Along the Elias Mountain we drove southeast on the Alaska Hwy. We stayed overnight in Destruction Bay. We took a walk along the beach, chopped some wood and spent the rest of the night by the fire.
We drove on the next day on a curving road along the Kluane Lake. Before Whitehorse we stopped at Takhini Hotsprings but we didn't want to pay $7 for a bath in the outdoor pool, so Tobias took a quick bath in the stream nearby.
Briefly before Watson Lake we left the Hwy 1 and drove on the Hwy 37, a narrow, winding road only asphalted by half. Hwy 37 took us south. A big grizzly bear crossed the road, looked at us and then jogged along.
In Meziadin Junction Park we met a young couple from Switzerland, who traveled around Canada in a camper. Together with them we had a nice and great evening with beer, singing and laughter...
The next day we went to Stewart to look at Salmon Glacier. The road from Stewart to the glacier was very tough and difficult to drive. About 40 km bad, winding gravel road with big stones. But we made it up from 14 meters to 1130 meters above sealevel. The view was fantastic and we were standing just above the huge glacier. Unfortunately the sun keept hiding behind the clouds, so the glacier appeared grey instead of shimmering blue.
In Kitwanga the 750 km long HWY37 ended and we continued on HWY16 toward Prince George. It was raining all day and in Prince George the rain was pouring down and we had no other choice than to find a Motel. It poured the whole night and the weather forecast for the next 5 days said continuous rainfalls ahead. So we had only one thing in mind - get away from Prince George as soon as possible!
We started in rain the next day. Rain, rain, rain... we keept driving mile after mile hoping to see the sun. Finally we left the dark rainclouds behind us and the sun started to shine.
After Clinton the landscape changed suddenly. From green and leafy to a mediterranean dry and sandy landscape with cactus and craters. We continued on the Hwy99.
in Lillooet we camped next to the Fraiser River. Lillooet used to be an important gold digger town, but nowdays they have a mine for Jade stones. From now on it was really dark at night.
The next morning we took some time to enjoy the sun. After a look at the map we decided to take a smaller road through the mountains to Vancouver, instead of the bigger road. The road soon changed into a small, stony and uneven woodland path. We drove through a mountain pass to Seton Portage. there were almost no traffic and we continued along Anderson Lake. We could only drive very slow and of course it started to rain...
20 km east of D'Arcy (tne next village) it happend... An oncoming jeep took the curve to big and couldn't stop in time so he drove right into Tobias! Since tobias had already stopped at the side of the road, the impact was not very big, but enough to make damage on the car, the bike and Tobias. Tobias injured his left hand. It was probably not broken, but most likely sprained. He also injured his right thigh. The bike started without any problems but the safety hoop under the engine and on the side were badly damaged. One of the guys in the jeep had a mobile phone, but no network connection so we couldn't call a tow truck. We had to leave the 1150 at the side of the road. Tobias and his baggage got a ride with the jeep down to the indian village D'Arcy. At the village only gas station we managed to get a hold of a tow truck who came to get us and Tobias' bike, after one hour. Then he drowe us to Pemberton, about 30 km north of the famous ski resort Whistler and 150 km north of Vancouver.
Tobias got his hand looked after at the local emergency ward. Ken and Shirley (the operators of the towing-service) let us set up the tent in their garden. Their mongrel dog Memphis watches out for us and keeps away the bears coming at night to eat cherries. Our tent stands between two cherry trees! They also let us use the Whirlpool on the terrace and with a bath in the starlight Tobias almost forget the pain...
It looks like we have to stay here for a while before we can continue our journey south.
