July 4, 2007 - Mt. Baker, WA to Williams Lake, BC

It's not often that one has the opportunity to sleep beside a river.  After riding back to back 400 mile days of scenic and twisty roads, I think I could have fallen asleep last night beside a busy fire station.  I slept great and did so beside a river and with the sound of rushing water (glacier meltwater no less!).  When I awoke this morning to the energizing sound, I was rested and ready to go! Here's my campsite:

Not a bad view from the tent, huh?

I didn't break camp until after 10am because I spent time visiting and saying goodbye to people I had met last night after arriving from my North Cascades-Mt. Baker jaunt.  One group of folks were from Ohio and were quite enthralled with my travels and AK intentions:

Dave, Bill, Stevie, John, and Dan... THANKS!! (Bill, check your email!)

The other family happened to be the campground hosts, Dick and Voda along with their grandaughter:

Dick and Voda are full-timers (RV'ers) and long time motorcycle riders until a few years ago when Dick's health forced him to give up riding.  Not only were they very active motorcycle campers (IBMC) and high mileage riders, but Dick's occupation involved motorcycling as he spent over two decades working for a popular motorcycle magazine.  They were ultra supportive of me traveling and camping solo and meeting them was very refreshing compared to the, well, shock, I get from most people (“You're riding where?? Alone??”).  I've got their snail mail and will definitely be sending them a postcard when I roll into Alaska.  Aside from friends and family, it's people like Dick and Voda who are the reason I started this website... for those who are unable to ride but still want to be a part of the journey.

I can't say enough about this National Forest Campground... great location, great sites, great people managing it! I'd highly recommend taking a run up the Mt. Baker Scenic Highway and staying a night there.

The GPS location for the campground is: N48 54.064, W121 54.961

Here's a map showing the ultra twisty and scenic Mt Baker Hwy (542).  The campground I stayed at (“Douglas Fir”) is shown on the far right:

I planned to cross the border into Canada at the Sumas,WA crossing versus the big, slow, Peace Arch crossing on I-5 at Blaine, WA.  From the campsite I was less than 20 backroad miles.  While going down the rest of Hwy 542 (Mt. Baker Scenic Byway), I glanced in my rear view mirror and caught a clear shot of Mt. Baker in all it's glory!  It was like a jolt seeing it.  Of course, I turned around so I could take a photo of it...

...and a close up:

I also stopped at the National Forest Visitor Center a few miles down the road where I found a very cool 8 foot+ diameter and 730 year old Douglas Fir tree: (surely by now you're getting the idea I like trees and mountains!)

I stopped one last time about a mile from the border at a Youth Center that had free WiFi.  For those, like me, who are always on the hunt for WiFi and plan to be in the area, here are the GPS coordinates for the Youth Center parking lot (which, by the way, has a super strong signal): N48 59.901, W122 15.844

Here's another map showing the area I'm referring to for those who are geographically challenged:

I have been in Canada multiple times but have never crossed into BC.  Well, actually I kinda sorta crossed at the I-5 Blaine, WA “Peace Arch” last September during my US Four Corner tour.  (Click This for details).  After that fandango experience in Blaine I thought the laid back Sumas, WA crossing might be more for me... and I was right.  Here's a pic from today's approach to the Sumas, WA/Abbotsford, BC crossing:

My border crossing was simple smooth...  WOO-HOO!!  A quick “Where are you from?... How long do you plan to be in Canada? ... Do you have any weapons?” and off I went into British Columbia!  I don't know if this Customs is normally busy but I think my plan of crossing mid-day, mid-week, on a US holiday had something to do with the simple smooth part.

I've entered Canada into Quebec numerous times from various US states and I must say that today I was quite surprised to see absolutely no French whatsoever.  It felt like I was in the US! Literally, in the first few miles I passed two Starbucks, a Subway, a Sears, and a Costco.  When I cross in Quebec I immediately feel like I'm in another country as all the signs are in French and I see no familiar commercialism of US origin.  I was expecting to have my usual dominate thought of “I wonder what that sign is saying” (in French) but it never happened today.  The only transition that my brain needed to make was going to the metric system and thankfully my GPS assists with that for the most part.

After crossing in Sumas I quickly arrive Abbotsford, BC, a full service city for those future travelers who might be wondering if they can shop (ahem, Russ and Ron!).  As I was passing through Abbotsford it felt odd to encounter multiple/successive traffic lights, which I figured out a few miles later was a result of spending the last 2500 miles on rural backroads!  YEE-HAW!!

So, it will come as no surprise when I say that after passing through Abbotsford and approaching the entrance ramp for Trans Canadian Highway-1 (TCH-1) that I rode right on past it in favor of the backroad, BC-7 (no, it wasn't a planned detour):

While on this road I looked back across to the US and once again saw the lovely Mt. Baker:

The BC-7 road is also called the “LongXXX Highway” and runs on the northern side of the Fraser River, whereas TCH-1 parallels the southern side of the river until the two roads meet just north of Hope, BC.  I had a pleasant ride on BC-7, passing through various farming and agricultural communities, all of which had roadside fruit stands with the last offerings for sale.  After the two roads joined and while I was stopped at one of the fresh fruit markets, I had a brief conversation with another rider heading north.  He reported, with much inflection of stress I might add, that his chosen TCH-1 route was “horrible” as he experienced a long delay from a logging truck that had crashed.  I didn't know there was a traffic issue when I chose to decline the “fastest” route but once I heard that news I was even more glad to be on the road less traveled!

