Liard River

May 28, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 46 Comments

The Liard River is one of the more major rivers in northern British Columbia.

As we left Yukon and began to drive south on highway 97 (also known as the Alcan Highway or Alaska Highway), we paralleled it for some time before it made its way east.

Before that, however, we stopped at the Liard River hot springs for a dip. I was glad that we didn’t have far to go afterward because following that appealing break we were very, very relaxed!

On our way into the hot springs we saw loads of lovely wild violets.

Rugged and swift, the Liard River is a part of highway 97’s extremely scenic landscape and with the added bonus of lovely natural hot springs, our first day’s drive on this route was wonderful.

There’s more to come from this spectacularly gorgeous drive. I thought that the Stewart-Cassiar highway was at the top of the heap for beautiful drives, but highway 97 is right there, too!

Photography

Signpost Forest

May 27, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 48 Comments

Watson Lake, Yukon, is famous for its signpost forest. Signpost forest, you ask? Yes, this community has a forest composed entirely of signs, all kinds of them.

It all began in 1942 during the construction of the Alcan (Alaska) highway when the engineers working on the highway erected signs listing places, directions and distances to locations in Yukon, to other Canadian locations and to U.S. locations as well.

Carl Lindley, a homesick WW II soldier, added his hometown sign to the army signpost and started a tradition.

Since then, people from all over the world have added hometown signs to the forest. At last count, there were about 60,000 signs that include vehicle licence plates, homemade placards and other glyphs, symbols and signifiers.

In 1992 when Carl Lindley returned to Watson Lake with his wife, Eleanor, for the first time since 1943, he was overwhelmed at how the signpost forest had grown.

During a sign reenactment ceremony, he replaced his original sign – the first one had since rotted away.

The signpost forest is one of the best-known attractions along the 2414 km highway from Dawson Creek, B.C. to Fairbanks, AK.

The sign pictured above gives the history of the forest including a picture of the original signpost.

Happy Tuesday.

Reblogs

Camping with Carrot

May 27, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 2 Comments

My grandson Dom has gone off with the Scouts camping and I am sure he will have a great time. It reminds me of when I was in the Scouts, nearly 60 …
Camping with Carrot

I hope you enjoy this lovely childhood story from James at Mountains, Myths and Moorlands. Please click the link above to finish reading his story and to also explore James’s beautiful photography.

nature, Photography

Northern Mountains

May 26, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 34 Comments

During our trip through northern British Columbia and into Yukon we have seen some beautiful mountains and mountain ranges.

This is part of the Coast/Central Mountain range that bisects British Columbia. We paralleled or drove around much of this range while en route to Yukon on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. I love the pea green, new deciduous growth that we saw everywhere. Spring is definitely later in the north.

We experienced quite a few showers interspersed with sunny periods, but saw that a lot of snow was still falling at the higher elevations.

Neither M nor I had ever driven this route – the Stewart-Cassiar Highway (highway 37) – before and found it spectacularly beautiful. The Coast/Central Mountains aren’t as tall or rugged as the Rocky Mountains but still breathtaking. It’s well worth the drive and if you’re inclined, there are lots of opportunities for camping, hiking and fishing.

Highway 37 goes north from the junction with highway 16 just west of Prince George and Hazelton and is a total of 725 km (450 miles).

Below shows the highway’s terminus at the Yukon boundary.

This highway is very remote and there’s no cell service (except emergency), but we found that quite attractive. If you’re interested in this trip, here’s a website that might be helpful.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/driving-and-cycling/traveller-information/routes-and-driving-conditions/highway-37-stewart-cassiar

Happy Monday.

nature, Photography

Be Beary Careful!

May 25, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 48 Comments

We saw this very healthy-looking but groggy guy while stopping for a break on the Cassiar Highway.

We were careful and stayed in our vehicle but we did enjoy observing him. This yearling was eating a plant that he seemed to like a lot but also appeared to be very sleepy. This far north (60° north latitude) the bears haven’t been awake from their winter slumber for very long.

Happy Sunday.

nature, Photography

Cassiar Highway

May 24, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 37 Comments

We have finished the 855 km (531 miles) Smithers, B.C. to Watson Lake, Yukon, leg of our trip via the Cassiar Highway (highway 37).

We experienced quite a number of rain showers broken by sunny periods but that didn’t dampen the beauty of this route. It’s one of the most stunning that you will find anywhere. We at first paralleled the Central Mountains but after turning a few more degrees due north, we drove through them for about 600 km. (373 miles).

We didn’t stop to do much hiking or walking through this portion of our trip but there are many opportunities for that and of course, there are lots of places to camp or to stay at a lodge.

As long as you are aware of and cautious about bears, there are many, many outdoor activities to be enjoyed in this area of the country.

Here’s a rest area sign showing details of the Cassiar.

Happy Saturday.

nature, Photography

Coastal Mountains

May 23, 2025 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 54 Comments

We are almost 1100 km (684 miles) north of our home in Penticton and on our way to Watson Lake, Yukon, to see a good friend of ours.

Watson Lake is pretty much due north of our stop for the night in Smithers, B.C. which is marked on the map by the red pin. We have about another 890 km (553 miles) to go.

We have been passing the spectacular Coastal Mountain range and marvelling at their impressive beauty; we will see more of them as we travel further north.

Here, spring is about a month behind the development that has already occurred in Penticton; all the deciduous trees are wearing very new, pea green leaves and the mountains are still liberally topped with snow.

That’s it for now; more to follow later. Happy Friday.