Day 56
8/15/26 Saturday
We departed Stewart today on what is going to be their biggest day of the summer. It’s Community Weekend with pancake breakfast, artists market, hot dog and beer garden this evening with a live band in their center park.
It’s another beautiful warm day and the traffic is not busy on the remainder of the Cassiar Highway. There are two First Nations communities at the southern start/end of the Cassiar Highway that have several carved totem poles to honor their ancestors and tell their clan stories.
Kitwanga historic battlefield site. We took a short walk to view this cultural site where the local native clans used to fight off clans from the coastal areas.
Their famous Warrior was named Nekt. He built his village of a few homes on this small treeless hill overlooking the Skeema River.
From this famous battle site is a really good view of the “7 Sisters Peaks” in the Bulkley Range (interior mountains of BC).
Bulkley Range
Smithers. Town of 5000. Really cool little town that is very outdoorsy oriented. Bulkley River has white water rafting and kayaking, also paddle boarding and floating. Bicycle trails in town and adjacent to Hwy 26 for miles. There’s a small ski area, Hudson Bay Mountain, within visible sight. Indoor swimming , small college. Cute downtown with a bit of a Bavarian theme with lots of restaurants. I spotted a Ukrainian restaurant but it only served dinners. We had lunch at Two Sisters and they made some really good “bowl” salads. Lots of fresh veggies. It s a town I could easily be comfortable spending more time but not this year…
We need to start pushing for the US border. We have plans in Gig Harbor WA with Jim’s sister in a few days.
First we have to get to Vancouver area and hopefully some closed highways due to wildfires will reopen. Otherwise we reroute a bit.
The terrain starting near Smithers is no longer all woods but farmland and cattle. We are leaving the higher mountains along the coast.
Destination tonight is Burns Lake BC. Another city campground. This one is FREE! The campground was filling up quickly when we arrived but we found a space that was suitable for us and left the grassy areas for the tent campers.
We took the short walk to the beach and swimming area next the campground. Looks like fun for kids with a slide into the water at the end of the dock. There is also a kayak venue where you can rent kayaks online and help yourself to one stored at the beachfront. Next the park is the curling/hockey rink, indoor swimming pool and fitness center. Available to campers for showers or workouts for $5. Thank you Burns Lake😊
cinnicrew 