Tour BC - Northern Exposure Ride itinerary

 

Monday, June 30th

The event will run from the Canadian stat. holiday, Canada Day July 1st,to the American Independence Day holiday, July 4th. As the event will span (briefly) the international border with our northern neighbor,Alaska, the timeline seemed appropriate.

Plan to be in Prince George on the afternoon/evening of June 30th. Pitch a tent in my backyard, book a motel or ride all night but be prepared to hit the road on July 1st for points west and north. Write for directions to my place.

Thursday, July 1st

We will be heading out Hwy. 16 W. towards the coast. We will camp around Terrace on Day 1. On our way there, a distance of 581 km.(approx. 350 miles), we will pass through Smithers in the beautiful Bulkley River valley. Continuing on hwy. 16, we swing north into the Skeena river basin area.

This entire area is rich in wildlife (the natural kind), natural scenic splendor and historic native sites. At the Hazeltons (actually three townsites totaling a population of about 8000) we can visit a restructured K'san native village. At days end, Terrace with a population of 19,000 offers all the services including the comfort of motels is you wish. Likely we will camp at the Lakelse provincial Park.

Friday, July 2nd

From Terrace, on day 2, you have the option of visiting the huge Canadian Aluminum (Alcan) smelter at Kitimat, heading west and exploring B.C.'s other pacific port, Prince Rupert or just 100 km. (60 miles) north of Terrace you can visit Canada's youngest lava beds. This area is also the home of the very rare white Kermodi bear. Leaving the Terrace area and backtracking east a short distance will take us to the junction of hwy. 37 at Kitwanga. A couple of hours north will take us to Meziadin junction then another left and we're heading towards Stewart, B.C. and Hyder, Alaska.

Hyder is only road accessable through Stewart which is only a 10 minute stumble down the road. For those inclined there are motel facilities in Stewart and Hyder. Although officially Hyder is in the U.S., it is my understanding that the currency of Hyder is Canadian.Good thing since Hyder doesn't have a bank. With a population of approximately 100, the primary industry of Hyder is "Hyderization", a barbaric ritual involving everclear or something very similar. Hyder is also the site of Ron Ayers recent certification for his record 49 state Iron Butt ride. He said the folks in Hyder were real friendly.

Between Meziadin and Stewart (slightly larger than Hyder with a population of about 600), we will pass by the huge Bear glacier which drops right down to the side of the road. An event called "International Days" will be infull swing during our visit to Hyder/Stewart also so I expect that your Alaska visit will be a memorable one.

by David Owen

All photos by Kurt Knoll