Day 33 – Monday, June 22, 2009
Start: Prince George, British Columbia
End: Abbotsford, British Columbia
Trip Miles Today: 437
Total Trip Miles: 7852
Up early again. No fire alarm, just want 2 get early start, as I had a long day planned. The Route today was, again, Rte 97 South, also known over this segment as the Cariboo Highway.
The first 250 miles of today’s trip was a pleasant enough, if unremarkable, tour through the lushly forested rolling hills of British Columbia. Forest Industries are a mainstay of the Province and the cities along the way, Quesnel, Williams Lake and others are dominated by the sawmills, wood pellet plants, and plywood manufacturing facilities that shape the economy of the area. Sadly, with the current economic downturn, especially the drop in new housing starts, demand is well off for building products so these communities are hurting along with much of the rest of North America. This industry is also being pressured by another issue that is not in any way related to the economy and is likely a larger threat. Beetles. In particular is the Mountain Pine Beetle which is responsible for the destruction of tens of thousands of acres of mature pine forests in this area. Dead mature trees can be seen almost everywhere, sometimes entire mountainsides of dead trees! Naturalists are working actively with forest industry teams to help combat this threat to the livelihood of the entire central portion of BC.
Over much of it’s length the Cariboo Highway follows the Fraser River Valley. At the northern end the river valley is spacious and wide. However, south of Grand Cache the valley becomes narrower, it becomes surrounded by higher mountains, and the river proceeds downhill more steeply through the Fraser River Canyon. The Fraser River and the Canyon were named for Simon Fraser, the first white man to descend the river in 1808. The Cariboo Highway through the Fraser River Canyon is a spectacular trip with fantastic scenery at every turn, and the ride lasts some 50 miles! Riding the Fraser River Canyon was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Great twisties and spectacular vistas at every turn. I only wish there were more turnouts to provide photo ops. When I came through today it was also terribly windy and gusty. It made me wish, for the first time on this trip, that I was on a larger, heavier bike (R12GS ??). It also made me wonder, at times, if the standard 12 ft. wide highway lane is really wide enough. Nuf said about that!
Made 437 miles today, stopped for a lot of pictures and still found my way to a hotel in Abbotsford, BC by 5:30. Will overnight here then jump across the border into the US early tomorrow. Tomorrow’s goal is to be south of Portland by the end of the day, and to integrate a stop at the BMW dealer in Seattle (mostly to just check it out – don’t really need anything ‘cept possibly tires but I’m pretty sure he won’t be able to accommodate me unannounced. The tire deal will happen a few more days down the road, if at all. Still looking at possibilities. Wednesday I’ll make my way to the Medford, Oregon area to visit a friend from high school. Then some interesting plans for the weekend that I’ll tell you about tomorrow.
For more pictures from the entire trip go to http://jackb1.smugmug.com
The 2009 Ride to Alaska for The Austin Hatcher Foundation is supported by RevZilla.com , Philly's Premier Destination Motorcycle Gear and Apparel store and by Hermy's Cycles of Port Clinton, PA.
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