The guys taking John’s bike to Smithers wanted to leave early so we were all out there and ready to go at 0700.  It was COLD – the coldest it’s been so far.  Since John was going down in a truck Rich & I took the opportunity to unload our bikes and enjoy the ride “chase truck style.”  Thank God for Gerbings – if you ever need heated gear, that’s the stuff to get.  It was raining, my boots were soaked and the temp was in the high 30’s – I was still nice and cozy in my Gerbings.  Of course there are plenty of other things to make you uncomfortable when you’re riding in the rain – like knowing that your rear tire is just about bald, the rain hitting you in the face & the reduced visibility you get because you have rain on the outside and inside of your glasses.  Things like that.

There were a lot of bears out today.  We were told that the salmon are about to start running up that river and that’s why they are hanging around.  I only saw black bears but Rich saw two Grizzlies, one of them even stood up on his back feet.  Rich said that made him really nervous but instead of making a threatening gesture, he just waved as Rich rode by.  I would have liked to be on this road on a clear day, the guy that hauled John’s bike said the road runs through what they call Canada’s Grand Canyon; hard to tell though when the clouds are so low & it’s raining.

Dease Lake to Smithers is only about 375 miles but I decided to take a side trip to Stewart to see Bear Glacier.  It wasn’t anything spectacular but pretty cool.  I took a few pictures that I still haven’t gotten around to developing, been too busy with the ride blog and just too tired at the end of the day to edit pictures.  Everyone wants to see more pics though so I think I’ll try to get at least some of that done tonight.

One of the reasons we came to Smithers is because there is a Harley dealer in town and we need new tires Rich didn’t take the side trip so he got his bike in first, he got front and back tires and brake pads.  My bike won’t go in until the morning – but they said first thing, you know how that goes.  Check-out time here is 1100, we’ll be lucky to make that.  Okay – time for dinner.