CANADA! - 14 bears and heaps of hospitality

Canada! I must admit I was extremely blahzay about the thought of cycling through Canada, with it being a developed country and one that I'd lived in briefly years ago on an exchange year at The University of Toronto. Though I was wrong to think that way.... the remoteness, wildlife - BEARS! weather, sheer size and incredible hospitality of its people took me by surprise. It hadn't occurred to me before that Canada would be by far the largest leg of my trip so far and much bigger than crossing the US.

After leaving White Horse (see my last blog), I remained on the 2237 km long Alaskan Highway (which runs from Fairbanks, Alaska to Dawson Creek, Canada) heading south east in the vague direction of Vancouver. The weather had been much colder in Alaska, though Canada was still freezing and I was still waking up looking like a dead man in my tent with my water bottle frozen solid. It was still hugely remote and signposts which implied towns often led to nothing more than a closed down gas station. Thoughts of a warm coffee and a hot dog indoors after 130 plus freezing miles of seeing nothing but trees and mountains was something I would massively look forward to....and on finding a closed down gas station, having to eat my reserve supply of tinned sardines mashed up with some dry pasta by the roadside just didn't taste as good!

When i did finally reach an open service station the food was often incredible. hardly gourmet fancy french shit but huge hearty breakfasts consisting of inch thick pancakes drowned in maple syrup with eggs and sausages heaped on top. It tasted so good and made the long lonely stretches worthwhile! As well as the food one of my favorite things to do at gas stations was earwig conversations. This was a part of the world where men were men. They talked purely about trucking, hunting, oil, mechanics and sub zero conditions....in fact even the women were like men, often driving trucks..one lady at the cafe I over heard complaining about the inability to service her own car with the introduction of computer diagnostics and large numbers of imported cars - and this wasn't basic servicing she was talking about! I know somebody will accuse me of being sexist for that comment but I don't know many women that talk about adjusting the valve clearances on their car!

One conversation I remember well was about bears. I stopped at a gas station owned by a miserable bloke called Howard to fill my face with burger, fries and a Cherry Pie. Maybe its because being a pro gun old school cowboy sort he doesn't like blond haired men in Lycra, but Jesus was he miserable! Though his cooking was excellent. Shortly after my arrival an even older bloke   hobbled in determined to dominate the place. Howard wasn't impressed. Despite his age, cross eyes and inability to walk, to my amazement he was still hauling huge loads up and down the Alaskan highway in his truck. ....for 46 years, as he told me at least 100 times! Firstly he told everyone (you did not have a choice if you wanted to be involved in his conversation or not) how the treacherous old Alaskan highway had broken fellow truckers and made grown men cry.......followed by one elaborate bear story after another.....such as the one about an Italian cyclist who needed 360 stitches in his face after a bear attacked him. Just as I was beginning to think it was all BS another bloke sitting across the dinner shouted out, "Oh yeah, i remember that guy!" Maybe it wasn't all BS after all! Though I think the macho know it all fat truckers should try riding the Alaskan highway on a bicycle instead of sitting in a cozy warm cabin, that will separate the men from the boys!

Howard in the cowboy hat & Mr 46 years on the Alaskan Highway leaning against the till

As I headed south the cold snow of Alaska and the Yukon was replaced with rain as I approached the province of British Colombia. I preferred the snow, I could find ways of keeping warm...layering my clothes, lighting a fire at night...but with the heavy rain once I was wet I froze to the core. I remember arriving at what I thought would be an open gas station and RV Park, though when I arrived it was still closed for the season. Soaking wet and freezing cold I knocked on the ladies door anyway after noticing smoke coming out of her chimney. She told me that they were still waiting on the gas to arrive and the telephone was down! Pretty archaic in these parts! But I could stay in one of her wooden cabins for free and told me to put a few bits of kindling on the fire and it would soon get warm. Thinking I knew best I used the Axe I found outside the cabin to chop up a few logs to stoke up the fire. To cut a long story short it got so hot in there I thought I was going to burn the cabin down!! I had to leave the cabin door wide open to stop my skin from burning!! I left the next morning toasty dry and set off into the freezing rain, which fell as sleet on the higher passes. I soon became soaked to the core again.. I tried experimenting with washing up gloves over my cotton ones and wrapping my shoe covers - which were on there last legs, in cling film, though nothing seemed to work. Though I was about to be in for a real treat. After 1000's of freezing miles, not showering for weeks with my balls frozen and crushed into a hard plastic seat........I had reached the Liard hot springs! Jumping into that steamy hot water was heavenly.

