The extra rest day in Stewart worked out well for both of us. Because the village was so small and you could hardly miss us with our packed bikes, we got talking to lots of people and were delighted to meet Salome, Dan, Renée and Don again. When we had a coffee in Meziadin Junction the next day, we knew half the customers at the petrol station. A sign that it was time to move on😉?!

The remaining 150 kilometers on the Cassiar Highway didn’t offer much new scenery, but the forest was far more beautiful in the sunshine😊. The totem poles in Gitanyow and Kitwanga provided a great change of scenery too. On the Yellowhead Highway there was more traffic, but a wider shoulder and more places to stop for refreshments. Shortly after leaving the pretty town of Smithers we cooked our dinner at a picnic table by the river and then wanted to head off into the bush somewhere. However, we didn’t have to search for a campsite because Kaylee was on her way home from work when she spotted us and spontaneously invited us to spend the night in her garden. This included picking fresh berries and being fed with peas by her son😊. Wonderful surprises like this made a not particularly exciting ride very special after all.

Despite the excellent tailwind, we took a rest day in Fraser Lake as the library’s WiFi and the free campsite by the lake were so convenient. The road to Prince George was quite unpleasant with lots of logging trucks and a narrow shoulder in places. We didn’t find the town of Prince George to be a gem either. Obviously, the town is a transportation hub and serves as a supply station for a large area. Accordingly, shopping malls, fast food restaurants and car dealerships dominated the scene outside the small town center.

After two more days of cycling, we reached the village of McBride despite a persistent headwind. The open Robson Valley with wide fields and striking mountain ranges on the horizon made this place a particularly pretty spot. Mike, who bought a huge plot of land here with a great view, probably thought so too. He is so proud of his beautiful piece of land that he likes to show it to other people. That’s why he invited us to admire the magnificent panorama from his farm and spend the night there. Without hesitation, we gladly accepted this offer and enjoyed the evening on the veranda of his cabin, which was still under construction.

While chatting, it turned out that the Gasser family lives on the other side of the river. Exactly the same Swiss-Canadian Gassers with whom I spent a month on their sheep farm in southern British Columbia 20 years ago (…yes, time flies that fast👵). Of course we went to see them the next morning! The Gassers only remembered me by name, but the coffee we shared on the garden patio was still very convivial and cozy.

We were eagerly looking forward to our next visit and a longer stopover in Jasper. In 2005, after my stay with the Gassers, this is where I ended up. Since then, I have made friends and have many happy memories of the place. As we entered the village, we saw the devastation left behind by a catastrophic forest fire last summer. Around a third of the village had been burnt down and only charred trunks remained of the huge areas of forest to the south and west. Many people live in temporary cabins and numerous businesses are housed in barracks. We also picked up my friend Nicole from work in a temporary modular building. Fortunately, her house was spared from the fire and looked as good as ever. Her mother Elisabeth greeted us in the green garden with “welcome home” and that’s how it felt. Everything was familiar and homely, including the pictures in the newly furnished guest room, which has now been our home for ten days.

As if I had never been away, we immediately became part of the family. Nicole took us on walks and swimming in the lake, we were allowed to pick raspberries and harvest lettuce in the garden, clean the bicycles in the garage and celebrate our national holiday with many other Swiss people on August 1st. When Nicole’s father Edi returned from a three-day hike, he was full of energy and wanted to do lots of things with us. Due to the weather, we started with a visit to the Miette Hotsprings and postponed a beautiful hike to Boundary Lake and a great canoe tour on Maligne Lake until the following days. The latter was a challenge for our untrained arms. While David had to almost single-handedly move our canoe on the way back, Edi paddled easily around our ears in his kayak, even though he is more than twice our age. He is in top form and fitter than we are after three years of cycling!

Today’s rainy day was a good opportunity to dedicate ourselves to the blog. To be a little more productive, we wanted to sit down in the library. On the way there, we walked past the hostel and were spotted by Corine and Erwin. We had already been in touch when we bumped into them in the supermarket and chatted about our travels between the shelves. How nice to see them again! While Corine and Erwin continue their journey tomorrow, we enjoy the family company in my second home a little longer ❤️.