OK. I left Kitwanga this morning and started my trip heading due north on the Cassiar Highway (#37) to Watson Lake, Yukon. I didn't realize that Alaska is only 60 km west of the Cassiar at this latitude. So I make a left turn off the Cassiar, on to #37A (one of the most beautiful sections of road ever) at about 160 km north of Kitwanga and 45 min later I'm in Hyder, AK., with a population of 100 and no paved roads and no border crossing to stop at...only a marker. And the end of the road too. Hyder was there because it was at the end of the Portland Canal which allowed boats to come up from the Pacific and formed the boundary btw Canada and the US. It's sister town, Stewart, BC, has a pop. of 700. Both cities were originally mining cities, but no longer. Just logging and tourism.
I'm now spending the nite in the town of "Bell 2" in the only building in town, a spectacular log lodge hotel which set me back $ 200 ! So much for my average cost of $20/nite.
Well tomorrow for sure it will b Watson Lake, Yukon (YT), and the next day should b Whitehorse, YT., where I change the "Beast's" tires for nobbies, a tire more suited for the 734 km of gravel and dirt road (the Dempster HWY) that will take me north of the Artic Circle from Dawson City, YT.,to Inuvik, Northwest Territories (NWT).
And today I saw 3 black bears at different points along the road. They all ran into woods before I could get my camera going.
Sent from my iPhone from Bell 2, BC.
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