Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Good morning, my friends. Today we find ourselves in a really beautiful provincial park in British Columbia. 

This is the view from our window.

When we left Dease Lake yesterday, Smitty was comfortable in his usual riding chair.

Sadie was enjoying the morning sunshine. We hated to disturb her, but the catio must come down.

In our travels, we've enjoyed the changing of the wildflowers. We started with scads of dandelions.

Moving next to lupine.

From there, the fireweed still blooming in abundance.

And the newest wildflower to make the scene is Indian paintbrush.

We saw just a few at first, but it's now blooming in abundance along the roadsides.

Our first point of interest on yesterday's drive was the Gnat Pass Summit. (One can only guess how it got its name.) We were at about 4,100 feet there, and we could safely say it's all downhill from here.

Next, we kept an eagle eye out for this next item in the Milepost:

It was hard to get a very good picture because I was dealing with reflections on our windshield, but you can see it running horizontally just above center in the image below. We could see it for several miles as we drove along.

Next up, the Stikine River Bridge. The bridge was interesting enough.

But it was really the information about the river that caught my attention.

Here we go. Shut your eyes if this sort of thing makes you nervous.

There's the "great river."

Of course, we saw more spectacular mountain views.

We stopped at a rest area to admire Eddontenajon Lake.

The trees had all grown up at this view point, and so I walked from place to place looking for a good shot.

Next up, we passed by Kinaskin Lake. There are many huge lakes in British Columbia and the Yukon.

From here, we crossed over the Willow Creek Bridge. It's notable for its wood decking, which, we're warned, is slippery when it's wet. In quick succession, we crossed another similar bridge over Rescue Creek.

A little ways down the road, we saw this helicopter with a line down. No clue what they were up to, but Mike thought it probably had something to do with the power lines.

Next, we crossed over the Burrage River. White water rafters would have a good time here.

And more mountains. Always with the mountains.

It was a good day for bridges. I have nothing to tell you about this one except that I like bridges.

We stopped for lunch, coffee, and naps here at this Bob Quinn rest area. There happens to be an airstrip here. You can see it just behind the sign in the image below.

There was an interesting sign about the building of the Yukon Telegraph Line here. Sorry for the tiny print. Zoom in to read it.

Here's what our Milepost told us about it.

There was another pretty view of the mountains here.

And a guest book! Of course, I signed.

Moving on, we crossed yet another bridge.

And then...drat! We sat here for a long time. We began to wonder if the thing was even operational. We could see a brush mower down the road, but otherwise, it didn't seem like anything was happening. Eventually, a man got out of that truck parked there. He told us it would be another 7 minutes before we could go. Yeesh. The longest 7 minutes if our lives.

We sat there for so long, this bug decided to hitch a ride on our windshield. His body was about an inch and a half, and so this image is pretty much to scale.

Finally we could move along again. We crossed another bridge.

Only to come on another pilot car. Fortunately, there was no waiting here.

We were getting close to our final destination by that time. Here's what our Milepost tells us about Meziadin Lake.

And they're not just kidding about the bears. Tent campers and soft-sided RV's are not allowed here, and there were warning signs everywhere. Grizzlies are noted to frequent this area. I was hoping we'd see one, but so far we've seen nothing.

It's a pretty place, though. Looking to the right, it looks like this. 

Looking left, it looks like this. There were some kayakers and canoes on the lake.

Turning around, this was our campsite for the night.

In wildlife sightings, we saw another red fox yesterday. He was running parallel to the road, and he had something in his mouth. No way I could get a picture of him, but I found this one in the public domain.

(Image credit: Red Fox at Hains Point 2" by Mr.TinDC is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.)

Also, after such a long wait at that red light, we saw a little bear cub jump from a ditch by the side of the road into the brush. No sign of the mama, but I'm sure she was around somewhere. Again...the sighting was just a few seconds, and so I found a picture in the public domain for your viewing pleasure. It was probably just as well the sighting was quick. If I'd had time, I might have grabbed him up to keep for a pet.

(Image credit: Black bear cub" by USFWS/Southeast is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

And that's all I have for you today. It's our last day on the Cassiar highway. We'll meet up with Canada 16 next, and we'll spend tonight at a campground in Houston, B.C. It'll be the second time we've stayed in a town called "Houston," not located in Texas. We also stayed in Houston, Alaska. We're just five sleeps from home now. It's time for breakfast, and then we'll get ourselves around and on our way again. Things are warming up along our drives. I think we'll start missing that air-conditioning in the truck soon.