2014/06 Haida Gwaii trip - Kleanza Creek |
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Wednesday June 18th
A bright morning turned damp so we hit the road early, needing to put on the miles. We found Sunset Lake for morning coffee but failed dismally in trying to find the Bulkley River recreation area for lunch; map, description, signposts, and GPS all disagreed and we ended up on a narrow track, blocked by a locked farm gate. The Bulkley River overlook just before the town of Smithers was easier to find.
This area has some dramatic mountain scenery and Hudson Bay Mountain dominates the town. We’ve explored the area before so we moved on to Moricetown, where the Bulkley River crashes through a narrow gorge. The local Indians have an efficient process for netting steelhead and chinook salmon and rapidly gutting and smoking them. We were at least a couple of weeks too early for this so it was just a scenic quiet spot. We’d check it out again on our way home.
Back on the highway we saw a large black bear galloping across the road, definitely a bear with a mission. We passed the Hazeltons, home of the reconstructed K’san village, and Kitwanga, the junction with the Cassiar Highway, our favourite route to the Yukon. We stopped for this spectacular view of 
the Seven Sisters mountain range; the range is protected by a park but the only access is by some difficult hiking.
We followed the Skeena River valley towards Terrace and camped at Kleanza Creek, the site of an ancient gold mine. We hiked up to the top 
of the creek’s waterfall and out to the park’s boundary. It was getting late but it was a perfect sunny evening so we cooked burgers over a fire with the creek rushing past us.