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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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