Once leaving Hope, which by the way claims to be “The Chainsaw Capital!”, the TCH-1 road is not some multi-lane freeway-like it's name might imply, rather it's called the “Fraser Canyon Highway” (since it runs alongside the Fraser River) and is a two lane sweeper delight.  However, the terrain changes from green trees and snowcapped mountains to brown and sagebrush desert-like.  If you live near Phoenix then think Salt River Canyon.  I passed through the town of Lytton, known for being the hottest location in BC, a fact I'd be glad to attest to... dang it was indeed warm!  My reading showed 90 degrees...yuck!  I didn't stop and take many photos so I could just blaze through the inferno, but I did manage to get this near the apparent tourist attraction magnet “Hell's Gate Airtram”....

...and this one of the area's most popular recreation (note the brown!):

I think it was at that point I considered jumping in myself!  One other noteworthy fact to mention is that the trees in the 1000-2000 ft elevation (you'll need to do the metric meter conversion if desired) was having some type of obvious forestry issue as there were frequent and dense areas of dead trees which were in an irregular pattern; I'm guessing some type of infestation.  Nonetheless, aside from it being hard on the eyes, it looked like a wildfire bonanza waiting to happen.

Apparently this road is also called the “Cariboo Gold Rush Trail” as I passed multiple signs stating such, though I don't know anything about it's history as I was too hot to stop and explore an answer.  I thought the guy was leading a camel until I stopped to take this photo and saw the sign up close!

As I was blazing through the heat I thought about the previous two weeks journeying and how much I've enjoyed cool temps and spectacular wildlife, and how much I was not liking this seemingly barren brown place.... then something caught my eye off the side of the road.  Whaddya know, my big game mojo is still on!  YEE-HAW!!!!

As I'm watching these guys I had visions of one of them charging me and head-butting my helmet (yeah, I know, I think the heat was getting to me).  I wondered if Shoei (my helmet) protects in such collisions?

He smiled at me and I'm almost sure I heard him whisper “SEIZE THE JOURNEY!  THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH TIME!”:

Wanna know a Big Horn Sheep's reaction to an air horn?

Ok, so I watched them in awe for a while and before pulling off on my bike I did a quick pounce on the Stebel horn just to see what would happen.  I'll call it Stebel-Sheep testing.

During a jaunt this past spring I saw a stuffed Big Horn sheep while at a wildlife refuge and after seeing these guys today I'd have to say the ones in Arizona are anorexic!  (For that Journey Report, click: HERE)

I remained on TCH-1 aka Fraser River Canyon aka Cariboo non-camel Golden whatever Trail, until Cache Creek, BC which is where I picked up BC-97.  Once on 97, I passed through don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it towns, several of which were named a number followed by the words “ Mile House”.  No, that is not a misprint.  There was “70 Mile House” and “100 Mile House”, which I thought was very odd since BC is on the metric system.  In the US we don't have any “70 Kilometer House” towns that I'm aware of.  I didn't seek any explanation on this even though I did stop at the 100 Mile House Information Center; aside from being dazed from running into - er, seeing - the Big Horn sheep, I think I was too distracted to remember to ask the people inside thanks to the size of the cross country skis outside the building: (Paul, you x-c ski freak, this pic is for you!)

I continued on Hwy 97, which was nothing more than a high speed two lane raceway.  A few slight bends in the road here and there but really nothing but vast uninhabited land.  I never saw a single LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) of any kind, which was a good thing given the, um, flow of traffic shall we say.  Actually it is noteworthy to mention that I experienced numerous times and twice witnessed local boys racing motorcycles.  I thought it might just be me passing them (the AGIRL plate sometimes invokes a crazed racing response from male drivers) but I saw it happen twice with other riders as well.  Older cars, younger drivers who are just plodding along, but when the motorcycle goes to the left to pass them (legally) the race is on.  It reminded me of the rednecks back home in Tennessee, sans the jacked up pickup truck with NASCAR decals.

I've been keeping my eye out for any noted places with WiFi (excluding hotels) and I plan on putting GPS coordinates for any that I come across to assist those with travel plans to this region.  Aside from the Youth Center I mentioned previously, the only other place was Red Roof (GPS Coordinates: N51 48.821, W121 28.512).

I've landed for the night in Williams Lake and will be heading up the road a short bit tomorrow to Prince George, where I will meet my new friend's Dave and Cheryl, as well as change the oil in my bike.

I'm not going to sleep tonight with sounds of rushing water (though I guess I could go turn on the facet) but I will certainly be thinking about those Big Horn Sheep!

AGirl

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