Jul
28
2009
by Mr Cubes
Nugget City to Boya Lake (57.2 miles)
Total Miles: 1,610.9
Highway 37, or the Stewart Cassiar Highway, is described on my AAA/CAA map as follows: "traverses generally hilly to mountainous, mostly wooded wilderness region which is sparsely populated and offers only limited, widely spaced services". So in many ways it's the same as the Dalton, Alaska, Taylor, Top of the World and Klondike highways then. The big difference was that now it was hot too. Really hot. At 7am I was up and already sweltering - it was going to be a long and tiring day.
Within a short distance of the start of the highway is a 'Welcome to British Columbia' sign, with their logo of 'The Best Place on Earth' written beside it. Unfortunately, next to this sign was another temporary one, informing of roadworks for the next 27km. And those 27km were particularly hilly, so my first impressions were not ranking it in my top 1,000 places on earth, let alone the best. Still, I should give it time. The views were impressive when I got a chance to stop, which was every half mile or so.
At the end of the roadworks was a small rest area where I stopped for noodles and enjoyed the sunshine. I hadn't yet gone particularly far but the combination of heat, hills and roadworks were taking it's toll. The bad news was that I was already starting to sunburn so swapped the helmet for a cap and slapped on some sunscreen. For the rest of the day there was no shade, no breeze, just riding exposed to the sun. This was my first day riding out in real hot weather and I was surprised how quickly it affected me - no doubt aided by the lack of water I was carrying due to Nugget City's inability to provide any. The last few miles to Boya Lake, a government campground, were really tough going and I was horrified to find the access road to the site was 2km downhill. That would mean a hard start tomorrow!
But the site was a worthy reward. Beautifully kept and on a stunning lake it had lots of beautiful pitches available and all were tent friendly (rather than just gravel which many seem to offer). I made up dinner and set up my little portable shower facility - cold water but that felt good in the evening heat. And free too! I was starting to get ready for bed when a couple came over and introduced themselves, Lilly and Ian, and asked if I wanted to join them for a 
drink. Well, I'd had a few days without much company so gratefully accepted and we sat around their tent for a couple of hours chatting away. Another really nice couple that I'm glad to have met and very interesting too - keen sailors and had crossed the Atlantic ocean as well as many other impressive trips. Went off to bed exhausted but happy, almost the complete reverse of the previous day. I heard the heatwave may stay for as long as a week...and getting hotter as I head south. Great...