To Canada and Further North & Morley Lake
By Lukas:
The next morning, we hit the road. First, some stops for camping equipment and some more supplies were
required. Especially for the bears, we had to buy some equipment. Apparently, these animals have an
amazing smell and REALLY like the food that humans eat. So, we bought a bear-canister, a super tough
plastic barrel, where you have to store food more than 30 meters away from your tent. It was really
expensive, and we wondered if this was really necessary.
We drove across the border and reached Vancouver in the afternoon. Tomas and I both studied (and met) at
the University of Waterloo, close to Toronto. Being back in Canada for the first time since 6.5 years,
we had to do the most Canadian thing possible: go to Tim Hortons (the Canadian Starbucks) and get a
coffee and the typical sweets (Timbits – fried, sugary balls of doughnut dough) and enjoy these at the
bay with a great view of Vancouver Downtown and hydro-planes taking off from the water. What a nice
start for our time in Canada and what nostalgia!
We continued on a spectacular highway along the coast, featuring fjords, steep cliffs, and dense forests
past the skiing area of Whistler up to a small town. There, we had chicken wings for dinner and saw our
first bear: a black bear roaming the city. Maybe buying that bear canister was really necessary in the
end!
The next three days, we drove up all the way to the city of Whitehorse, located in the far north Yukon
Territory. We took the less used alternative to the famous Alaska Highway – the Stewart-Cassiar Highway,
which is closer to the mountains and features beautiful views of the mountain range, the dense forests
of pine and birch trees, and many lakes on the way. And in one day, we saw !!21!! black bears (about 10
of them being cute young cubs), along the road, eating there totally relaxed. That was both amazing to
see but also raised concerns about the campsite safety. So far, we are still alive and unharmed, though
:-)
On the way, we took an afternoon detour to the small “cities” (I would rather call them villages)
Stewart and Hyder (which is already located in the very south of Alaska) to visit the Salmon Glacier, a
huge glacier that carries the name due to the vast amount of salmon swimming in the rivers below it. We
could really see hundreds and thousands of really big fish swimming in small, shallow rivers – amazing!!
(FYI: at the end of their lifetime, salmon return from the ocean all the way upstream of the same river
where they originally spawned. Usually an amazing journey over thousands of kilometers)
We slept all the nights at beautiful campsites, mostly located at lakes and well-maintained. These are
so-called recreation sites that are self-served camping sites, where you get very basic toilets and a
spot with benches and a fireplace. Usually these cost between 12–15 Dollars, but some of them are also
for free.
By Tomas:
Nějak jsme zaspali a probudila nás až startující helikoptéra v 8 hodin. Ranní rutina se začíná zrychlovat. Doplnili jsme vodu a vystartovali směr Whitehorse v Yukonu. Cílem je dnes ukrojit cca 800 km. Během pauzy na oběd jsme našli krásné jezero u silnice, najedli se a zaplavali. Pokračovali jsme několik hodin, kdy se kromě pár zaznamenaných medvědů u silnice nic nestalo. Zakončili jsme putování o trochu dřív, než obvykle, a kolem 5 hodiny jsme již seděli na kempovacích židlích u krásného jezera Morley Lake. Udělali jsme si odpočinkový večer, zapálili ohýnek a četli si. Večer jsem nahodil udičku do jezera, ale bez úspěchu. Nějak během cestování hodně spím, což je zvláštní, klidně i 10 hodin. Asi je třeba si pořádně odpočinout.