snap some photos. I also drove through my first of many snow flurries as I traveled through some of the higher elevation points.

Ironically though, today I began to feel lonely. Thoughts of being alone began to settle on my mind as I drove. I knew this would happen at some point, and I also knew that it would be a fleeting emotion as I put more distance between me and everything I’ve ever known. I knew I just needed to focus and move past it. Be stronger than it. After a long drive, I finally made it to the outskirts of Prince George and found a little lake to camp on, just off a dirt road called Stone Creek Forest Rd. The picture was calm and serene as I prepared dinner and made camp for the evening. Another day gone by, for another night has come.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-Mark Twain

Day _10

When I entered Canada several days before, they issued me a temperary residance permit. This permit they issued to me expires in 15 days, so that was something I needed to keep in my plans as I traveled. I had 2 weeks to hit Alaska, turn around and be back out of Canada.

This in mind, I had another rainy start to my day. Packed up the tent and the truck in the rain while it was still dark. As I napped in my truck, several hunting trucks drove by the area, and I realized that this time of year was right in the middle of hunting season, Over the course of my trip, I would encounter many hunters in the off-road BLM open land areas that I sought to camp. After grabbing breakfast at a little diner called Granda’s Kitchen in Port George, and then continued my path North.

The next part of my trip took me to Highway 16, aka the Highway of Tears. This infamous highway stretches East - West and runs 450 miles between the towns of Prince George to the east and Prince Rupert to the West. The highway received it’s solumn name 1998 during a vigil being held for 6 missing women, and references the estimated 16 - 40 women who have been murdered or gone missing along the length of it’s route. The crimes span from 1970 - the present, the most recent being Cynthia Martin, who dissapeared on December 23, 2018. To this day, there is no formal connection between any of the incedents, and no suspects have been charged in the crimes. I listened to a podcast about the highway and it’s dark history while I drove North East, eventually connecting with Highway 37 to head North.

During breakfast while in Prince George earlier that day, I had planned my camping spot for the night. Connecting to WiFi and downloading maps and finding suitable locations was something I did often, daily even if I could, as I found it MUCH easier to find a place to camp when I pre-planned an area to head to. It also helped me judge distance and make goals as to how far I would drive each day. In this instance, my goal was a little road called Grizzly Bear Forest Service Road off Highway 37 in the Swan Lake Provincial Park. Here I camped by the Jigsaw Lakes, a series of small lakes that dotted the map. The weather up here was dry, along with the ground. And for the first time since I left The States, the clouds had cleared and I could see the stars! I gladly welcomed the change in the weather.