Liard Hot Springs - completely natural and seriously hot

The wooden cabin I nearly set on fire

After my long soak I got back on my bike and cycled to Muncho Lake where I camped beside the huge frozen emerald green water and continued on to the first sizable town for a long time, Fort Nelson. Hotels were still extremely expensive in this remote part of Canada, though I fancied a night in a bed.I found some WIFI and googled "hostel Fort Nelson" on my phone on the off-chance one existed...and to my sheer amazement it did! I found the wooden hut hostel and knocked on the door. "Can I stay here?" I asked, "Of course you can", the lady replied. On asking how much she said it was free! It then quickly occurred to me this was not a hostel after all, it was a homeless shelter!! I had to sit down with the lady so she could ask me all sorts of questions about alcohol abuse and drug addiction and was showed to my room and told to help myself to any food from the kitchen! They even washed my clothes. I felt pretty guilty about staying in the shelter  as I sat on the sofa watching TV stuffing myself, so I went to the supermarket the next day to donate them some jams and what not! On saying bye bye the lady told me I should stay in the hostel when i arrived in Fort St John!?...which i'll come to later!

One thing I must mention is how incredibly generous the Canadian people were.. After my free night in the cabin and shelter, I cycled towards a place called Pink Mountain. On my way there I saw an enormous luxury camper by the side of the road in the lay-by. I thought I'd pull over to shelter from the pissing rain (yes it did actually rain everyday) and cook some grub, half hoping the people in the camper would invite me in.

As I was opening a can of sardines the couple came out for a chat, they were retired teachers from Maine who had broken down. The axle on there camper had snapped and they were waiting to be rescued. They were was so impressed with my cycle trip they gave me all the food in their fridge.....and then the bloke gave me a 100 dollar US bill! I half heartedly refused to accept it twice until he forced it into my hand and shouted, "take it quick before my wife sees!"
Thinking things couldn't get any better I arrived at pink mountain just as a huge storm was about to hit and walked into the lodge to find an all you can eat buffet being prepared. The lady at the lodge asked if I wanted to stay the night. I explained that I was away for a long time without working and had to watch my pennies. She replied, "for free I meant, i'll ask my manager if you can stay in one of the cabins", and I found myself in my only little porter cabin where the staff stayed and which were also rented out to local oil workers. There were warm communal showers and I definitely wasn't complaining!! I thought I should get breakfast there the next morning after their generosity, though on going to pay for breakfast the lady said, "Breakfast is on us today, and make sure you grab a sandwich from the fridge for the road!" Unbelievable!  My list of generosity cycling through Canada includes:

• 20 Canadian Dollars
• Offers of free weed and beer
• Gloves and a pair of shades from a homeless bloke at the shelter
• a packet of cigarette lighters from a crazy guy that chased after me in his car
• several bottles of mineral water
• A Coat from the lady at the Chinese Restaurant
• 100 dollar US Bill
• Numerous nights and accomodation and dinners cooked for me from people met on the road
• A night in a couples camper parked on their driveway.
• A night on a farm
• Bottlesof camping gas
• Loads of food
• Free Hugs, I met 2 people driving to Alaska on different occasions both from New Mexico who said in the thickest of southern accents, "I don't do handshakes where i'm from.... let me come over and give you a mighty big hug, Gold bless Ya!"

On reaching Fort St John I asked for the whereabouts of the local "hostel" and headed to it. This one was the real deal. Crazy drunks out the front shouting stuff out at me and playing around with my bike. It was the Salvation army Shelter. Fort St John was a much bigger town than Fort Nelson, I knew this could be a bad idea, but went in anyway. Looking at the state of me I think they actually thought I was homeless, and I smelt worse than most of the people in there, if they had any doubt. I was taken in for my brief interview and my bag checked for drugs, I felt like a regular at it by now. I had my excellent free meal and went into my dorm room.

