7/12/22
I left Jade City and headed south. I've decided that I'm going to go to Prince Rupert to take a 16hr ferry to Port Hardy onto Vancouver Island. A few people have told me that I need to go ride on the island. Plus it's kinda fun to roll your bike onto a ferry. It was going to be a long ride though
https://goo.gl/maps/Nt39o437zTYadUoc7
About 70 miles south of Jade City was the very small community of Dease Lake. As I approach the center of the village, I see a gas station AND a grocery store! There is way more stuff here than in Jade City. The guy back at the Yukon Restaurant totally had it backwards! Jade City is the place with nothing. Dease Lake at least has a gas station and this grocery store. Bad intel!
I fuel up and continue down the Cassier Highway. Along this long stretch of road there is absolutely zero cell service. Desolate in the word here. You would ride for 50 or 60 miles and there would be nothing but this narrow paved road and trees, then you would see a village that would be comprised of a few blocks and then back to road and trees. It's a wonder that people continue to live here.
A sample of the Cassier Highway going to Kitwanga.
After 300 miles of this, I arrive at Kitwanga an actual town. I was chasing daylight because now I'm south enough that there is actual night time. I fuel up and continue on. Southwest of Kitwanga is the city of Terrace. The Cassier connects with the Yellowhead Highway and this will take be all the way into Prince Rupert.
The road to Rupert is supposed to be beautiful because it runs next to the Skeena River. And as I travel down the Yellowhead, I can see what people were talking about. But it starts to rain and it's starting to get cold, which means I am just riding to get to Rupert and I'm not stopping to take any photos. I think my battery pack died too so I don't have any videos. After two and a half hours of rain I arrive into Prince Rupert. I decided to stay two nights here because the next ferry to Port Hardy is on Thurs and I arrived Tuesday night. It'll be good to stay put for one full day and not have to pack and load up on the bike.
The next day feels so luxurious because I can just wake up and put on my street clothes and walk around and ride casually around town. I've discovered that Prince Rupert is one of those coastal cities that is always kinda cold and rainy. It's not a big place but it's pretty near the pier and they have some nice restaurants around town along with a functioning phone booth.
I spend the day walking around, writing on the laptop, eating fish and chips and drinking coffee. It feels like a day off even though I'm on the ultimate vacation. I better enjoy this off day since I have to be up and ready at the BC Ferry terminal at 6am for a 7:30am ferry that will dock in Port Hardy at midnight.