Yellowhead Highway, Prince George heading West

[donbcivil]

I see a lot of interesting looking stuff on the map between Prince George and Prince Rupert and Stewart/Hyder but it also seems like some planning is required because there may be stretches where gasoline isn't available. Can someone point me at a resource for sorting that out? I've read elsewhere that there's a stretch heading North from Kitwanga that you have to plan for.

Also wondering about Tweedsmuir Park North. It looks from the map as if you can catch gravel roads South from Francois Lake and get to Ootsa Lake and see across it to Tweedsmuir but that the park info center is farther down in the park?

Any pointers to resources for planning a ride through/in this area would be greatly appreciated

Don

 

[sparklr]

imported post

imported post

Here's a good link for discovering BC Forest Service campsites and backroads info.

http://www.tsa.gov.bc.ca/sites_trails/finding/launch_interactive_map.htm

Don't worry too much about fuel between Prince George and Prince Rupert. A non-issue as there are plenty of fuel stops. However, I would suggest youconsider a larger fuel tank upgrade if you intend to see the bowels of the North.

Kitwanga to Stewart is 221 kms, worth the trip. Also goto the Drive BC site and use the distance calculator. Google Maps also gives a good representation of your possible journey.

I live in this neck of the woods, so PM me when and if you have formulated an itinerary. I may be interested in being a "fuel tanker" in your quest if the timing is right.

 

[donbcivil]

imported post

imported post

Hey sparklr (or anyone else),

What do you think about Nisga'a lava bed park? Sounds kind of interesting, I wondered what locals thought about it.

Thanks!

Don

 

[Island Hopper]

imported post

imported post

The Lavabeds are kinda cool..... The whole valley is filled with the stuff which is now crusted over with a layer of lichens....

I would of liked to have more time in that area to do some sidetrips....

 

[Tree]

imported post

imported post

I know this is an older thread. But there is beautiful country to be seen up there. Bring a tent and a fishing pole of some sort great fishing. Try checking out the Sibola Mountain Range. I never managed to make it there last summer. (took the wrong FSR!) Anyways i've heard of roads that go pretty much right up to the summit of some of the mountains there. One thing to watch out for obviously is the Logging truck traffic. Great roads for the most part but pick a time when the trucks arent flying down those roads. Managed to get about 8 rock chips in my company truck windshield in about 30km of FSR. Wouldnt be a happy camper if i were on a bike that day. Also just so you know. Tweedsmuir is dead. But beautiful area.

Let me know if you make it up in the summer. I Live in beautiful Burns lake for 6months of the year. Could always use another excuse to go riding around on a weekend.

 

[Tree]

imported post

imported post

Forgot to add. Northern BC Backroad Mapbook. Beautiful resource. Has all the info needed for fishing camping other outdoor activities and of course all of the roads and trails and the a decent majority of their names.

 

[Proudman]

imported post

imported post

Definitely a ride worth making, probably with DrBike since he lives in Houston.
I have the FSRs that I could find in the area set up on my GPS now.

Greg

 

[donbcivil]

imported post

imported post

Tree wrote:

I know this is an older thread. But there is beautiful country to be seen up there. Bring a tent and a fishing pole of some sort great fishing. Try checking out the Sibola Mountain Range. I never managed to make it there last summer. (took the wrong FSR!) Anyways i've heard of roads that go pretty much right up to the summit of some of the mountains there. One thing to watch out for obviously is the Logging truck traffic. Great roads for the most part but pick a time when the trucks arent flying down those roads. Managed to get about 8 rock chips in my company truck windshield in about 30km of FSR. Wouldnt be a happy camper if i were on a bike that day. Also just so you know. Tweedsmuir is dead. But beautiful area.

Let me know if you make it up in the summer. I Live in beautiful Burns lake for 6months of the year. Could always use another excuse to go riding around on a weekend.

Great info, I really appreciate it!

