The Lakes region of B.C.

On our way north, we met a couple from BC and talked routes and places. They offered that we should make our return trip through the Lakes region west of the Rockies. After looking at the maps and pondering the various options, we agreed that it was a good plan. So we turned at Dawson Creek and headed down the valley.

Our tolerance for challenging road conditions has slowly gotten laxer. Davie Lake was at the end of this stretch, most of which was driven at 5-10 mph to keep our teeth from getting jarred too badly. But the lake was beautiful.

 

We took the opportunity to try and patch up the dings on the windshield. Although we were advised to expect that Alaska would claim our windshield, it was not to be. All three of our dings came after we crossed back into Canada!

The instructions said that chips were pretty straightforward but that cracks were iffy at best. We had 2 chips and 1 crack. The instructions were right – the crack was not fixable and continues to slowly spread across the windshield.

The fireweed is definitely done for the season. As one Alaskan told us: it does not mean that summer is over. It means that winter is here!

Davie Lake provided us with some fun evening entertainment. A fairly large black bear decided he liked the scent of several campers grilling and meandered into the campground. Fortunately, it turned out that he liked the berries in the bushes along the lake better and so wandered away. But, at least in our minds, he was never far away and we stayed cautious the rest of the evening.

Hmm – why was the bear at Davie Lake and not Bear Lake? Actually, the road to Bear Lake was much longer and looked to be worse than the road into Davie Lake.

A gorgeous sunset over Williams Lake

More chainsaw art. I guess people spend so much time with chainsaws as a normal part of life that their creative juices get flowing.

The naming of some of the places is interesting. Turns out that 100 mile House is the name of a town where, yep, a roadhouse was located 100 miles from where the river boats dropped people off and they started the overland trek. And – yes – there were several other places along that stretch with similar names with slightly different numbers at the front.

 

Every place wants to be famous for something. The worlds largest cross country skis is certainly a unique thing for which to be known.

All along this route, the research into the hardships of people during the gold rush kept coming coming back to us. Amazing stories of very hardy folks enduring incredible conditions.

 

But if not…