days 22 through 25 Alaska

I drove on, figuring I would make good use of my time and I did, making it all the way to Burwash Junction near Kluane. It was raining hard most of the day and the campground I was going to stop at was flooded, too dangerous to even get in to. When I finally reached Burwash, I was exhausted and it was almost midnight. I did get a bike ride in during a break in the rain. The next day (Monday) was overcast so you really couldn’t see anything of Kluane so I drove on to Haines Junction and had coffee and Danish at the village bakery and got caught up on the internet. After that I drove to Whitehorse and played golf at Meadow Lakes with my round ruined by a very stupid 11 on the par 5, ending up with a 55. I went back to the salmon place and had an okay lunch then went biking up to the dam and then back along the river on the town side. I drove on and the only restaurant in Teslin was crowded so I drove on, stopping to fish at my spot on the swift but I got skunked although I did see a fish right below me. I luckily found a place still open a little after 10 and gassed up, and they said they could make me some simple food, and I had good pea soup, a cheese sandwich, tea and dessert, all after I thought I was going to have peanut butter and trail mix. I drove on and found another place open very close to Watson Lake and checked into the RV park there, taking a hot shower with a double shampoo and getting to sleep around midnight. I got up early on Tuesday and was going to deliver the check to the campground but since my gas was a little low I decided to drive on and mail the check later. I got very excited as I approached Beady Creek and no one was parked there so I calmed down a bit. The weather was fine so I got ready slowly and started fishing the first pool. Nothing. Now I was a bit worried but I remembered that the lower pools weren’t very good so I moved up to the second and again nothing. Now I was concerned but I moved up to the third pool, one I have caught many grayling in, and I got one fish on and had two other hits. Now I knew it was going to be fun so I moved on and got two grayling before I reached the big pool. The water was up so getting there was a real feat and the big news was that the camper that had been parked there in the past now was part of a small gold mining operation, and clearly the little bulldozer forded the stream when I was lower. I finally made it to the pool and caught 4 fish, two grayling and two rainbow trout. On the way back I got one more small grayling in one of the lower pools that I had fished earlier. I was very happy that I made it to the big pool so my knee is really much better. And I caught the most fish of the trip, which was fun. I drove on and halfway to Bell II I stopped to ride my bike and saw a bear in the distance so I turned around and stayed pretty far away. It was another break in the weather and then I drove on, eventually having to stay in Kitwanga at the Cassiar Campground where it rained all night and mosquitoes bothered me a bit. On Wednesday I got up early and headed for Prince George. I stopped in Smithers for gas and groceries, recycled some stuff, and had coffee and a breakfast sandwich. The weather cleared a bit and I ended up playing golf in Houston and shot a lovely 45 after the disaster of a couple days ago. I tried calling Tim at the kayak place but got disconnected so I will call later. I did talk to Tim and he was sympathetic. I think he understood that his staff should have handled things differently. When I got to Prince George, it was time for a bike ride and I found a short bike trail that led to a park and had a good ride. After that I really wanted a hot, unhurried meal so I stopped at a Boston Pizza and had pizza and salad. I was going to drive on but I stopped almost right away at a Tim Horton’s and did some writing and then stopped again at an RV resort. I slept pretty well and when the showers were filled with young kids and a line had formed I decided to head out right away. I was planning to perhaps reach Hope and stay there, but I got an extra hour on my clock (it had been showing Calgary time) so I decided after a nap to try to make the 8pm ferry and I was able to get on the 9pm one. I rode my bike in the parking area and got a full hour in. It was lovely to watch the sunset and I had a decent salad and soup buffet on board. When I got in it was after 10:30 so, after failing to find one RV park, I used my GPS to get me to Oceanside RV resort and slept in the parking lot since no sites were available.