8/22/83. Woke up with the tent surrounded by chickens and turkeys. A calf soon joined them. Funny. Beautiful hot day. Had shirt off until I felt burned. Stopped for lunch on a side road parallel to the Yellowhead. Ants galore. Heard squeaking. Followed the sounds to a frog being eaten by a garter snake. I got my camera and they froze. Since they were in direct sun and/or because I was there, after about 20 minutes the snake released the frog (it had started feet first) and sped to cover. The frog traveled to a puddle filled with big snails.
Camped at a municipal campground in Prince George. Met Rudi, a Swiss biker going my way as far as Banff. Maybe we'll ride together. He rode down the Alcan Highway. We talked for quite a while.
8/23/83. Stayed in Prince George for the day, mostly in the campground writing post cards, then ventured into the big city to mail miscellaneous junk, exchange some traveler's checks for Canadian currency, and ate at the "last McDonald's before Fairbanks." Rudi and I visited with two Canadians camped nearby looking for work. Not too bright. One was very excited that I studied biology because cloning really turned him on. Gets all his information from Omni magazine and popular "scientific" movies like Chariots of the Gods. It's really a little scary to think that this is what the average person considers science -- and believes.
8/24/83. A perfect biking day. Only went about 45 miles to Purdon Lake because the next campground was another 80+ miles. Camped at a private campground. Went swimming in the lake. Cold with leeches (I didn't get any though). Spent the day with Rudi.
8/25/83. Started out early (9:30) on a cloudless morning aiming for McBride (90 miles). Came upon a small band of spruce cone pickers ($7.50 per bag, 2 hours per bag). Apparently the cones are more heavily seeded than Hazelton's. A helicopter cuts the heavily coned tops of the trees down. Shortly after this experience we came to areas that had been cut and were now being burned. Clouds came, followed by rain going into McBride. Rudi and I stopped in a restaurant owned by Germans, then to a campground along the river outside of McBride. Heard geese calling during the night. Cedars have returned as has the moss hanging from branches. Indian paintbrush, asters, daisies and the tall variety of dandelions were common flowers. There were no services and little traffic between Purdon Lake and McBride.
8/26/83, written 8/28. Rode to Mt. Robson Park (about 50 miles) with Rudi. Slow start (noon) with headwinds. Saw several dead snakes (western garter) along the road. Stopped at a small trail to Rearguard Falls where chinook were jumping upstream on their last leg of their migration. Also stopped at Mt Terry Fox viewpoint. He lost a leg from bone cancer and ran across Canada to raise charity money for the Canadian Cancer Society. He died in 1981 at age 22 or 23. The mountain named after him was unimpressive. Ate some thimbleberries. We camped with a car driver named John, a know-it-all. Wants to make a movie about the Stikine River. He's from Seattle and was there during the hippy migration to Canada. He's very proud of that fact. Fixed two broken spokes that night (one on each side of the back wheel). Talked with an older retired couple who identified the berries as thimbleberries (Rubus). The guy bikes quite a bit, apparently.
8/27/83, written 8/28. Fairly late start. Went to Robson Information Center and Store to procrastinate climbing the visible hill. Saw another biker. Rudi and I decided to try to catch up. It wasn't hard. Blane was from Calgary, sun-tanned and good looking. A bible student. A little Sue Regan-ish, ie everything is "nice." The three of us rode past Yellowhead Pass (insignificant) and into Jasper. We met many bikers and saw many more at Whistler's campground. Among the folks we met were Steve (from Edmonton) who was outspoken, funny, and mainly hitches rides with truck drivers; Gary, a beginning tourist with much enthusiasm; Benja, a French Canadian from Montreal who was very soft spoken and introverted but friendly once the ice was broken; Maurine and Charlene, two friends who met Blane the night before. Rudi, Blane, Steve, Gary and I went to the L&M Pizzaria for L&M Special Burgers (OK but not that special) that Blane recommended. Then to a liquor store. Blane and I got alcoholic apple cider. Ice from a motel. Came back to the campground to drink and talk around Benja's (pronounced Ben-wa) excellent fire. The whole crew was there. Lots of fun. Neat people.
8/28/83. Woke around 8 to the sound of something messing with a plastic bag. A black bear was clawing the plastic bags that my panniers were in, about 15 feet away (food was in a food locker). Watched for a minute, then Steve from the next tent yelled, scaring the bear away. Rudi and I stayed at this campsite (Whistlers) for a second night. We went to the town of Jasper and some day hikes (Calvin, Mina, Riley, and Patricia Lakes). Not overly spectacular. Did take some pictures of one of the lakes and of a frog and dragonfly at Riley Lake. Returned to town to get groceries. We were treated terribly at the grocery store. Super-expensive gorp which I bagged before I calculated the cost at $4.75 per pound! All bikers but Benja left and weren't replaced by other bikers.
