Up the Lazy River(s)

 Yesterday, I got my 10,000 steps in, going from one end of the ferry to the other.  Today I got them with some real walks, and in spite of a lot of driving as well.

It didn't seem to matter that I was short of sleep - my body clock woke me as usual. So I had time to finish yesterday's blog and hit "publish" before repacking and getting myself together to leave. I don't need fancy for one-night stays like this - I need a comfy bed and a clean room, and that's all. This hotel - "The Moby Dick"! - was obviously beloved by the huntin'-shootin'-fishin' crowd - particularly the latter, judging from the photos in the lobby! - but it was a roomy space and a good bed. I grabbed myself a coffee and took it for a morning walk in the Sunken Gardens, behind the Courthouse - formerly a munitions storage dump, it was taken over by the Prince Rupert Garden Club, and is now a beloved community resource.

From there I walked kitty-corner to the Museum of Northern BC, which offers a really good exhibition of both indigenous and early settlers societies. It is clear that this is a display in which the First Nations people have been heavily involved, and I could easily have spent another hour there - but I had a schedule I wanted to keep.

It poured as I left Prince Rupert, and I dreaded the thought of a long drive in the rain, but it turned out to be patchy. Once off Kaien Island, the Yellowhead Highway climbs past Prudhomme Lake to the Rainbow Summit, and then down towards the Skeena River.

First view of the Skeena

Very flat and very still

The first section followed the Skeena on the left bank, with the CN railway running parallel, sometimes between us and the river, and sometimes on our left.  The river feels very sluggish - it's very broad and full of mud-flats and islets. I was surprised by how little wildlife was to be seen - I would have expected herons and eagles and so on - the one encounter was with a young coyote at the side of the road. Like the road up-island, driving the Yellowhead reminds me of the road engineers who first built the highway; I think back to the surveyors who first came this way, and all the crews who have improved it over the years. It's very empty - not much traffic in either direction, though there were three LOOOONG cargo trains headed towards Rupert. The Skeena is so broad and still that there's almost no sense of flow, and the road is graded so carefully that it took me awhile to realise that yes, there was a steady rise in gradient.

At Terrace I stopped only long enough to fill the gas tank, and to pick up some fruit and a sandwich and then continued a few klicks beyond to Kleanza Creek National Park. It's both a campground, with campers tucked into the trees, and a picnic area and trailhead - a lovely place to stop and eat by running water. What is is about the sound of running water that is so comforting? This was a salmon creek, and there was a lovely set of falls leading upward to a rebuilt salmon-gravel area for spawning. I had lunch by the water and then walked up the trail to the viewpoint 

The best place to sit and eat lunch!

Kleanza Creek

Trail edges are a bit edgy!

Back on the road again, and now there was no question about its steady climb. We'd crossed the Skeena back at Terrace, and it now flowed way below the road on the north side. For the first time the mountains were showing the remaining snow, and it was hard not to be distracted by a few waterfalls.  The road takes a huge loop north around the mountains and Brian Boru peak. At the Hazeltons we left the Skeena to continue its journey to wherever its headwaters are many miles north, and continued into Bulkley Canyon, with the Bulkley River running on the east. At one point it was clear that the engineers were maintaining the road well - it was resurfaced but not yet marked, which, combined with a sudden rainstorm, was a little unnerving!  Rain came and went through the journey; as we approached Smithers the mountains on our left were shrouded with rainclouds, but to the south it was clearer.

Bulkley Valley Museum (& Arts Centre)

The mountains to the west dominate the town

I checked in at my hotel, and decided I needed to walk a bit. Saturday late afternoon, and Smithers was pretty dead! I'd just missed the Bulkley Museum time, unfortunately.  So I got some dinner, and then headed down for the river at a nearby park. Once again, it was a campground, but once past the entrance to the trails, there was nobody except a very raucous crow telling off a bored eagle overheard. Finally the eagle got fed-up and took himself away, and I was able to continue with just the sound of the river nearby.

Bulkley River

Eagle getting scolded

I was using an AllTrails app, and it showed potential pathways which started fine, and then disintegrated into an obstacle course. And then I found what looked like bear scat, and thought that perhaps it was not the wisest thing to be out here on my own!  However, the only thing (other than lots of flies) that approached me was a butterfly, and I picked my way through the obstacle course and back onto the marked trail to complete the circuit and return to the car.

The marked trail and the road less taken...

The mountains dominate...

Early night at the hotel, to try and make up for missed sleep!