South to Smithers

It was a surprisingly warm night, not what we expected camping in Stewart. No dew on the tent or bikes. A made coffee while J assembled the collapsible chairs to enjoy a relaxing morning ahead of the adventure.

J noticed a patch of bolete mushrooms, and luckily captured a photo just before a fellow camp guest harvested them.

After a simple breakfast, we packed up camp, and headed to the estuary boardwalk. We bumped into a number of other travellers at the park. As luck would have it, we also met with dad's friend from a Portugal tour, M from Florida, and his companion, C. Their adventure is Alaska to Portland, relocating two motorcycles via Vancouver Island.

Our casual morning had flown by. It was noon, so we grabbed a light lunch from the local grocery store since the restaurant was unexpectedly closed.

Onwards southeast to Smithers, our evening destination.

The day was more subdued with cloud cover that was slowly lifting as the day moved on. We again spotted the beautiful Bear Glacier. It's so photogenic!

A couple hours later we found ourself at the Kitwanga Junction, where highway 37 meets highway 16, and grabbed fuel. It was a pretty chaotic spot, so we moved on to Seeley Lake near Hazelton for a leg stretch and snack.

Finally arrived in Smithers by late afternoon. Our first stop was Canadian Tire to buy sleeping pads as J found out his had a slow leak, and A had a hard time sleeping on his squeeky air mattress. We then made our way to Riverside Municipal Campground. The camp hosts were quiet quirky, and seemed to be confused at what they had for available spots. We ended up with the largest one tucked in the corner.

The weather was amazingly warm, and the sun was still shining while we set up camp. D and T had arrived much earlier, and greeted us with a text. Had they seen us ride through town? Nope, FindPenguins tracking 😂 told them were we were! They had already in town for an early dinner. We walked the short distance to pick up libations and our dinner. A suggested takeout burritos to savour by the Bulkey River back at the Campground. Riverside dining on a warm September evening is a real treat!

D and T joined us at the picnic table and conversed over local brews before calling it a night in our cozy tents.Read more