August 21
64mi/103km
2800ft/853m elevation gain
It was a warmer morning than yesterday, and we did partake in the free coffee, which was as expected, not horrible and not amazing. The shop let us fill our water bottles from their spigot.
It was a cloudy morning and the sky spit at us off and on without ever properly raining. All morning we had awesome mountain views.
In one straight section, we could see an animal in the road ahead. I got the binoculars out and saw what looked like a grizzly cub. It sat in the road for a moment before going off the road to the left. A car came past and the bear darted back across the street, we assumed toward its mother. We decided to dismount and approach loudly and slowly from the left side of the road. As we got closer, a big bear popped out from the woods, this time undoubtedly a grizzly. It turned toward us for a moment, then turned and ran. Exactly what you want a bear to do when it sees you. We continued cautiously and loudly on foot, just because we didn’t want to trigger any chase instinct, in case the bear was still nearby. After a few more vehicles passed we got back on the bikes with a good reminder to stick closer together throughout the day.
We stopped for a late lunch at a free campground. It was a steep downhill to get to, and all but one site was occupied. Some looked like they had been camping there for some time. Pieces of the picnic table were in the fire pit. We were really missing those nice campgrounds in the Yukon, and regretted the steep climb back to the road. Not worth it.
In the evening we were not seeing many good places to camp off the road, and although we knew there was a campground ahead, we worried that it might be full, as this is the weekend.
We ventured down another steep road that went down to the shore of Dease Lake, hoping there would be suitable camping, to find a couple vehicles with boat trailers. Otherwise it was empty, with a picnic table and pit toilet, a few flat spots and fire rings, and lovely lake views.
The boaters left, but some other people came down to swim in the lake. We didn’t expect to see people arriving at 8pm, but it does stay light out until nearly 10. Despite the crowd, the campsite we have is secluded and we enjoyed the views to the lake, and soon enough everyone left. A van came down to camp, and it’s always nice to have a little extra company in bear country.
