First adventures on the Yellowhead

First adventures on the Yellowhead

It didn’t take long to live a few adventures as I started cycling alone again. After the Cassiar Hwy, the Yellowhead seemed much busier and less remote and I was blessed with a nice tailwind to start. The signs on the road now showed a new destination to aim for: Prince George.

Nice farm on the way to Smithers

My first day was pretty short as I had planned to stop in a very small hamlet called Carnaby, where a kind Warmshowers host offered me to stay at his place even if he wasn’t around. He recommended a small road that is blocked to vehicles but perfect for cycling to reach his place, instead of staying on the highway.

I followed his advice and started riding down the road, which was lovely. But it also looked like bear country and sure enough, after 3 km, I saw a big black bear ahead of me. He didn’t see me at first and I was at a comfortable distance away. I waited for a while, he disappeared in the bush but soon was back on the road.  I waited again but the same thing happened over and over again. At some point he looked at me, but he wasn’t interested, he just kept walking away very slowly, up the hill ahead. After a while I decided that it was safer to turn around, and I backtracked until I reached the highway. So much for the scenic route!

I reached the 3000 km mark just after Carnaby
3000 km! Yeah! And 10 pounds lighter 😉 Almost even with Laf.

After a night in Carnaby, I had a longer day to Smithers but it was beautiful, lots of nice farms along the way, and big mountains with glaciers.

On the way to Smithers, farmland and glaciers

I took a good break at the Wetsit community to check the nice canyon where First nation people harvest salmon. It is very impressive to think that salmon can get up that canyon, and I saw a few that were trying, but the highlight was definitely to visit the locals in their smoke house.

Must take a lot of strength to get up that canyon

They were very excited to hear about my trip, and they gave me some dried salmon and then cooked two salmon bellies for me. I ate one right away and kept the other one for later, knowing I wouldn’t be camping with a nice piece of salmon in my luggage. I was going to stay in a real house that night, with no bears around.

Salmon in the smoke house
Cooking salmon bellies for the hungry cyclist
My new friends!

And so it was that a little later, I arrived in beautiful Smithers, had my first real shower in almost 3 weeks, did laundry, sat in a lazy boy chair with my feet up to read and eventually fell asleep, and later walked into town to explore the cafes. It felt like a holiday within a holiday.

How did they know?

17 thoughts on “First adventures on the Yellowhead

  1. Salut Catherine
    Toujours aussi intéressant de te lire. Tes nombreuses photos qui accompagnent le texte nous permettent d’apprécier davantage tes récits. J’aurais bien aimé voir une photo de ton nounours… Tu sembles si heureuse dans ton aventure qu’on ne peut que t’envier.
    À bientôt xxx

    1. Oui, je suis tres heureuse de pouvoir voyager ainsi. ET pour ce qui est des photos, je ne prends pas le temps d’en prendre en presence d’ours!!! Mais je garde ces belles images dans ma tete, comme bien d’autres.

  2. Moi aussi je vais avoir de très petites histoires d’ours à te raconter mais je ne voudrais pas vivre toutes les tiennes. J’en suis essoufflée juste à te lire. Par contre, ton repas de saumon, je l’aurais bien partagé..
    Mo

    1. Les ours, quand on les rencontre dans les bonnes conditions, c’est un beau cadeau. Ils sont tellement beaux, et normalement on les voit si rapidement. Par contre c’est dommage que certaines personnes ne semble pas savoir comment agir en leur presence. Un automobiliste sur le Cassiar en a meme nourri un en chemin apparemment. Pas super comme idee, ni pour l’ours ni pour les gens qui suivent. Comme on dit ici, “a fed bear is a dead bear”. Triste.

  3. Allo Catherine
    Suis encore en mode tablette pour écrire un mot. Ai hâte de solutionner ce problème d’ordinateur. Si je vais magasiner un nouvel ordi, aurais je affaire à un bon conseiller ou à un grizzly qui m’attend au détour? Comme tu vois, tes images me trottent dans la tête au fur et à mesure que tu progresses dans ton périple. Et je constate que tes genoux sont moins présents dans tes écrits. Bon signe!
    Bisous et à la prochaine
    Fernand

    1. Merci Fernand, et oui, les genoux demeurent une preoccupation mais apres 2 mois je gere mieux, je pense. J’ai appris a rouler un peu plus “conservatrice”, ralentir le mental pour donner une chance au physique. Je croise mes doigts pour que ca continue dans la bonne voie!

  4. Salut Cat,
    Bonne continuation!
    C’est vraiment plaisant de te lire et de constater que tu fais de très belles rencontres.
    Bon jugement, reste loin des ours !
    Ciao
    Cat

    1. Oui, les rencontres c’est ce qui rend ce genre de voyage magique. A chaque jour il y a quelqu’un a rencontrer. Et j’ai le temps, ce qui est precieux.

  5. Allo ma belle Catou,

    C’est toujours un plaisir de te lire, te suivre, te vivre quelques instants avec toi.
    Heureusement, il semble que les ours de l’ouest n’aiment pas les québécoises. Ça rassure une maman!!!!
    Mom xxxx

    1. Effectivement, les ours ne m’ont pas demontre d’interet a date… Ils sont bien nourris par ici, la vegetation est dense. De toute facon, je ne ferais pas un tres bon repas. JE fais attention du mieux que je peux, comme promis. 😉

  6. Hi Catherine,

    So glad to hear you’re safe after hearing about the people that were killed very close to where you were!

    You haven’t mentioned your knees….are they doing better?

    All the best,

    Ed

    1. I think riding without luggage on the Cassiar gave my knees a good break, so they feel better. I really have to be careful and I try to take more breaks, so far so good, still one day at a time!

  7. Allooooo !!!
    Trop contente de te lire ! Déjà hâte au prochain récit. Amuse-toi ma belle amie !
    Cri Cri xxx

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