We left Boya Lake a bit early as we didn’t have reservations at Kinascan Lake and Larry’s coach’s propane tank was close to empty, meaning no hot water and very limited heat would be available. That morning our plan was to drive to Dease Lake, BC, for propane and possibly stay one night at a site with power, water and sewer prior to Kinaskan. But it was Saturday and the only two propane stops were closed till Monday after our two-hour drive. We dropped by a local campground and the owner called one of them and his wife answered saying he was out hunting till Monday and she didn’t have a key. That campground didn’t look very nice and we decided to move on down the road toward the town of Bell II which had propane and it was open. Kinascan was now not going to happen as we would not want to backtrack a few hours.
We only went as far as Iskut that day and stayed at a really nice campground that was probably a mile down a steep driveway. The whole place was on a mountainside, so the sites were terraced down the slope. We stayed there the night with power and water. There was a dump station, but we chose to wait as our tanks weren’t close to full yet. I believe they used the heat pumps to warm their coach that night. I was able to use the WiFi at the campground for a call from my cell phone allowing us to make reservations in Stewart, BC, for the next few nights.
The next morning we drove the two hours and arrived at Bell II Lodge just before noon and we topped off our propane tank, and I squeezed the coach with the car attached around the building in the widest turn the ditches and overhangs allowed me. That building was in a strategically bad place and had all the bent roofing and siding to prove it.
Larry’s propane is on the other side of his coach, so he had to detach the car and back into it. His coach’s turning radius prevented him from going in the way I drove out. While I was getting propane, Larry topped off his fuel and I did the same while he was at the propane pump. We decided to each lunch at the lodge, so we both parked the coaches in a spot out near the highway and had some great burgers in their small cafe. They had a large dining room there but it was closed that afternoon.
After lunch we drove down the Cassiar another couple of hours toward Stewart and then took 37A down the mountain to the town. That road was an incredible scenic route, passing right by Bear Glacier and then down thru a narrow, steep, walled canyon; and both before and after the canyon there were tall snow-capped mountains on both sides of the highway.
We arrived at Bear River Lodge around 3pm and set up camp for the 3 days we were able to arrange. We needed to get another night before heading to Meziadin, so we were going to need to figure something out.
Off to see the bears in Hyder that afternoon!