Day 39, August 19...Smithers, BC to Prince George, BC

I left Smithers this morning to cloudy skies, slightly higher temperatures, and hardly had any rain at all.  I headed east on Hwy 16 through rolling countryside with the occaisional larger mountain.  The area has a number of small towns scattered every 30-40 miles, with none of them being very big.  About 85 miles east of Smithers is the first town of any consequence, Burns Lake.  Burns Lake is located on the shores of...Burns Lake, which evidently has a lot of fish in it because I saw lots of boats.  Actually, a pretty nice little town and I stopped for coffee there.

Here are a couple shots along the way between Smithers and Burns Lake:

About 75 miles east of Burns Lake is the little town of Vanderhoof, which doesn't amount to much.  However, just before you reach Vanderhoof, there is a turnoff going north (Hwy 27) to the town of Fort St. James, on Stuart Lake.  There actually is a fort, although it was never a military installation.  It was a fur trading post established in 1806 by the North West Company, which later merged with the Hudson's Bay Company.  Many of the buildings on the fort are at least partially original, and each building had a docent in costume describing the usage of each building.  It was nicely done and worth the 60-mile side-trip to get there and back.

Here are a few pictures:

This is Stuart Lake itself, which through streams and some portages, connects to the Pacific Ocean eventually.  

Here are a few pics of the buildings that have been restored:

This is my new best buddy, Jim.  Jim is relaxing in a "prototype Barcalounger complete with bear skin upholstery" and enjoying a bottle of cheap, rot-gut whiskey:

Jim was pretty interesting.  He's a local artsy-type guy and I'd like to have spent the afternoon with him.

I did have one big disappointment today, though.  I missed the Chicken Races at Ft. St. James.  Here, though, are the contestants resting and fueling up for tomorrow's event:

I think the turkey might have an unfair advantage.

I'm in Prince George for the night and will be heading to Jasper for tomorrow night.

Miles today:  303
To Date:  9,301