‘O, (so beautiful) Canada!

The scenery since we have entered Canada has been absolutely stunning! It seems like every ten minutes some gorgeous new mountain or river reveals itself. And because of the gigantic scale of the mountains we can never seem to take it all in! Only the panoramic pictures express how majestic and vast are the western Canadian landscapes. Probably our favorite sight so far has been the glaciers of Stewart and Hyder, They look like beautiful frozen rivers frozen as they rushed down the mountain side.

Not to be outdone, the wildlife has also been exciting to watch. So far we have seen: a moose, a mother black bear with two cubs, a fox, marmots, Canada geese with a gosling, a duck with two ducklings, and at least one bald eagle! The moose and bears were definitely special for us, unfortunately, no pictures of the bears (mama was a little shy).

And finally, the best part of Canada, the people! We have been shown so much hospitality and kindness from strangers it is truly humbling. From encounters at gas stations and rest stops to our first ever Couchsurfing experience (Thanks David!) and especially our newly adopted family in Iskut (Hi Dave, Merrilu, Corey, Danielle, and Alex!) we have been overwhelmed. The people of Canada we have met love to tell stories, have an adventurous spirit and love to share the natural wonders of their country with visitors. We have also enjoyed a connection and camaraderie with many motorcyclists packed for long travels like us along the side of the road or hiding out under shelter during a freezing rain storm.

We also tackled our first long section of off-road for this trip. A 60 mile series of roads near Whistler, BC known as Highline Drive Trail. The road was fairly challenging, but we had no incidents, the views were truly spectacular and we practically had the road all to ourselves.

One of the things we have been doing on this trip is making a point to attend church in whatever small town we happen to be in at the time. It has been a wonderful and encouraging experience every time. Even though we are visiting this churches seemingly at random, the sermons always seem to be relevant for our current circumstances! At one church, the sermon was given by a missionary visiting from Bolivia. We got her contact information and plan to reunite in Bolivia next year! It is also great to fellowship with so many different people and see how much we have in common for all our perceived ‘differences’!

Right now we are in the city of Whitehorse located in the Yukon of Canada. From here we will head towards Klaune National Park and then Fairbanks, Alaska.

Thank you for sharing in our adventure and if our path comes near your home and you want to meet, please let us know (we might need to do laundry while we visit though :)!

In the Yukon and awed by the grandeur of creation,

Chris & Sharon

p.s. – I have added a map of our route that covers from Maple Valley, WA to Whitehorse, YT.  It can be seen under “Routes”