Aug
05
2009
by Mr Cubes
Bell II to Meziadin Lake (59.9 miles)
Total Miles: 1,921.4
Prior to this trip I had heard of an RV (standing for Recreational Vehicle), but had only imagined them to be larger versions of the VW Camper Van design. After spending six weeks with these mobile houses skimming past me, each one towing a car in a 'reverse caravan' formation, I was more than familiar. But today was the first time I actually got to get inside one and have a look around.
I had left Bell II fairly early, with the nagging feeling of having forgotten something and after just a couple of miles came upon my first rest area. Each rest area has a sign saying how far it is to the next one and on the Cassiar Highway they are fairly infrequent with the next one being 57km (35 miles) away. So this became my target for lunch and I was pleased to find the road there was fairly flat or downhill and not too hot. I met four cyclists coming the other way, the biggest group I'd yet to see - a couple from Vancouver with a couple on holiday from Italy. They had come from the campsite I was hoping to get to and told me that it continued mostly downhill and there was even a 5 km graded downhill on the final section. Sounded like an easy day for me, I maybe should have given them similar hope but instead just told them that it was uphill all the way to Bell II. They already looked fairly shattered so maybe they didn't need to know this, I hope they made it out of the Stikine Valley okay too...
When I got to the second rest area, called Bell I, it was already 2pm and I was getting ravenous. The only other people here were in a massive RV and we got chatting whilst looking at the information posts. Steve and Dee turned out to be full-timers, people who have sold their real estate for wheel estate and permanently live onboard their huge vehicle. And their one was particularly huge - at 45 ft it was the largest size you could get and certainly cost enough. They had been touring the northwest from Florida and seemed to be having a great time. I was invited in and we chatted for some time while Dee made me up some trail mix of honey roasted peanuts and M&M's. Before I knew it, four hours had passed and I was still twenty miles short of the campsite.
After saying goodbye to them, I set off again and almost immediately bumped into Dave, a recumbent cyclist from Vancouver who was heading to Inuvik as he wasn't sure a recumbent had ever made the journey before. Dave was another who told me that to take the journey to Prince George would be foolish and that Vancouver Island, accessible from a Prince Rupert ferry, would be a far better option. After leaving him I almost managed to get a picture of a bear that was slowly crossing the road, totally unaware of my presence, but he was still too fast. As promised by the others, the road was mostly downhill and before long I got to another heavy vehicle brake check area. I was learning to like these.
After having freewheeled down the massive hill I got to Meziadin Junction, just before the campsite, which is where the road continues to Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska. Nearly all tourists of the Cassiar Highway take this diversion as the eighty mile round trip includes a massive glacier and a bear watching platform at the end where grizzly bears are a very common sighting. The junction used to offer services too, but this was another area that had all closed down.
I continued on to the campsite and found a pitch that offered a special tent pad. Unfortunately it was designed for very small tents and mine didn't quite fit, but as it was starting to get dark I wasn't too bothered. A big meal of chilli and rice completed almost the perfect day of cycling. There was just under one hundred miles left of the Cassiar and with absolutely nothing in-between, I hoped to complete that tomorrow.