The Yellowhead Highway from Jasper to Prince Rupert

On Wednesday we departed Jasper headed west on the Yellowhead Highway towards Prince Rupert BC, 680 miles away.  The weather forecast for points along our route for the next 5 days was for near constant rain.





We quickly crossed the border into British Columbia and into Mt. Robson Provincial Park.

Matilda herds the Canada geese

After we dropped out of the Rockies, the terrain and scenery were less spectacular.  It was kinda like northern Minnesota, but with less pot holes.  We stopped at the Costco in Prince George and pumped 345 liters (92 gallons) of fuel.

We spent Wednesday night at a great free campground in Burns Lake.

We found this place on free campsites.net

There were about a dozen campsites with a great view of the lake.

They even had Pickleball!

I've played Pickleball on a number of different surfaces, but never at a curling rink

Houston is the Steelhead capitol of the world.  A steelhead salmon is essentially a migratory rainbow trout.  They boast the worlds largest fly rod.

Let's go fishin'! 

Eventually we entered the Coastal Range mountains and again enjoyed spectacular scenery.  It continued to mist and rain, which added a different dimension to the views.

The driving mileage count:  Myron-3492; Dorcas-0

 After three weeks and 3492 miles on the road, the coach was filthy.  I asked Dorcas to see if she could look on-line and find an RV wash down the road.  Before she could act (sometimes she's a little slow) we stumbled onto the Suds 'N Bay in Smithers BC.

One might ask why Dorcas is doing the washing. Well, someone had to take the pictures.  Actually we took turns.

Baby gets a bath.  The motor home too.

The coach and the car looked much better after the bath, but our efforts were somewhat wasted.  It continued to rain, and both were quickly dirty again.

 We stopped for Thursday night at the Kinnikinnick Campground and RV Park, a Passport America park (i.e. half price camping), in Port Edward BC.  We stayed here in 2011, and it is only about 12 miles from the ferry docks in Prince Rupert.

It was a dreary day at camp in Port Edward.  Little change in the weather is expected for the next week

Our ferry to Ketchikan didn't depart until after 6:00 pm, so we had a little time to kill in the greater Port Edward area.  We visited the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, the last intact salmon cannery of dozens that once existed along the North Pacific coast.  The cannery operated in the early 1900s and most of the buildings and equipment are still intact.  Here they illustrate the canning process from when the fish are unloaded at the docks until the product is warehoused for shipment.  When the cannery first opened it used much manual labor, but the various processes were mechanized as time went on.

Today ends our long cross-continental journey and begins the Alaskan phase of our Great Alaska Adventure.  This afternoon we will board the MV Matanuska for a 6-hour ferry passage to Ketchikan AK.