Day 10 - April 30 - FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

Today was a great day - the scenery was better than yesterday - the weather not so much. The temperature was fine but it was overcast and rained on and off most of the time. We left Burns Lake and passed through Smithers about an hour and a half later. I see a pattern forming here. What kind of trip is this?

The Highway of Tears is a 719 kilometre corridor of highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia. It has been the location of crimes against many women and the phrase was coined during a vigil held in Terrace, BC in 1998. Florence Naziel was thinking of the victims' families crying over the loss of their loved ones when the phrase came to her. There is a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the victims list so the highway has a strong association with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement. The highway passes by Hazelton where we were this morning.

Historic Old Hazelton remains much like the original settlement founded in 1866. It was closed but we did wander the grounds exploring. It reminded us very much of the museum in Charlotte on Haida Gwaii complete with the overcast sky and drizzle.

We have a very similar photo to this one from our trip here in 2024. It's a great place to stop if for no other reason than a photo. Isn't it funny how every time you're standing there with your phone held high above your head looking like an idiot trying to take a selfie someone steps up and offers to take the photo for you?

From that junction of BC highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway) and highway 37 we headed north toward the Yukon, now in northern British Columbia.

At Meziadin Junction, things got really interesting for us...we have not been to this part of BC before! As if to help us celebrate, a bear scooted up a hill on the side of the road. I backed up just in time to catch him as he turned as if to say, "What do you want?"

It was evident we were ascending as we made our way north. We had an overnight stop in mind because accommodations here are few and far between. However, we were not in any hurry as we enjoyed the mountain scenery immensely. There is still quite a bit of snow left in some areas. Several feet in spots.

So who here has heard of Bell II? Anyone? Bell II? Anyone? It's an unincorporated community in the Skeena Mountains of northwestern BC. The name derives from being located at the second bridge crossing of the Bell-Irving River. In addition to being a pitstop on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway headed to the Yukon and Alaska, Bell II is a large heliskiing area. The lodge there is gorgeous. Moderately expensive with almost no amenities, the internet is painfully slow but the lodge rooms are comfortable and cozy. Our unit, one of four in a cabin complex, is the one on the bottom left of the photo, the Mink. It might be noisy and annoying at times but now is certainly not one of them. We're the only ones in this one.

A wonderful spot indeed. This posting took about two hours to set up and load (SLOW wi-fi) so I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

😎