Along the Cassiar Highway

So now we entered British Columbia from Yukon, and are immediately confronted with this sign.  Canadians are famous for their modesty, their tendency to be understated about everything—yet here it was, “Welcome to British Columbia, THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH”.   Even Canadians can’t control their pride and wonder over this place, and neither will we!

The first third of our journey through this province was along what is called the Cassiar Hwy, aka BC Hwy 37.  It stretches 450 miles in a north-south direction and is paved—YAY!  It is very curvy and narrower than most 2-lane highways, however, and has no shoulders.  Since it is the only route through this part of British Columbia, it is used not only by tourists like us, poking along and gazing about, but by people with real destinations, such as logging trucks, and there are plenty of them in this province, for sure!   It is a very scenic route with towering mountains all along the route….or at least that’s what they say.   We were not blessed with clear weather, though, so missed all of that.   Sounds to me like a reason to come back here one day!   

Not such good weather for mountain-viewing today!  Also note condition of road on
northern Cassiar Hwy, plagued with permafrost bumps

We got peek-a-boo views of the mountains at times

Camping along the northern Cassiar Hwy

Dawn in the Cassiar mountains

One of the first highlights of the journey was “Jade City”, not much of a town, but the location of a jade mine in the Cassiar Mountains.   Apparently northern British Columbia has the world’s largest reserves of this semi-precious stone.  We enjoyed seeing all the jade chunks right out of the ground, in process, and turned into beautiful items in their store.   They say jade has healing properties, inducing relaxation and creativity.   We’ve found the same to be true of retirement!

Jade City, British Columbia

Raw jade being cut and polished

Peggy-sized Jade inukshuk

The Cassiar Hwy also provides access to the twin Pacific coastal towns, Stewart, BC, and Hyder, Alaska, via a 40 mile spur road to the west.   They sit at the head of a narrow 90 mile long fjord which forms a natural boundary here between the US and Canada.  Stewart, BC is the “real” town, with a population of about 800 and all the necessities of life (minus a microbrew).  Its economy is centered around mining for the gold, silver and other minerals in nearby mountains for which is was founded to begin with back in 1896.  Hyder, on the other hand, is…well, Hyder is…a funky little ghost town, with a population of only 100.   Yes, there is an international boundary here, but the only time one encounters a border check is when reentering Canada from Hyder, none at all when one enters Alaska from Stewart!  Hyder kids go to school in Stewart, BC and everyone uses the Canadian phone system and currency; and no one but the Hyder postmaster keeps "Alaska time” (one hour later than Pacific standard).  

Driving the Stewart-Hyder spur road

Back in the towering coastal mountain range again

Street scene from Stewart, British Columbia

Downtown Hyder, Alaska

This was all quite fascinating, but the most spectacular thing about this area are the glaciers!  First is beautiful blue Bear Glacier right along the spur road to the twin towns.  The second is Salmon Glacier which requires traveling a 23 mile long, ever-narrowing, steep, potholed, gravel road well above tree line out of Hyder and back into Canada.  Was it worth it?   See below and decide for yourself!   It may be the last glacier we see on this trip and what a grand finale it was!

Bear Glacier

Bernie thrills to see the Salmon Glacier!

Lily thrills to see the Salmon Glacier, too!

After camping the night and taking a nice hike we traveled the spur road back to the Cassiar Hwy and continued south.   As you can see, we were back in the rainforest again, surrounded by amazingly lush green-ness.  Quite the sight after months spent much further north and in the dry interior.  We kept seeing signs along the way saying, “Mushroom Buyer”, with cars and trucks pulled over nearby.   After passing about four of these, our curiosity got the best of us and we stopped to ask what was going on.   Apparently, at this time of year “Pine Mushrooms” can be found in the woods of the Pacific Northwest and many people search them out, have a good ol’ time collecting them, and then bring them to these mushroom buyers who pay them $12 per pound before sending them off to Japan where they are in demand for special culinary delights.  All the mushroom people we met were great down-to-earth (forgive the pun) folks and we felt sure we’d participate in this foodie-hoopla if we lived here!

Things are much greener here on the southern Cassiar Hwy!
No more permafrost bumps and actual painted lines!

Could be Iowa...

Camping along the southern Cassiar Hwy

Hiking in green-ness and tall trees again!

So what are all these signs about??

We stop to ask!

Mushroom buyer poses with "Pine Mushroom" to be shipped to Japan

In the area at the southern end of the Cassiar we found we were in a region in which there was prevalent first nations culture.    This is the traditional home of the Gitxsan people, one of the many coastal first nation tribes of British Columbia whose cultures are very similar, differing primarily by language.   The Gitxsan accessed the Pacific Coast and this vast area via the Skeena and other mighty rivers along which they lived and on which they paddled cedar dug-out canoes.   They had lengthy trade routes and abundant natural resources in this temperate zone.   As such they had the luxury of free time to develop a very sophisticated culture which included beautiful art forms including totem poles.   

Gitxsan symbol

Skeena and other great rivers...

...provide canoe passage through very mountainous terrain

So far our exposure to these has been in cultural centers, museums, and totem pole parks, all “collections” of artifacts that some forward-thinking persons had made to protect the objects from the destruction mandated by government and church authorities in the past.  The area we travelled through had far less exposure to the “whites”, however, and so the poles remain in their original locations in several villages in which native people live today.  We delighted to visit villages with names such as Hagwilget (“the gentle people”), Kispiox (“people of the hiding place”), Gitanyow (“place of many numbers”), Gitwanga (“people of the place of rabbits”), and Gitsegukla (“people of the sharp pointed mountain’). 

  

We also toured  ‘Ksan Historical Village and Museum with seven traditional long houses and an absolutely eye-popping collection of regalia such as robes, masks, and other articles used in ceremonies such as potlatch.  These can be viewed only in the company of a first nations guide who also interprets their significance and use.   We were not permitted to photograph them, but will never, ever forget the experience of awe we felt gazing at them. 

Entrance to 'Ksan Cultural Center

One of seven clan houses which house amazing ceremonial regalia

We wondered what wonders lie ahead as we turned east from the Cassiar Hwy to start the Yellowhead Hwy portion of our journey towards Prince George, British Columbia...stay tuned!