Edmonton again!

The following morning dawned wet and grey. It was a good illustration of why I am always saying “don’t leave a photo with the intention of taking it on the way back!” It may not be there or it may be hidden in the low cloud as was the case this morning.  I stopped at a little gift shop just before the border to pick up a couple of things I had meant to buy in Alaska but forgotten. I was there for over an hour chatting to the lovely lady, Caroline, who owns and runs the shop. She was telling me about life in Hyder during the winter months when anything from 20 to 40ft of snow would fall. Most of the people it seems head off to warmer climes but Caroline is made of sterner stuff. She hunkers down in her little shop which she keeps open whilst she continues to make many of the craft items which she sells. Eventually I said my goodbyes and headed back to my bike and road the few yards to the Canadian border control. It seemed odd that there were no US border controls on the way in but you still had ther Canadian ones on the way out, yet there was nowhere to go from Hyder other than back to Stewart!

The mist was really heavy as I rode back though Stewart and headed north once more to the Cassiar highway. The mountains and glaciers that I had seen on the way in hidden in the low clouds and it was raining lightly. Back at the Cassiar Highway I turned right and continued the long ride down to Edmonton which was still nearly 1000 miles away. I had been told that the Cassiar was a good road and it didn’t disappoint. I had planned on two longish days to cover the miles but in the end it took me three, I stopped at yet another lakeside camp ground and had a really nice pitch away from all the RV’s and on a nice grass field. My day was further improved by a gift of two ice cold beers from a lovely lady called Emily, travelling with her family to the very place I had just left. It left about 600 miles to cover the following day as I ran back through Prince George and Jasper on the Trans Canada Highway, not my favourite road. It was Monday which also happened to be a public holiday and as I approached Jasper National Park the traffic became ever heavier. I was surprised to find that as I was just passing straight through, I didn't have to pay at the entrance booth. Once through the park I started to pick up a lot of standing traffic due to road works, at first I just sat there like a good little biker, but when a local guy came barrelling along what to us would be the hard shoulder, I decided to follow suite albeit at a rather more modest pace. Of all the vehicles I passed only one took exception and tried , unsuccessfully, to block me! And yes, of course, it was one of those huge pickups that they just love over here. I just switched lanes and popped around the outside instead; when will they ever learn? However the traffic had cost me dear in terms of mileage so a little before Hinton I’d had enough and pulled into a convenient camp ground that came up on my left, leaving the joys of the Trans Canada into Edmonton for the next morning. With only about 120 miles to go I arrived at my cousin Rosemarie’s around lunch time, looking forward to a few days of R & R with both her and her sister Doris whilst I sorted out a few service items for The Beast before heading off, perhaps towards home… or perhaps not!