Meal at the Salvation Army Shelter

No more private rooms. I was in a room sharing a bunk with 8 battered up alcoholic looking men! Apart from the guy having a go at me for taking a shower at 5:30 am....."SOME OF US HAVE TO TAKE A F'ING PISS AROUND HERE!!!!!!!!"..everyone was super friendly and they told me not to listen to that grumpy man! We chatted over breakfast and one guy offered me his gloves and shades which was nice, they were pretty manky to say the least but a nice gesture. One of the blokes kept trying to get me to go for free breakfast at another shelter, though as enjoyable as the experience had been, I felt i'd pushed my luck far enough and my homeless shelter days were over!! I went out to load up my bike to find that my speedo had been stolen, which was probably a lesson for staying for free in shelters!! It was a bit annoying as i'd clocked up 6000 miles and wanted a grand total for when I finish my trip. I managed to replace it for a 20 dollar speedo from Walmart.

14 Bears. As well as seeing foxes, wolfs, karibous, moose, elk, deer and numerous other animals, I had seen 14 bears since entering Canada, including 5 on my birthday alone. I was pooing myself a little less every time I saw them. A few of these bears did stand out though. Most of the time I would see them way up ahead by the road and flag someone down so they could drive between me and the bear. Though a couple caught me out by surprise, one right by the edge of the road that eyeballed me as I rode past and another huge one in a tree who climbed down as I rode past! One day I saw one right before I pitched my tent at night and another literally a mile down the road as I set of the next morning. One bloke from Alaska told me not to worry as they would be dozy now but everyone else said I needed to be extremely careful as they had just come out of hibernation and were hungry!!

Wild Bison

Heading south I finally hit Dawson Creek which is the historic "mile zero" of the Alaskan highway, as well as being a TV show I've never watched. I had been on the Alaskan highway since Tok in Alaska, nearly 1500 miles back and it was good to arrive. From Dawson Creek I took the 97 to Prince George where I stayed in a very friendly couples camper on their driveway, I had met them 50 miles earlier at a gas station and they had given me their address and offered to put me up. They fed me, washed my clothes and gave me some of their excellent home brew.

Mile 0 - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek

Nice people! After endless rain the weather completely changed after Prince George. The Sun finally came out and it was bliss. On reaching a place called Lake La Hache  I was struggling to find a place to camp when I met a lady who said I could stay on her farm. We threw my bike in her pick up and headed off in the direction I had just cycled before heading up a dirt track for several kilometers before arriving at the most incredible farm house building overlooking its own private Lake. I discovered she was a single mum of 3 boys who looked after the farm herself, miking cows, taking care of goats, hunting the lot! Supermum! I knew this sounds like something from a an old school porno movie but it was just purely extremely kind Canadian hospitality! After the best nights sleep and being loaded with all sorts of homemade meats and cheeses I hit the road, and the mum and her boys set out to chop the bollocks off their neighbours one year old bull. It should have been done at birth and so was going to be a painful procedure.

Another's days ride finally  brought me to a junction where I left the 97 and joined the 99 road which took me up some serious 15 degree climbs through hot dusty 1st nations cowboy country, through the ski resort of Whistler and finally downhill and into Vancouver, where I am currently writing this blog and staying with an awesome mate of mine, Traavis, who i went to uni with in Canada. What a city. The 4000 KM from Anchorage took me just shy of a month.My knees have took a bit of a battering with the lack of rest, so some days off were due. Tomorrow i'll be hitting the road and in 30 miles will be in the US and looking forward to meet my good friend Donald.

4000 kms after leaving Freezing Alaska.......Arriving in Beautiful Vancouver in perfect weather - it rains a lot here so people go mental when the sun comes like in England!

Traavis and his wife...who i went to University of  Toronto with on exchange 16 years ago!

One of many beautiful lakes i saw in British Colombia

Lilloet - the hottest town in British Colombia - up to 44 degrees in summer

Sharing my food with a dog whilst taking shelter from the rain on my birthday - jacket is courtesey of the lady at the Chinese Restaurant who saw me soaking wet and freezing!

Trying to make my shoes waterproof

A very wet Dawson Creek

Another Great Breaky

Signpost Forest - Watson Lake

This should keep the bears away!

This closed gas station is all that exists in the town of Fireside!

The farm I stayed with the mum and her 3 boys - the nearest vechile is a machine to turn the lake into a skate arena!

The couple that put me up in there motor home - great home made beer too

Broken spoke, buckled wheel and zero brake pads for too long!

Camping!

Seeing the Ocean again for the first time since leaving Anchorage as I approached Vancouver