Our stop in Dease Lake was truly amazing and since we spent four days there, we’ll write a little more about our adventures and excursions. After our second night at the Dease River Crossing camping, we set out southwest towards Telegraph Creek and the Edziza Provincial Park which is the home of several dormant or extinct volcanoes.

Pointy mountain in the distance

Every morning, despite our best efforts we seem to not be able to hit the road before 10:30 so in an attempt to get an early start we rushed so much that Victoria had to bring her coffee in a portable cup in the car. Well, she didn’t get to enjoy much of it as Robert put the cup onto the roof of the car while packing and then we drove off. We had driven a few minutes when we heard a loud ‘clunk’ and the second the cup hit the road we remember what it was. However, Robert stopped and found the poor cup in the ditch!

Robert found the coffee mug!

New attempt to get going…. We really wanted to see some moose as everybody had kept telling us that this is ‘moose country’. Signs were everywhere warning for ‘wildlife’ and moose, so how hard could it be to get a glimpse of the king of the forest? Our eyes were peeled in search for the elusive moose and as we headed down the gravel road towards Telegraph Creek we saw something in the bush! We excitedly peered through the trees and saw this:

A moose? Not exactly....

Unless there are black and white moose, this was not quite what we were looking for. It turned out that the black and white moose was a horse! So we have driven hundreds of miles into the Canadian wilderness to see a horse!?

On the way to Telegraph Creek we crossed into Stikine River Provincial Park which is the home to the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. A very steep, narrow, serpentine unpaved road took us first down to the river bed and then up again through the mountains. The landscape is fascinating as the mountains are formed by volcanic activity that the Stikine River over millions of years has cut through to create an amazing canyon. After the disappointment with the horses, Robert was now looking for a mountain goat but all we saw were white rocks what kind of looked like goats for a distance. In fact, we have seen very little wildlife or at least less than we expected.

The Grand Canyon of Canada. Very impressive

Volcanic landscape

Stikine River

Telegraph Creek is a surprisingly developed community with a police station, school and school bus service! Unfortunately, to get any closer to the volcanoes which we could see in the distance we would have to hike by foot as the area is not developed for traffic.
As we haven’t been lucky with the fishing (yes, answer to the question what we had for dinner the other night was store bought food), we decided to spend the following day to explore the little lakes in the area.

Old log house in Telegraph Creek

We drove north to Boya Provincial Park by Boya Lake. It is truly an amazing lake! At an altitude of 3,000 feet (about 1,000 meters) this lake has crystal clear water that is as blue as any water you would find in the Caribbean! We could even see the fish and how uninterested they were in our attempts to catch them!

Not the Caribbean but almost...... only a little bit colder and on an altitude of about 3,000 feet

Despite our hard efforts, the fish didn’t even take a nibble. We tried everything including attracting the fish with bread. The only thing that ate the bread was some kind of fearless little birds that shamelessly snatched the slice right in front of us!

The view compensated for not catching any fish

Two little fearless birds stealing our bread!

As this would be the perfect opportunity to go for a swim, Victoria felt ‘obligated’ to go for a dip. How could you give up on such a treat? However, as strange as it may sound, Victoria is actually quite scared of swimming in lakes. She much rather swim in the big scary ocean and get nibbled on by a shark or a seal than venturing out in a lake with ‘who knows what’ is lurking at the bottom.

Victoria ready to swim

Yes- this is Canada, not the Caribbean!

Even when wearing a full body wetsuit, the water was FREEZING!!!!! When she finally got in she must have set a new Boya Lake record in swimming from point A to point B which was a distance of about 800 meters! She did admit afterwards though that the swim was one of the most amazing ones she’s ever done. The water was so clear and when it got too deep to see the bottom it was like floating in an aquamarine coloured universe! Sounds poetic and if she hadn’t been so afraid of being eaten by the Boya Lake monster or getting hypothermia, the swim was perfect! To all swimmer friends: highly recommended as one of the most amazing open water swims you will ever do!

Victoria is swimming towards the dock

No lake creatures ate Victoria- thank goodness

On the way from Boya Lake back to the camp, we took a little side track straight into the woods to Hot Lake. Not sure what gave the lake its name. It didn’t seem particularly warm and it wasn’t hot for fishing either…. Once again we returned to the tent with nothing to show for…

Bumpy dirt road to Hot Lake

View over Hot Lake

The next morning we set off to Whitehorse in the Yukon! We only made a couple of stops; one of them at the junction of highway 37 and the Alaska highway.

Different modes of transportation: motor cycle or a home on wheels..

Restaurant at the junction joining highway 37 and the Alaska highway

The landscape has now changed from the wet rainforest of central B.C. to more of an alpine environment with sparse and short trees and big mountains! We reached Whitehorse in early evening and found a really nice Bed & Breakfast where we will spend the night. More to come as our brains are exhausted from looking at too much highway today. Apologies for the somewhat dry and boring report. More to come shortly! Good night folks!

written by  Victoria & Robert on September 14, 2009 from Telegraph Creek, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
Send a Compliment

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I am sure the mooses take a lunch nap when you arrive. You need to get up early or go out in twilight. Here they love to cross the roads at dawn or twilight. This year there are less mooses and I appreciate that when driving.
I love your reports
Maud

written by  Maud Naess on September 15, 2009

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Dear Victoria, incredible as you swim 800 meters in freezing water of Boya Lake. Sounds very interesting. each cast :D

the pictures are very interesting.
The Grand Canyon of Canada and the Volcanic Landscape are verry beautiful pictures.

written by  Aida Cosic on November 12, 2009

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