The Cassiar Bear Highway

The aurora last night was fabulous.  But we did not see it.  First, Babs didn't awaken me.  She slept through the night.  Wouldn't you know?  But Don was awake, and he looked outside.  It was so cloudy, he couldn't see anything in the sky.  Too bad.

Anyway, Sunday's drive from Dease Lake to Meziadin Lake was spectacular.  All that fall color Don has been talking about smacked us in the face today.  Reds on the hills, yellows in the aspens, greens still on many trees, bright blue skies.  It was a color wheel.

Add to it the quaint one-lane bridges (yes, this is a two-lane highway that some drive at 60 mph, and it has three or four one-lane bridges) that are decked in wood, several metal bridges with metal decking, no gas stations for miles and miles, and you have a gorgeous drive.  This lovely little cottage was at the Bell 2 Lodge - in the middle of nowhere.  But they had a gas pump.  So we stopped.

Oh, and the bears.  We saw four on our way to the lake.  One was just sitting by the side of the road chomping on leaves.  The other three, a momma and two cubs, was starting out on the highway, but when she saw us "bearing" down upon her, she turned and skedaddled, little ones in tow.

After we unhooked the Jeep, we headed toward Stewart and Hyder, where we saw this guy on the side of the road.  First he was on one side, then he casually walked across the street to the other side, and then ambled down to the stream.