Our Journey to Prince Rupert, BC

We spent our final full day in Stewart, BC on August 14 riding our electric bikes. This was the first time since leaving the states we took them off the storage rack from the rear of the RV. They were filthy with road dust from the ALCAN up and back, so they got a wash down before we took off.

We rode through the back streets of Stewart to the boardwalk over the neighboring flat marshland to the road leading to Hyder, Alaska. Our plan was to cross the border one more time, but this time on bicycles. We had no intention of riding out to the bear viewing platform 4.5 miles up the road from the village of Hyder, But, I had my bear spray on me just in case we had an unplanned encounter. The destination today was a small trailer in Hyder, Alaska were we could get some homemade fish and chips prepared by Diana. She is known to have a line waiting and, true to form, we waited an hour for our order because she was once again busy. Overall, not the best I'd ever had but still a fun and novel small town experience. We had fun sharing a picnic table with Keith and Rhonda, a couple we met while waiting for lunch. They recently sold their home in British Columbia and are now traveling full time in their RV. They plan on driving south to Washington, Oregon and eventually wintering in Arizona on the first leg of their journey. We loved sharing stories and encouraging them to continue pursuing their travel dreams. On our return to the campground, we stopped to buy fudge before the Canadian border checkpoint; nothing to declare but bear spray and fudge.

We left Alaska on our E-bikes for the last time, really...honest! Riding back to camp to use the internet and phones, we anticipated finding a repair facility for our broken leveling jack leg. We were able to contact a shop in, of all places, Houston, British Columbia about four hours away. I spoke to Mike at SMP RV. He got hold of Lippert Components, the manufacturer of the leveling system, and was able to order a replacement jack for us. He told us that it's expected arrival date would be on Wednesday, August 21 and they would need about two hour to do the installation. Okay, that's taken care of for now.

We used the rest of the afternoon to do some needed cleaning, inside and out, and started the familiar process of getting ready to depart the next morning. We spent the evening with Mike and Mary one last time playing 5 up/5 down, a favorite card game.

Thursday, August 15 was our departure day from Bear River RV Park. Okay, where do we go to kill some time between Stewart and Houston? Karen talked to Natalie, the owner of Bear River, and asked her about Prince Rupert as a place to visit. Natalie said that's her "go to" place and recommended it. To get there we would drive Highway 37A about 30 miles then head south on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway and connect with the Trans-Canada Highway 16 west (the Yellowhead Highway), to Prince Rupert. The port is approximately 258 miles west of Houston and 429 miles west of Prince George.

We drove to Kitwanga River RV Park for one night, about 132 miles south on Highway 37 before the junction with Highway 16.  Leaving the next morning, at the junction with 37 and 16, we were greeted by the "the Seven Sisters" mountain peaks to the west. All along the valley are steep granite face cliffs and the swift flowing Skeena River. Seven Sisters Park is named for the spectacular set of peaks visible from Highway 16 between Hazelton and Terrace. We later stopped in Terrace, British Columbia on the Skeena River to do some needed shopping at the local Walmart and eat lunch before driving the rest of the way to Prince Rupert. The drive down the Yellowhead Highway is like a three hour drive through the Yosemite Valley. Spectacular scenery everywhere you look along the entire route. A brief side trip took us to a first nation village with numerous totem poles.

Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and about 60 miles south of Ketchikan on the Alaskan panhandle.

Prince Rupert has an oceanic climate and is also located in a temperate rain forest. Prince Rupert is known as "The City of Rainbows", as it is Canada's wettest city, with 103 inches of annual precipitation on average, of which 100 inches is rain. In addition, 240 days per year receive at least some measurable precipitation, and there are only 1230 hours of sunshine per year, so it is regarded as the municipality in Canada that receives the lowest amount of sunshine annually. Tourist brochures boast about Prince Rupert's "100 days of sunshine". However, Stewart, British Columbia, receives even less sunshine, at 985 sunshine hours per year.

We arrived in "sunny" Prince Rupert and initially parked in the Walmart parking lot at their mall, but decided later to move on. However, while at the mall Karen went in and got a manicure and pedicure she'd been eager to get done while I worked on the blog. We decided to drive down to the restaurant at the Crest Hotel on the waterfront for a dinner out. It was recommended by our host at the Bear River RV Park as one of her favorite places to enjoy a meal and the view. She didn't lead us astray. Karen enjoyed Halibut cheeks and shrimp with ancient grains and vegetables. I went for the Alberta Angus Striploin with Peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes and vegetables. We really treated ourselves before driving to the Prince Rupert RV Park for the night.

Saturday, August 17 we got up and rode our bikes again to do errands. haircuts, and coffee at Tim Hortons (a Canadian institution, Eh?)

It was then to Bob's on the Rocks for lunch and more fish (Halibut) and chips. We took walk down the Rushbrook Trail to enjoy the waterfront, ending at the salt marsh and then back again as we worked off lunch. We found some beautiful Foxgloves blooming on the trail I had to get an image of up close.

Prince Rupert has a winding system of roads and is a very hilly city, so the E-bikes saved us a challenging ride back to our campground. All in all, it was about 7 or 8 miles of riding. Got back just in time for a nap before dinner.

Sunday morning, 11 AM we departed Prince Rupert for Ferry Island Municipal Campground in Terrace, British Columbia for two days. This 150-acre park is situated 3.5 km east of downtown Terrace on Highway 16. It boasts 103 campsites serviced with picnic tables, fire grates, municipal water, and outhouses. There is a caretaker on duty overnight.