 

[drbike]

imported post

imported post

Heard my name being mentioned .... count me in ... where are we riding by the way. Now that I am here, Greg, have you got an itinerary for the spring, summer and fall rides for our little group. Besides the second annual Telkwa pass, bash and rash affair what else is in the works.

A small group of us are going back to Inuvik starting the 2 week of June, thinking of going a little west as well and sort of meandering around the north. Anyone interested is welcome along for some or all of the trip.

 

[Proudman]

imported post

imported post

I'm still getting used to the weather and the seasons here. Remember, this is my first winter in Terrace.
When is Spring. We have had a few suggestions on rides and I have been using MapSource and my Forestry neighbour to ferret out all of the FSRs and trails.

I definitely want to go to Inuvik. June 23rd will be the Summer Solstice so it would be the best day to be there.
Who's in charge of planning? What do I need to bring, besides warm clothes :clap:?
Will we be tenting or hoteling?

Greg

 

[jeep monkey]

imported post

imported post

donbcivil wrote:

I see a lot of interesting looking stuff on the map between Prince George and Prince Rupert and Stewart/Hyder but it also seems like some planning is required because there may be stretches where gasoline isn't available. Can someone point me at a resource for sorting that out? I've read elsewhere that there's a stretch heading North from Kitwanga that you have to plan for.

Also wondering about Tweedsmuir Park North. It looks from the map as if you can catch gravel roads South from Francois Lake and get to Ootsa Lake and see across it to Tweedsmuir but that the park info center is farther down in the park?

Any pointers to resources for planning a ride through/in this area would be greatly appreciated

Don

Hi Don,

I live in the Vanderhoof area. Like someone said earlier, you will have no worries from Prince George to Prince Rupert for fuel. I did travel the BC northern loop last year witht the truck and trailer and it is spectacular! (up the alaska hwy and down the 37 past Dease lake.

There were many many parts of the trip that were awesome the top three for me were:

1) The Salmon Glacier/Grand duke mine area.

2) Telegraph creek

3) And the abandoned mine site/ town just north of jade city

You may have fuel issues fromthe town of BELL 2 to the intersection of the 37 and the alaska hwy. If I remember correctly there is no fuel between these two places.

I grew up in Burns LAke. Northern Tweedsmuir park area is very nice although all the pine trees are dead now . To get there,you cross a FREE ferry that is on Fracois Lake and enter what is locally know as the "south side". Back there you with find interesting little places like Takysie Lake anf the skinns lake spillway and there is is also Cheslatta falls in the area (there are two sets of falls in this waterway with the same name. In order to get to tweedsmuir park you need a boat, or charter a plane. My cousin has a charter service that flys people and supplies into the park. Eutsk Lake has cabins that you can stay in. I think Vantines still own them.

If you have anymore questions about the area PM me or write on here. I'll check back.



Jeff



Jeff

 

[Proudman]

imported post

imported post

Going by personal experience and the Milepost magazine, there are a fair number of fuel stops. You certainly won't have a problem if you're driving a KLR650.

Let me know what your fuel consumption rate is and I will do up a chart for your bike.

If you let me know that and the size of your fuel tank I can colour code the output to show when you are close to getting into trouble.


[align=left]With a fuelconsumption of 6.80 L100 Km

Terrace 0.0 Km
New Aiyansh 98.6 Km 98.6 Km 6.70 Litres required
Bell II 335.0 Km 236.4 Km 16.08 Litres required
Tatogga Lake Resort478.0 Km 143.0 Km 9.72 Litres required
Iskut 490.0 Km12.0 Km 0.82 Litres required
Dease Lake 563.0 Km 73.0 Km 4.96 Litres required
Good Hope Lake697.0 Km 134.0 Km 9.11 Litres required
Junction 37 and 1 (Alaska hwy) 795.0 Km 98.0 Km 6.66 Litres required


Telegraph Creek 116.0 Km 7.89 Litres required From Dease Lake
Stewart 204.1 Km 13.88 Litres required From New Aiyansh
154.1 Km 10.48 Litres required From Bell II[/align]

Greg

 

[250ccforme]

imported post

imported post

jeep monkey wrote:

3) And the abandoned mine site/ town just north of jade city

I assume you mean Cassiar. Were you able to access the old townsite?Do you havepics posted anywhere of your visit there?

