Northern BC- Home of the friendliest people

It continued to rain quite a bit as we ventured further North through the interior of British Columbia. However, this did not deter from the obvious beauty of this region. We continued up Highway 37, where we soon encountered a fair bit of construction. Having over-heard a local mention that the roads were now "better" than years passed (i.e. paved), we were thankful for the improvements being made. We quickly noticed that many of the construction workers were female (not something you encounter all the time), and they were super friendly (definitely not something we've experienced elsewhere). As we drove by, we were greeted by smiles and waves.

Along this stretch of road is where I had my first, but not last, experience with a Pilot Car. Basically, you have to sit and wait for one of the construction workers to come in a truck and shuttle you across the work area. It's about a 15 minute wait- and I assume is for safety reasons. At the first one of these stops, just past Dease Lake, the lady manning the sign had a friend handing out with her. They had chairs, coffee, and a dog. Again, they were super friendly. We got out to stretch our legs and the construction worker asked if we had stopped in Telegraph Creek. We had not (pesky lack of research caught up to us on that one). Apparently this spot is known as the "Grand Canyon of Canada" and should not be missed if travelling on Highway 37. Add that to the "next time" list.

After a long day of driving, we were in search of a campsite. We figured it was probably better to stay on a campground than the side of the road in such a remote place. A lot of those "towns" noted on the above map really have nothing there. Not far past Dease Lake, we found Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park. We settled into our site for the evening- enjoying the beautiful view and clean campground.
Friendliness is definitely a theme or way of life in these parts- we had run out of cash, and obviously there weren't any nearby bank machines, but the Park Ranger let us stay the night anyway! She took our information, and we promised to send a check ASAP (it's been mailed). We were quite thankful as this turned out to be one of the most beautiful places to spend a night.

View from our Campsite

Relaxing in the hammock

We enjoyed an after dinner walk and spoke with some of our campsite neighbours. The couple to our right were from Germany, travelling for a month with their young baby. They had rented an RV and were headed to Boya Lake the next day- another beuatiful spot so I heard. On our other side was a couple from Penitanguashene- it's so funny to travel across the country and meet people who don't live too far from you. In chatting with them, we learned they'd taken the year off and were travelling the country (#jealous, #lifegoals). They had family in Smithers, and a wedding in Tofino in August, but otherwise their plans were fairly loose- jealous probably doesn't fully describe how we felt about this. 

The van all set up- it did rain overnight.

I'm fairly certain we had one of the best campsites in the whole park- it's not very big. You can't beat falling asleep and waking up to that view! 

During our dinner here, we discussed how far we were going to actually go on this trip. The initial plan was Whitehorse, and even possibly Dawson City. However, we really thought about the milage and the amount of time it would take to get to those places. Justin even made a pro/con list with me to try and decide- it was not easy. We ended up agreeing that we wanted to at least make it to the Yukon, so we would continue to head North. We were sure we didn't have time to make it to Dawson City, but we would contemplate Whitehorse in another day or so. 

Sunset

We definitely could have spent more time here; alas, the Yukon was very much in our sites for the next day. 

Lots more windy roads ahead on our journey!

                                J & S