Yellowhead Highway to Smithers, BC

We stocked up on groceries in Prince George on Friday morning and headed west.  My tentative plan had us stopping for the night in McBride, but we decided to push a little further, spending the night in Beaumont Provincial Park near Fort Fraser instead.

The weather has suddenly and miraculously turned sunny and about twenty degrees warmer.  Summer has finally arrived!  After a picnic lunch, we went for a stroll around the campground and nearby Fraser Lake.  The Provincial Parks in BC are very nice and well-maintained, similar to the state parks in Arizona.  Everything was clean, the sites had freshly raked gravel – it was just a really pleasant place.  We were one of the first people to arrive but we could see that many of the sites had been reserved in advance for the weekend.  Many, but not all, so I am a little less concerned about making reservations ahead of time – even without a reservation I think we got a pretty nice spot – tucked into a grove of aspen and surrounded by fluffy white dandelion seed heads.

We continued westward today, stopping briefly in the town of Burns Lake, then continuing on to Smithers, where we will stay the night.  Excellent.  Homer, AK – here we come!

Photo courtesy of The Simpsons.

I thought there wouldn’t be much to see in the towns along this route, but I guess I spoke too soon.  We saw the world’s largest fly fishing rod today in Burns Lake, so that was exciting. 

And actually, Smithers is a pretty cool little town.  We got here just in time for the farmers market, although at this time of year (too soon for vegetables) it was more like the crafters market.  Then we took a walk around the very quaint Main Street before heading to our campground for the night – it’s right on the edge of the golf course, so hopefully the van doesn’t get dented by any stray golf balls.