 

[donbcivil]

imported post

imported post

jeep monkey wrote:

I live in the Vanderhoof area. Like someone said earlier, you will have no worries from Prince George to Prince Rupert for fuel. I did travel the BC northern loop last year witht the truck and trailer and it is spectacular! (up the alaska hwy and down the 37 past Dease lake.

There were many many parts of the trip that were awesome the top three for me were:

1) The Salmon Glacier/Grand duke mine area.

2) Telegraph creek

3) And the abandoned mine site/ town just north of jade city

You may have fuel issues fromthe town of BELL 2 to the intersection of the 37 and the alaska hwy. If I remember correctly there is no fuel between these two places.

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for all this great information!

I definitely want to check out some of the places that you mention. I hear the Salmon Glacier is amazing and isn't Telegraph Creek about the most remote place in BC? Is the abandoned mining town you mention the one that was called Cassiar?

Thanks, Don

 

[donbcivil]

imported post

imported post

Proudman wrote:

Going by personal experience and the Milepost magazine, there are a fair number of fuel stops. You certainly won't have a problem if you're driving a KLR650.

Let me know what your fuel consumption rate is and I will do up a chart for your bike.

If you let me know that and the size of your fuel tank I can colour code the output to show when you are close to getting into trouble.
[align=left]Good Hope Lake697.0 Km 134.0 Km 9.11 Litres required
Junction 37 and 1 (Alaska hwy) 795.0 Km 98.0 Km 6.66 Litres required


Telegraph Creek 116.0 Km 7.89 Litres required From Dease Lake
Stewart 204.1 Km 13.88 Litres required From New Aiyansh
154.1 Km 10.48 Litres required From Bell II[/align]

Wow Greg, I really appreciate this!

My DRZ seems to get about 60 miles/gallon so I'm thinking that's around 3.8 liters for 100k. The stock tank is about 9.85 L, I'm looking at getting a 15 L aftermarket replacement.

I'm still debating routes for this Summer...may not have the $$ for the week+ I'd planned (over to Yoho/Jasper and then across your way). So I'm debating spending a few days visiting Yoho vs. far North BC and Stewart/Hyder. If the economy starts improving though, the week+ would be an amazing ride!

 

[Proudman]

imported post

imported post

Hope this helps.

If you want the spreadsheet just let me know where to e-mail it to as this forum won't accept spreadsheets as attachments. With the spreadsheet you can change your mileage or tank size to see what the effect is.

Also let me know what your computer has for a spreadsheet so I can sent it in the right format.

 

[jeep monkey]

imported post

imported post

>>>>I assume you mean Cassiar. Were you able to access the old townsite?Do you >>>>havepics posted anywhere of your visit there?


Yes, that is the name, had a brain fart there. LOL I have a blog of the trip posted (link below) it is pretty wordy as I was gone 28 days with my two sons 6 and >2. It can make for a very interesting adventure. The boys really slow you down to the point that you really pay a lot closer attention to you surroundings... a good thing. I think some days I was going a little wierd with no adults to talk to and no child care relief but all three had a great time and my pldest son is still talking about it. Especially the pike he caught.

So it you want to know the whole story, read the text... but it is long! If you want to just see the pics that is fine too.

I did manage to get to the abandoned townsite and looka lot of it, but didn't see it all.

Oh, al the blog is all in reverse. The last thing we did is first.

enjoy



Jeff

http://jeep-monkey.blogspot.com/

 

[250ccforme]

imported post

imported post

Thanks for the link. Good to know that the latest entry is first before starting the read. I've read some and will read the rest of an interesting account. Quite the journey to do with two youngsters. :shock: My hat is off to you.