Winter came overnight! At 3:30 AM I heard the furnace running and it was set to 62. I got up to set it lower so we would not burn too much propane overnight and saw that it was 35 outside. This morning when we got up the temperature was 32! It is definitely time to head south.
The day warmed quickly and turned out to be beautiful. We saw no reason to go into Watson Lake so we made the turn onto the Cassiar Highway as planned. The first thing you see is a sign telling you that there is no fuel for about 150 miles. Then the road deteriorates immediately and we drove at about 30 to 35 MPH. Although the road is paved, it is very primitive pavement. Most likely it is a chip seal type of paving where they just put down alternating layers of hot oil and gravel. There must not have been much road bed preparation because the road had terrible frost heaves and dips everywhere. It continued that way for about 75 miles until we reached Jade City.
About 75 percent of the worlds jade is mined here in the Cassiar Mountains of British Columbia. At Jade City there is a jade shop with more jade in it than you can count. Unfortunately, they are very proud of their jade and it is all priced accordingly. We looked but did not buy.
The road did improve after we left Jade City so we could drive about 45 MPH. We did see a couple mountain goats near the road but failed to get their picture. Down the road at the Dease River Crossing we found a rustic private campground. They only charged $15 per night and we felt the view alone was worth the cost.
We rented their pedal boat for an hour and pedaled all the way around the lake. We chased some small ducks who were very confused by us, and we stopped when we heard a waterfall. We could not see it from the lake but could hear it and see where the stream entered the lake. A short hike took us to a beautiful scene that very few people see.
We grilled pork chops for dinner and spent a quiet evening looking at the lake, reading, working on cross stitch and relaxing.
Don't forget to get a new snapshot of your rig with mountains and trees in the background to replace the boring rest stop header photo you have on your blog. No excuse for not having a photo we can feast our eyes on with all the spectacular scenery around you.
ReplyDeleteThe lake photo here is a beautiful example. Breathtaking reflection!
Absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteDonna, I forgot to respond to this when you posted, but there is no way for me to get a good photo of the rig for posting on the blog. My truck has not been clean since we left the lower 48 and chances are it will continue to be filthy until we get somewhere in the Southwest. Maybe we need to make a special trip to the White Mountains to take a picture for you!
ReplyDelete