Prince George to Burns Lake
The days have started to settle into a fairly relaxed pace for this phase of the trip, but even still I woke up around 6 and struggled to get back to sleep and rest more. I had an appointment at Prince George Motorsports to get a set of tires spooned on the bike at 9am, so after getting up and packing a bit I continued the re-watch of Itchy Boots’ Alaska season to get in the mood for the next few legs of the trip.
Coincidentally enough, my mechanic ended up being the same mechanic who installed Itchy’s new shock when she was in the area. They didn’t have a lounge at the dealership, but I entertained myself with checking out their bikes, scoping out the long range forecast in the areas I’ll be riding, and helping Tori get a windshield repair set for the truck (it caught a few stones on their roadtrip home).
I ran into a pair of dirty adventure riders hanging out near a Honda dealership on my way out of town. They were having a bit of trouble getting a tire replaced, but there wasn’t much I could do since they were already at a shop. They were coming from the LA area and ridden all four West Coast Backcountry Discovery Routes to get here, which is a dream trip for me.
The highway wasn’t too scenic — there were a few good views but it was bordered pretty close by trees most of the way. It was a short 140 miles to Burns Lake, but it was cloudy and very windy with temperatures in the low sixties making the riding pretty tiring, so I didn’t bother to stop for photos anywhere.
Burns Lake was bit more run down than I expected a lake resort town to be and the hotel room continued that trend with a bit of an odor, as well. I grabbed dinner at a decent little diner in town, but it didn’t take much convincing for me to get up and back on the road in the morning.
Burns Lake to Terrace
Breakfast in the hotel was about as dreary as I had expected, but I meet a pair of riders from Guatemala who had first set out in March before realizing it was a bit too early near Vancouver. They had stored their bikes for a few months and were just now getting back on the road. Like all of the groups of riders I’d come across so far they were sprinting North and averaging 500-600 mile days, so I was unlikely to see them again with my relaxed pace and side trips.
The ride to Terrace started to get me back towards my usual mileage with just over 200 miles to my campsite for the night. The forecast finally looked sunny and I waited for the day to warm up a bit before heading out. The morning’s ride was similar to the previous day’s, where there were the occasional scenic bits but no where to pull over to take photos. I eventually found a little provincial park at a lake for a snack break.
A little bit later I came across a cool feature I saw on one of the YouTube channels that I took route inspiration from, the Witset Canyon. The Bulkley River is forced through a narrow canyon here, and the First Nations people in the area would (and still do) take advantage of how it concentrates the fish to harvest them much more easily. While the parking lot was totally clear when I got there, it filled up quick and I ended up chatting to two people from Massachusetts, the first east coasters I’ve run into all trip.
About this same time I started catching glimpses of the snowcapped peaks of the Coastal Mountains. I continued west until I met up with the Skeena River, where the route turned South and Southwest following the river valley. I had a good Asian lunch in the town of Terrace before heading to my campsite. The campsite is pretty nice, despite seemingly being run by teenagers. The only concern I have is the combination of an “Bear in the Area” combined with a distinct lack of bear boxes or lockers. I guess it’ll be a good chance to test by Ursac and smell-proof bags before heading into the Yukon.
