Days 4-5 (July 2-
3, 2013)
The day after in Houston was marvelous… Until the heat
and humidity arrived… AGAIN!!
We had a nice breakfast in Smithers with a couple on a
Can-Am trike whom wet met a couple of days before.
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| Downtown Smithers |
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| Parking for Lunch |
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| Leaving Smithers |
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| Looking Good Dude |
We went to New Hazleton and Moricetown to see if the
natives were dip netting for Salmon yet. We arrived at Hwy 37, the Cassiar hwy.
We took a few pictures and met a few more riders heading north. We also met a
nice RCMP who highly recommended a good Mexican Restaurant in Terrace. He gave
us directions. Since we were heading that way, it sounded good.
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| Buckley River |
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| Yukon Johann |
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| GrizzLee |
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| Info Center at New Hazleton |
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| Buckley River Canyon |
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| Arriving at Jct 37... The start of the Cassiar |
We arrive in Terrace a little bit early for dinner. So we
gassed up the bikes and took off for the Nisga’a Lava beds. The park is about
60 miles north of Terrace and one heck of a beautiful ride through some glacier
peaked mountains and inland fjords. Absolutely wonderful.
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| On our way to Nisga'a Lava Bed Park |
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| The Bikes |
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| WOW!!!!!!!! |
Stopped to admire many lakes, and waterfalls along the
way. We ended up staying in the Nisga’a park campground.
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| A lava dammed lake |
The Tseax Cone situated in a valley above and east of the
Tseax River was the source for an eruption during the 18th century that killed
approximately 2,000 Nisga’a people from poisonous volcanic gases.
The real
spelling/pronunciation is Anhuluut’ukwsim Laxmihl Angwinga’Asanskwhl Nisga’a
(a.k.a. Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park).It is an amazing place to visit which features
lava damned ponds and lakes, tree molds, cinder cones, lava tubes and abundant
wildlife.
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| Vetter Falls |
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| Lichen Growing on the Lava Rock |
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| looking West from Camp |
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| Some views of the Lava Beds |
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| Campground/Visitors Center |
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| Views from Camp |
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| Camp |
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| Nisga'a Visitor's Center |
We traveled to the end of the Nass river valley,
following the amazing Nass river where it emptied into the inside passage
(Ocean). It was a very scenic ride and
the road ended in Gingolx a Nisga'a Village. Form the terminus of the road we
could see Alaska and the entrance to the
Portland Canal. The community itself has
four clans which are Killer Whale, Eagle, Raven and Wolf. Apparently, the name Gingolx comes from the
Nisga'a language words meaning "place of the skulls." Apparently they
were attacked by another nation, the people of Gingolx held their own. They
hung their enemies' skulls on sticks, lining them up along the river as a
warning. We didn’t dare even think about spitting or littering in this village.
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| Tree Mould |
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| Yukon Johann and another tree mould |
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| Perfect fit |
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| Heading East |
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| Cool Suspension Bridge at Canyon City |
After lunch, we rode to New Aiyansh (traditionally known
as “Gitlakdamix”). It is the capital of the Nisga’a nation.
After a good burger, we headed for Stewart and Hyder,
Alaska. We took the Nisga’a Hwy over to the Cassiar hwy. It was about 34 miles of dirt road that was
pretty dusty, but fun.
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| One of several bears we see that day |
Just before we arrived at Meziadin Lake we saw our second , third and fourth
bears of the trip. All black bears and cute as heck.
We had to stop and get our complementary pictures at the
Bear Glacier on the way to Stewart. Along the way we encountered a black bear
along the road that was caught between the river and a rocky cliff. The bear
had no escape except to waddle down the road for a bit until it could egress
the hwy safely. We had a great time herding this bear and even have GoPro video
of the event.
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| Looking good at the Bear Glacier |
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| Johann approves this place |
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| GrizzLee Seconds the motion |
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| Hey, hey, hey |
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| What a nice road to Stewart |
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| Bye for now... Until Next time |
We arrived in Stewart with a threat of rain and checked
into the King Edward Hotel for the night with hopes of heading up to the Salmon
Glacier the next day.
Thanks for riding with us. Stay tuned for the next leg of our trip.
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