Prince George, British Columbia,
Canada
July 02, 2019
It was hard to leave the Rockies and the National Parks to start our journey North. We want to make sure we get the most out of our National Park passes and the landscape and wildlife around that area is fantastic but we needed to push on. We have time on our side so that’s not an issue, neither of us have a job or commitments. The only constraint we have which is forcing us to move more quickly now is money. We have already spent more in Canada than we expected to so we have started to plan our 3rd and final part of our Canadian road trip, covering more ground in our final few weeks than we have so far. We have already drove over 7,000 Km but in a country as vast as Canada that’s a drop in the ocean.
From Jasper we headed West out of the National Park back across from Alberta into British Columbia. The drive out of the Park itself was uneventful. There is very little to stop and see in this area of the Rockies. No turn offs or signs for any trails or places of interest other than the huge Mount Robson and the Berg lake trail. The trek to Berg lake looks amazing but it’s a long trek taking more than a day in the back country and we simply don’t have the right equipment and supplies to do that so we pushed on out of the park and into the huge valley that sits between the Monashee, Cariboo and Rocky mountains. We had a free camp spot in mind and after bouncing our way down the usual back road track we arrived at the spot only to be greeted by the local rednecks with their myriad of Off-road toys. They were friendly enough with their gap-toothed smiles but the way they were asking if we were staying there for the night was a little uncomfortable so we decided to head a few miles further South to the small town of Valemount to see what we could find there.
We came across a wild camping spot about 12 Km off the highway out of town and spent a nice relaxing night out in the wilderness with nobody else around. Thankfully we had a decent camp fire going that night as when we packed up and headed back down the trail the next morning we were gob smacked to find that we had stayed in a Grizzly bears back yard for the evening. We had drove just a mere 100 yards back down the track when out of the dense forest to our left a huge Grizzly came barreling across the road in front of us. Thankfully he was more scared of us than we were of him. He was absolutely huge. Bounding across the dirt track and back into the forest on the right, his immensely powerful shoulders powering him forward at a fast pace. We were very lucky to see a bear like this in the wild and thankful that we had our camp fire roaring and didn’t bump into him the night before. A close escape I reckon.
The next couple of days were spent in and around Valemount. It was Canada day on the Monday and we decided to spend it in a small town rather than a city as we thought the atmosphere may have been better and we could get to know the locals during the celebrations. It didn’t quite pan out the way we expected though. We stocked up with a few Bourbon’s in our bag and grabbed a couple of pints at the local boozer before heading off to the community centre where the main festivities were planned. When we arrived at the centre there was a band already playing and a huge crowd of about 5 people huddled together trying to keep out of the rain. We stayed for an hour or two but the crowd of 5 didn’t swell any further and we were soaked through from the rain. It was comical to the point where we felt sorry for the band as well as the local community but with another 4 hours to go before the main event of fireworks and cake cutting we decided to head back to the van and chill out for the night instead.
The following day the rain had dried up and the sun was cracking the ground so we decided to check out some of the mountain bike trails just outside of town. The trail network at Valemount is fantastic and it has to be the easiest downhill riding we have done so far thanks to some very friendly locals who ferried us to the top of the trails in the back of their truck. No long slog of a ride up to the top just pure gravity assisted downhill fun with minimal effort. The trails we hit were great. I hit a harder trail than Dani but avoided the Black route options on it as my ageing bike is a bit more twitchy than I would like but it was great fun all the same.
From Valemount we had the start of our Northern route roughly planned out. The city of Prince George was an obvious place to aim for and to spend the next night and what a barrel of bizarre laughs that turned out to be. We rolled into the small city to the sight of empty streets and tumble weeds. When we made our way to the main shopping area to restock our supplies we were greeted by the sight of the local smack-head community in it’s natural habitat. No offence to anyone who lives in Prince George, I’m sure there must be nice areas of town and my hometown isn’t short of crazy characters either but everywhere we went it was the same sight. People shooting up on street corners, people dancing about dizzily on their own, people having imaginary light-sabre fights with massive pink elephants while their minds were fried. The town just looked like some crazy drug fueled wild west zombie fusion, it was surreal and a tad uncomfortable.
With our supplies replenished we headed off to park up for the night at a car park out of town behind the rail road yards. The craziness that is Prince George then continued. Over the next few hours the car park gave the distinct impression that it was the local dogging spot. Around 4 or 5 trucks kept slowly doing the rounds in the car park and the nearby road. A red truck with a huge empty glass sided rear end and an older couple kept pulling in then back out again. We named them Ron and Shirley just for the craic. Ron looking a little like an ageing Roy Schieder and Shirley with her freshly permed hair were an interesting sight. This pulling in and pulling out (pun intended) continued into the night. I sat looking out the back of the van as Ron, Shirley and the rest of the crew kept trundling past slowly on the lookout for their next conquest. I got the distinct impression all these people cruising past were waiting for us to leave before cracking on with their night of shenanigans. We really know how to pick a great camp spot. The spot got better as the night went on. Ron and Shirley were making less drive by’s at this point so the local Coyote decided it was a good time to come out and play. Every time we got out of the van for the toilet or a smoke Wylie would start to come for us, bold as brass. I’m not sure if people have been feeding him and that’s maybe why he was so keen on coming over to see us but the four legged fox type fellow was relentless in his efforts. Every time I hurled a rock or stone his way to scare him off he ran after it like it was a toy or food. We couldn’t get him to back off. It was some comical game of out-the-van, in-the-van every ten seconds. An hour or two of this and we had had enough and finally turned in for the night.
The next morning we were eager to head off and escape the drug fueled dogging town of Prince George. We needed to pop to a thrift store quickly before leaving as Dani needed to grab some bits and bobs. It was about 9 in the morning and as we arrived at the local second hand shop it was more of the same. People shooting up and stumbling about all over outside. It was like the night of the living dead this place, unreal. 9 in the morning and people are already off their face and in their own little world. Prince George was certainly an experience, not one we want to repeat but an experience all the same. It’s nice to get back on the road again now and out of this town. We’ll keep heading North now towards the Yukon and see just how far we can get.
