Stewart-Cassiar

In the first couple hundred miles of the Cassiar, we only saw about a handful of cars. The remoteness of the road made finding a spot to set up the tent easier than anywhere I’ve ever driven. Roadside pulloffs with nice camping almost always seemed too good to be true. I’ve found that the farther away you are from where people live, the easier it is to sleep at night because you don’t have to have worry about anyone disturbing you. During the day, we took our time to stop wherever we wanted, something I had never really felt like I had time to do. Not to say that the other trips have been motor marathons on interstates but this trip in particular had a relaxed feel. I made it a point to stop at every abandoned vehicle or structure I saw simply to imagine the stories of their past. We ran, swam, wrote letters, read, and explored.

The Stewart-Cassiar highway is British Columbia’s northwesternmost highway that cuts through some of most isolated terrain in the province. This time of year, dying leaves turn to their brilliant autumn reds, golds, yellows, and browns. The runs I went on were some of my most memorable ones just because of the changing leaves, especially on the aspens. Fall in British Columbia is comparably beautiful to fall time in New England. Sometime after talking about the beautiful fall colors, Lara asked me what places have left me speechless. My first answer I could give was the time I realized that I had finally made it west, in Newkirk, New Mexico. But I told her to hang on a bit while I thought a little more about it.

About midway down the Cassiar, we detoured west along a scenic branch, Highway 37a, towards Stewart, BC and Hyder, the easternmost town in Alaska. After a few minutes of driving we passed a massive glacier and lake on our left surrounded by towering mountain peaks. It was nearly impossible to keep my eyes on the road because of the incredible landscape that surrounded us. The mountains were draped with hanging glacial featured and crowned with snow. The place evoked a lot of feelings. We rounded a corner and I saw the most incredible waterfalls I had ever seen—Wall of Tears. It was as if their terminus’ were in the heavens above. Even though the sky was clear, the mountains were so tall that their cascading falls disappeared like long roads out into the horizon. I turned to Lara and said, “This.” This was one of those places that had left me speechless. What places have left you speechless?

Highlights: Running into Martin and learning about his incredible project: “Martin Goes ‘round the World” at the Bell 2 Lodge. Fall in British Columbia. Highway 37 and 37a. Abandoned places. Lakes. Glaciers. Mountain towns.