Northern Cassiar Highway, BC

Another great lakefront site at a pretty much empty Provincial Park at Kinaskan Lake. An afternoon thunderstorm that just skirted us on the other side of the lake made some some neat light as we made a fire, threw rocks in the water and pushed Wynne's "Kitty Kitty" around in her doll stroller. #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #myrivetedlife #kinaskanlake #cassiar #britishcolumbia

Continuing north from the Meziadin Junction, we spent three hours either driving right at a huge snow covered mountain or with a line of them beside us. I actually expected the Cassiar Highway to feel a bit more isolated, but while you really are in the middle of nowhere, need to watch your gas and there are pretty much no shoulders should something go wrong, we tend to see a few familiar RV's at each gas or rest stop a few times each day. All that being said, we took a look at the Milepost (a mile by mile description of the roads and services of northern BC, the Yukon and Alaska) and it looks like there are a few sections coming up with no centerline, steep grads and deep ditches on either side of the road to accumulate snow. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #britishcolumbia #cassiar

People always look at us like we're crazy as we jackknife ourselves into sites like this back at Meziadin Lake, but without a coveted front bedroom floor plan, we like to angle the trailer sharply to put the windows over our dinette broadside to the view. It's funny, we half expect someone to come tell us we have to park straight, but it hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, I'll just have to endure the eye-rolls from the camp-chair quarterbacks as I swerve and creak our way back into a site. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #meziadinlake #britishcolumbia #cassiar

While researching our trip to Alaska, I'd read about the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake. And while I'd added a few things to our storage compartments that I thought might come in handy in making ourselves a sign to add to those left there by other travelers, I consciously tried not to plan too much for it. Well, I just realized that we'll be in Watson Lake at the end of the week, so I started digging through what we'd brought to see what I could come up with. By mid day, a piece of poplar board I had bought to make a toy for Wynne, a coping saw, a sharpie (channelling @brian_devine's recent inspirational lettering) and the last of the can of clear Dry Erase spray we'd used on the fridge door had been turned into something pretty cool. You'll have to wait until Watson Lake for the unveiling, tho! #safetyfirst #safetyisnoaccident #signpostforest #cassiar #britishcolumbia #kinaskanlake

4 bears seen by the side of the road today bringing our Cassiar (and trip) total to 5! #britishcolumbia #cassiar

We've been offline for a few days so get ready for some catch up!! Our short drive out from Stewart back to the Cassiar was made even more beautiful by clear skies that revealed mountains behind mountains that we hadn't even known were there on the way in. Of course, we also got another great view of the Bear Glacier which reminded me about the girl who worked in the deli in town who said she used to ride the school bus from a logging camp south of Meziadin Junction past the glacier and into Stewart for about 10 years. They had a one room school house in the camp that went to 5th grade, but the school in Stewart went all the way to 12th with about 5 or 6 students per grade. Not a bad school bus route. Of course, she remembers the glacier extending well out into where the lake now is, and she was telling me all this on a day when the temperature in Stewart broke a record that had been set in the 1940's, hitting 27.3 C. #airstream #liveriveted #britishcolumbia #cassiar #stewart #bearglacier

We were awakened at five in the morning by the sound of buzzing mosquitos, hundreds of them clamoring against the screen of the Fantastic Fan above our bed. Just as we were commenting on how glad we were that they were outside, one flew by my ear, then another by @advodna_ann's head. We began swatting and slapping as we heard Wynne from behind the curtain that separates the kid's bedroom, "There's a 'squito in here!" We'd been breached! All hands on deck! While Ann undertook a systematic extermination campaign, I tried to cut them off at the source, but where were they coming from?! We quickly ruled out windows as our screens are intact, vents seemed unlikely as did the front door. I laid on the floor with my high powered LED flashlight and started my stakeout. After about 5 minutes, I saw two come out of the air conditioner vent which I promptly sealed with Wynne's drawing paper and some blue tape. We shouldn't be needing the AC for a couple months. Next I targeted the bathroom where every time we opened the door there seemed to be three new ones circling in the shower. Ann noticed some large gaps around some water hoses behind the toilet that lead into the space behind the bathroom cabinets. Easily sealed with some aluminum tape (love this stuff - it's like if duct tape "did it" with tin foil). I then mentally traced the route behind the cabinets and - of course! - the fridge access door was just a louvered panel. I sacrificed one of the mosquito head nets I'd bought Ann for Xmas last year and cut out a section to screen off the opening. Looking above, I realized that the fridge vent on the roof through which I'd routed the solar and external antenna wires had only a thick wire mesh to keep debris out. I cut two more strips of the headset and sealed the vent on both sides. It took a while for the last of the stragglers to emerge from their hiding places, only to face an inevitable fate of a flat hand against a cool aluminum wall, but since the fortification, our security perimeter has been reestablished. #airstream #mosquitos

I thought today's #roadschool lesson on totem poles was a really great start. #fulltimefamilies #trailerbaby #supermom

Some more catchup after a few days offline. The northern Cassiar Highway loses its center line and definitely feels much more remote. I've updated the maps on the front page of the blog (link in profile). We're really starting to get up there! #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #airstreamintherearview #cassiarhighway #britishcolumbia

Another jackknife jackpot lakefront site with a mountain view at Boya Lake. The crazy blue water is because it's so shallow, occupying a depression left as a glacier scraped it's way through the area a gazillion years ago. A fresh dusting of snow was left on the high peaks the night before. #science #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #boyalake #cassiarhighway #britishcolumbia

As you roll down the Cassiar at about 80km/hr, watching for small signs by the side of the road that warn of road damage, you never know when you're going to see one of these dense, dark black blobs sitting in the dandelions on the shoulder. Half the time, they startle at your approach and scatter into the woods, but sometimes they just sit there with a dandelion dangling out of their mouths and watch you go by. Final bear sighting tally for each of the 5 days of driving on the Cassiar was 1, 4, 1, 2, 3 for a total of 11. I'm really hoping they were all different bears and that it wasn't just one really fast one stalking us. #blackbear #cassiarhighway #britishcolumbia

Love it when we can get the view out these windows, tho it makes it a bit challenging to get any reading done. Check out that water! #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #boyalake #cassiarhighway #britishcolumbia

Boya Lake definitely feels like it's out in the middle of nowhere - we saw a black bear on the way in and were told not to take the path around the lake because there was a grizzly in the meadow - but, as with most all Provincial Parks we've been to, it's meticulously maintained, has well-designed sites with gravel freshly raked before your arrival and this one had a simple but fun playground right on the edge of the bright blue water. Needless to say, we spent a fair amount of time down here figuring out ways to entertain ourselves. #trust #boyalake #britishcolumbia #provincialparks #childhoodplugged #fulltimefamilies #wingedwynne

Playmat, table and chairs and a shade tarp on the perfect tent pad with a view.

Sorry, just one more from the incredible Boya Lake. #boyalake #cassiarhighway #britishcolumbia #childhoodunplugged #rainbootsarejustshortwaders