2009 Summer Motorcycle Trip: Day 20 – Thursday, July 9th I was told (lol) Northern Junction of hwy 37 Carrier Hwy to Smithers BC via Hyder AK – 15 hours traveling

Got up early, breakfast of double instant oatmeal and coffee and hit the road after saying goodbye to Randy camped nearby. I decided this was an Adventure ride and I was game for trying the Cassier Hwy instead of taking the Alaska Hwy I had already ridden, though the call of the Laird hot springs was strong. The road was paved, then loose gravel for a good long ways and then turned to decent chip seal. A few construction spots with flagmen and some scattered spots of gravel but the road was good overall for the first bit. Then it got really good, scenic and twisty. Longer road than I imagined.
Gas was well spaced and I was able to get info to plan the next stop skipping some stations along the way. Had lunch at a grocery store that had a little hot dog and pizza deli and talked to a older gentleman from Colorado who had inadvertently pumped diesel into his Toyota RV. He had been there some hours and had already drained and filled with gas, but he had an airlock in the system that stopped gas to get to the motor. He was pulling plugs and dropping gas into the cylinders, but it wouldn’t run more than a few seconds that way, not long enough for the pump to get the gas to the engine. I had to leave him there still working on it. At the same gas stop the 3 German riders I met on the Haines - Skagway ferry rolled in. I talked with them for a while and them I left about 30 seconds before they did. Didn’t take long for them to catch me up the 1 kms distance they were behind. They finally turned off at a scenic outlook and I continued on and a good clip. Road was great, fast, twisty and hardly any vehicles. Easy to pass and enjoy the ride.
Finally got to the Steward/ Hyder cut-off (hwy 37a) and Stewart was 62 kms away with Hyder AK another 2 kms. Very scenic road, saw a glacier (it was well known I was told later and called Bear Glacier I believe)
Gassed up in Steward and rode across the border to Hyder – no US customs... only Canadian on the way back. Hyder is a town on a long inlet from the sea where shipping into BC used to take place. It has a population of 200 and hard to find all that many living there. The road was gravel from the border and continued through town to a National Forest. I followed the road not knowing what to find or how long it was. About 4 kms in I came to a spot next to Bear Creek where you could observe salmon swimming upstream from a elevated boardwalk that was bear proof. The idea was to hang around watching fish swim in the current and hope a bear come out of the woods to fish. That actually happened just as I was leaving. A black bear crossed the road and headed for the creek. I was out of time unfortunately and the road also continued for 20 miles of gravel to a glacier, but again, I had seen 2 along to route to Hyder so I left to head back to Canada. Customs was fast and cute customs lady too.
Headed back to the main road some 62 kms away and then headed south again. Speed was 100 zone and I practiced 5th and 6th gear acceleration drags from sheer fun and boredom, though the road was nicely twisty too in sections. My GPS record my fastest speed and can be reset to 0. I left it when I recorded 150... lol still had lots to go.. but the law could be lurking ahead. Stopped at a town and RV site looking for food and camp and gas. No gas open, no food open and RV site had one guy I chatted with who was riding a KTM Adventure. He directed me to a gas station he thought was open and I said I would be back if it was not. It was, and also at the bottom of the Cassier Hwy at the intersection with the Yellowhead Trans Canada Hwy 16. I gassed up, took a matching photo of the sign marking the start of the Cassier Hwy that was the same as this morning’s start location. That Hwy was a great ride. I recommend it highly. 3 hours shorter than to Prince George than the Alaska Hwy too I was told.
I don’t understand why the FJR guy last night didn’t like it. One explanation was he did it the other way and it got worse as he went north, where for me it got better. Also the scenery was better heading south for me. Took lots of photos at the few times I stopped.
I need to download my photos into the computer soon. I am behind doing that by over 300 pictures. Never enough time or computer battery to get it all done. After gassing up I decided the town of Smithers BC held the best chance of getting a late meal and a place to stay. The sun actually set on me while riding the extra hour to Smithers. Found a Boston Pizza open and a motel across the street to take a room, unwind and check email, make phone calls and write this.
I head east to Prince George tomorrow and then south as far as I can get. An early start is possible because I little to repack. See how the night and morning goes. IPod is keeping me company. Working great with the limited number of songs I had saved on this computer, some 500 or 600 I think. Battery seems to last forever. 2 days now without a charge... but it is charging now. I also have cel service for the first time in over a week. My cel is expensive to use for the USA where I have been since Dawson last week. Over 12,600 kms so far. More Later.

Junction 37 Services & Alaska Hwy campground