June 21: The Bear Facts - a Real Northern Adventure
Woohoo! This adventure has really begun. Today’s ride brought warnings of flooded roads, two close bear encounters, and a myriad of road conditions, all as I headed north to Dease Lake and the Stewart-Cassiar Highway heading into Alaska.
The day got off to a rather gloomy start as it was raining rather heavily when I woke up this morning. I waited about an hour until the rain was a little lighter, loaded up the bike and pulled out on the road only to be greeted by an overhead electronic sign advising me that the road where I was traveling today had three feet of flood water on it. Since the destination was 7 hours away and there wasn’t a viable alternative course, I decided to keep going as far as I could and come up with any back-up plans as necessary when the time came.
The view heading out this morning was stunning – dark snow-tipped mountains with a blanket of fog at their base and dark green evergreen trees and lush light green vegetation in the forefront. Traffic was minimal and I was able to enjoy breathing in the crisp, cold mountain air as I swooped up and down the foothills of western BC, first on highway 16 and then north on highway 37.
I think the most exciting moment of the day was the first time I encountered a bear up close. I came around a corner just a few miles before Meziadin Junction only to find a brown bear standing in front of me on my side of the road. I only had a split second to decide whether to brake or speed around him and decided I had a better chance avoiding him if I was moving. So, I moved into the other lane and skirted around him, hoping that I was driving faster than he could run. I couldn’t decide whether to be terrified or thrilled but just ended up laughing as I sped away.
After gassing up in Meziadin Junction I continued north on the Stewart- Cassiar Highway. There are so many beautiful mountains on both sides of this road that I wondered if I was on a ski vacation in the Swiss Alps rather than on a motorcycle trek to Alaska. Large granite snow-capped peaks surrounded me on all sides providing a wonderful view on the horizon as well as in my rear-view mirror. Within an hour of leaving Meziadin Junction I passed another brown bear, this one on the edge of the road just a few feet from me.
I made it into Dease Lake a little wet and muddy from the trip. I had encountered a variety of road construction sites and traveled on both dirt and gravel stretches of highway. I had been concerned that the precipitation might have made the dirt road muddy, but the surface was still fairly hard packed and not difficult to navigate. I was very happy to have made a reservation for the night in advance and was able to get a ground floor room in the hotel right across from the gas station. I’m looking forward to another great day on the road tomorrow.
