These
are the Chronicles of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip
into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update: October 25, 2000
12:40
AM BRITISH COLUMBIA TIME ROOM SOMETHING Of THE KING EDWARD HOTEL,
STEWART, BC, CANADA
Timing
is important, sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. Last night
I had it as I was walking across the street from the restaurant
to the hotel. I looked up, and there was the International Space
Station. It was a bright light moving from northwest to southeast
in a big hurry. It had to be the Space Station, I thought, until
I saw another bright light, right behind it, moving at the same
speed.
"Space
Station and Space Shuttle?" I wondered, then hurried into yet another
hotel room with phone and satellite TV, to see if what I had seen
was what I thought I had seen.
It
was the Space Station and the Space Shuttle. I looked it up on the
www.nasa.gov website,
and their tracking software put it overhead at about that time.
So,
cool. Another phenomenon. Not a natural one, but a pretty good one.
I
saw this last night, while walking across the Cassiar Highway between
the restaurant and the hotel in Dease Lake. That's where I ended
up after plunging into the Cassiar Highway from Watson Lake. After
driving 30 miles east of Watson Lake, which turned out to be the
wrong way, I turned around and found the entrance to Highway 37,
a few miles west of Watson Lake, after picking up and dropping off
an Indian hitch-hiker named Rob.
Turning
onto Highway 37 is kind of like jumping onto a thrill ride at Disneyland.
After all I've seen, I'll still put the Cassiar Highway on top for
scenics. I went backward through all the landmarks and terrain I
remembered from the drive up. There was Blue Lake and Blue River,
looking pretty much the same, except for more snow.
Some
scenery.
Can't
remember much that was eventful on the way in. Just drove and drove
and drove and listened to the radio and music and wondered when
my Wells Fargo Mastercard was going to run out of money.
Dease
Lake is about 100 or more miles into the Cassiar. I stayed at a
motel run by a guy originally from Chico. He works for the government
and had also done some gold mining in the area. My Goldpanning book
has lots of stories of big gold finds in the Cassiar and I passed
a lot of the creeks mentioned in the book: McAdam, Thibert, etc.
Stayed
in Dease Lake last night, in a nice hotel with satellite TV. I watched
McClintock a John Wayne movie I quoted from in Water on the Brain.
Now
I'm in Stewart, BC, a surprisingly substantial town about 30 miles
west of the Cassiar Highway. This is a Cicely (Northern Exposure)
kind of town, a metropolis compared to most of the Cassiar. I'm
at the King Edward hotel, and I bought a shrimp salad plate and
a bread roll for dinner.
The
drive from Dease Lake to here was typically Cassiar. Saw a porcupine
but no bear or moose. Tried panning for gold at a couple of places
along the way, but didn't see any color. Didn't fire a shot, but
I was tempted. Just lots of nice rivers and creeks and mountains
and trees and not many people or cars. Along the way I pulled to
the side to give some room to a car coming at me the other way.
I kept driving, and was shocked to see a huge logging truck right
behind me, trying to pass. Spaced out a little bit. It's easy to
do on this road.
Correct
on the left and incorrect on the right.
Drove
and drove and drove. Panned for gold. Fished once or twice and just
dreamed about coming back through here with a Ford F350 and a good
boat. Passed the Stitkine River which wasn't flowing as hard as
it was on the way down, but it was empty. Passed the Tattoga Restaurant
where I had left some Brazilian and Norwegian money a few weeks
ago. They were closed. Couldn't get in to see if it was all up on
the wall.
It
was getting dark when I hit the crossroads for Stewart/Hyder. Decided
to make a 50 kilometer detour to see what was happening down here.
I was looking for the Space Station on the road in, which was pointing
mostly northwest. Didn't see it.
Turns
out Stewart is a real town, that has been here for over a hundred
years because of mining.
I
tried to see the Space Station last night but missed it by a couple
of minutes. While working online last night, someone fired a shotgun
right near my window.
A
guy was attacked by a bear here this summer. He was walking home
from a bar and was attacked and killed.
So,
it's 11:00 on Wednesday morning. I'm going to poke around Stewart
a little bit, then drive out and get going down the Cassiar. There
were some glaciers just off the side of the road last night, dropping
big ice blocks into lakes. I want to see that in daylight on the
way out.
Then
I'm going to drive the rest of the Cassiar, then make a decision
when I get to Kitwanga.
I
don't want to take the ferry back to Port Arthur and drive down
Vancouver Island.
Been
there, done that.
Hope
all is well.
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