Outdoors with Don Q: Take a Canadian vacation trip for 2014

Last week, I wrote about our visit to the remote Ookpik Wilderness Lodge on Babine Lake in British Columbia.
This week, I would like to offer a suggestion for taking a 2014 vacation trip beginning in Smithers, British Columbia, traveling to Watson Lake in the Yukon and returning to Smithers.

It will basically replicate the trip we took, after our return to Smithers from staying at the Ookpik Wilderness Lodge. If you are interested and if you have the vacation time, you might want to consider a 2014 Canadian vacation trip.

Here are my trip suggestions based on our experiences:
01. Most importantly, do your planning and make your reservations fairly early in the year to avoid any last minute snags with airlines or hotels.
Plan your trip for mid-to-late August to avoid the worst of the summer mosquitoes, to see the start of the fall colors on the Aspens and to enjoy the cooler weather of the Far North.

02. Fly from Reno to Smithers, British Columbia.
Spend the night at the Hudson Bay Lodge (their staff will pick you up at the airport and take you to the lodge).
The room rates are very reasonable (for the Far North), the rooms are clean and comfortable, their restaurant serves excellent meals, and the lodge even has an attached liquor store. How can you go wrong!
The next morning, someone from National Car Rental will pick you up and take you to your rental vehicle (ours was a Chevy Cruze).
Before leaving Smithers be sure to stop at Tim Horton's for some outstanding coffee and tasty pastries for breakfast. You won't regret it!

03.Drive north from Smithers on Highway 16 for 114 kilometers to its junction with Highway 37.
Turn onto to Highway 37 and drive for 33 kilometers to the junction of the 2 kilometer side road to the tiny village of Gitanyow.
At Gitanyow, see and photograph the many totem poles, and watch the artists carve the newest totem pole (a 4-5 month long project).
At the only gas pump in the village, use nozzle No. 2 to gas up, as nozzle No. 1 is reserved for residents, who pay a lower rate for their gas.

04. Return to Highway 37 and drive 136 kilometers to the junction with Highway 37A which leads to Stewart, British Columbia and its companion tiny town of Hyder, Alaska
Turn onto Highway 37 and on your drive to Stewart and Hyder be prepared to see and photograph towering mountains, awesome glaciers, many different waterfalls and if lucky, a number of black bears along the highway.
This will be the most spectacular portion of your entire Canadian adventure in British Columbia and the Yukon.
Take lots of photos of everything, you won't regret it.
On our visit to Hyder, we got a great photograph of a black bear crossing main street in the center of the town. Main street!

05. When you're done sightseeing in that area, return to Stewart, gas up, and then drive back to Highway 37; and continue north to the Bell 2 Lodge.
At Bell 2 Lodge, if possible, have a reservation for the Aster Cabin (it is awesome) and then in the restaurant, order dinner with a glass of wine.
Return to your room after dinner, light a fire in the wood stove and enjoy its cozy warmth as you wait for night to fall.
The next morning, have coffee and the remaining Tim Horton pastries (that you bought in Smithers) while enjoying the scenery from your cabin's deck.

06. Be sure to gas up your vehicle before leaving, and you will be ready for the 240 kilometers drive to Dease Lake.
Once again, traffic will be light-to-non-existent, so keep a sharp eye out for pot holes, gravel sections, moose, bear, coyotes, and spruce grouse.
On both sides of Dease Lake, there will be short gravel sections of the highway, so take it slow and easy.
Gas up at Dease Lake (never pass up a chance for gas in the Far North!) and continue the long drive to Watson Lake.
Finally, just a few miles out of Watson Lake, you will cross from British Columbia into the Yukon so plan to take photos of the signs at the boundary.

07. When you reach Watson Lake, be sure to visit the world-famous "Sign Post Forest," where tourists (including us in 2012) from all over the world have placed their hometown signs on the totem poles.
If you carefully plan ahead, you will be able to add your own to the ever-growing number of signs (78,000+). We did last year!
Spend the day and night relaxing in a very uniquely Yukon city.
The next day plan to sightsee in that general area, including taking a drive toward Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek to watch for bison grazing alongside or walking on the highway.
Return to Watson Lake to spend your last night in the Yukon.

08. The following morning, gas up and begin the long drive back to Bell 2 Lodge for an overnight stay. Don't forget to gas up at Dease Lake.

09. Drive to Smithers the next day (remember to get gas at Gitanyow) and sightsee in that general area before spending your last night in Canada.

10. The next morning, begin the first of a series of long airline flights to return back, safe and sound, to your home. It will be a vacation trip that will stay in your memory banks forever.

Finally:
Be advised that Canada uses the metric system, so be ready to convert a number of measurements such as:
There is 1.09 Meter to one U.S. yard
There are 0.62 Kilometers to one U.S. mile
There are 3.78 Liters to one U.S. gallon
Then if you really want to get confused, remember this:
To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit for the temperature: Multiply the Celsius reading by 9, then divide by 5 and then add 32. Heck, easy as pie!

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you how many black bears we saw on our Canadian drive trip in August.
If he grins and says, "They saw a total of nine black bears alongside the highway, including a mother bear and cub that crossed right in front of their stopped car," he could be someone who has already seen that photograph.

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com