July 31 Disappointment in Nugget City

Smoky Sunset

Mother Nature changed our plans once again. First they told us the Cassiar Hwy would open at 11pm last night so we made plans to leave at 5am this morning, but when we awoke at 3:30am they said the opening had been delayed until 7:30am. After breakfast we packed up, gassed up the truck and headed for the Cassiar Hwy turn off, arriving about 5:00AM.

Smoke from fire

 At 7:00AM the forestry workers arrived, ate breakfast then told us they were going to drive south checking out the road as they went, and if it was OK they would bring up the people waiting on the south end of the closure and we could go through when they got back around 9:00am.

Lined up on Cassiar Hwy

 A couple of semi trucks came through northbound about 9 but no one else.

Smoke over Alaska Hwy

 After several minutes of waiting Nancy and I decided to cut our losses and head home rather than waste another day in Nugget City so we started saying our goodbyes to the rest of the caravan (except 3 couples who had already left). Just as we were getting ready to leave we got word that cars were coming through from the south and we could head south in 30 minutes so we decided to wait some more. Soon a large convoy of cars, trucks and motorcycles started coming through. After they all came through a forestry worker stopped and told us that the road was closed again due to flare ups and the situation did not look good. At this point several couples, including us, decided to head home so the caravan leader decided to take the entire caravan back down the Alaska Hwy and we all headed for Ft. Nelson.

We drove through heavy smoke for several miles. Haze and smoke was present most of the day making the northern Rockies look like the southern Smokies.

The 300 mile drive wasn't too bad except for one long gravel construction zone about 50miles west of Ft. Nelson.

We paid $1.79/liter for gas ($6.48/gal !!!) at a lodge near Liard HotSprings. They don't have any nearby competition so I guess they figure they can charge what they want. We bought just enough to get us to Ft. Nelson.

It was warm today with temps getting into the low 80's for the first time since we left.

Sunset last night was about 10:30pm and sunrise was about 5am so we are seeing some darkness now.

Yoda and his friends decided to have a goodbye party.

It did not end well.

Sitting in Safeway parking lot to post this, no WIFI for 3 nights