After a very short night’s sleep due to a structure fire that kept us up until well after 3 am, my host from Prince Rupert Fire Dept;

Rupert fire

DC Jeff Beckwith dropped me off at the Inland Air Charters Float Plane Base and I boarded a 1960’s vintage De Havilland Beaver for the flight to Masset, Hiada Gwaii.

Once on the ground, I loaded up the Kona Wo and looked for the Mile Zero sign and a quick breakfast then headed south on snowy Highway 16. I had first tracks for over 10k; 6 inches of fresh powder on the road and no traffic; in fact I was passed by less than 30 vehicles all the way down to Skidegate. The sparse traffic was a bonus as the conditions for the most part were sketchy, cold, snowy, fog, ice and gusty headwinds when I reached the east coast. The lady I spoke to in the restaurant at breakfast said it rarely gets below zero this time of year and seldom snows at all, she figured the bad weather was a gift, just for me, lol

A few hours down 16 is the small town of Port Clements, where I checked out the fire hall and had a cup of coffee and a Nanaimo Bar at Harmonies Café with Kaz a local volunteer firefighter and village Councillor. Port Clements is famous for its Nanaimo Bars and for “Jasper Street” .

Finally after more than 8 hours and 130 km’s I arrived in Queen Charlotte City just before dark with a sore butt and a big appetite. The Kono Wo and some of my gear was absolutely covered in frozen slush ice, which made a bit of a mess in the motel room when it thawed out. First stop in Charlotte after getting the room was for a beer and a burger and finally a hot bath!

Up at 6:30 am to get back to Skidigate to board the ferry by 7:30 for the trip back to Rupert for a (hopefully) quite night at the Prince Rupert Fire Hall.