Best of...after 12 weeks

Normally when Mike and I travel, we like to talk about the highlights of the trip. Given that we are going to be gone for a year though, we worried we would forget about some of thing things we had seen and done in the beginning (even going through our list 12 weeks in, we had some “oh yeah, I forgot about that" moments too). Anyway here is our best of for this first portion of the journey:

Best hike
Mike – Chilkoot Trail (Skagway, AK to Bennett Lake, BC)
“53 km of awesome”

Kim – Dover Creek Trail (Haida Gwaii – Sandspit Island)
“Hiking in Haida Gwaii is just really calm and peaceful”

Best mountain bike

Mike – Crow’s Nest Pass or Terrace or Burns Lake or Williams Lake or Salmon Arm or Whitehorse or Rossland….etc, etc, etc

Kim – Ellison Provincial Park (Vernon, BC)
“A just right challenge ride for me.

Best downtown to walk around

Mike - Smithers , BC

Kim – Rossland, BC

Best campground (free)

Mike – Kenai Lake (Cooper Landing, AK)
Kim – Grey Bay Recreation Area (Haida Gwaii, BC)

“The campsite walkway leads to what feels like your own private beach”

Best campground (paid)

Mike - Kager Lake Recreation Area (Burns Lake, BC)

“Technically free but I put money in the donation box because I loved the mountain biking there so much”

Kim – Bare Loon Lake (on the Chilkoot Trail)

“Probably all about the weather but after being rained on for over 24 hours, we arrived to Bare Loon Lake and sunshine.  Also, since it was day 4 of the 5 day hike, we had gotten to know the hikers It felt like we were all celebrating the sunshine and our last night on the trail with them.  It definitely felt more like “Happy Camp” than the previous campsite we stayed at on the trail called “Happy Camp”.

Best visitors centre

Mike – Williams Lake, BC

Kim – Williams Lake, BC

Best scenic drive

Mike – the drive into Stewart BC from highway 37

“Mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and rivers gallore”

Kim – the drive to Cypress Hills Provincial Park (Saskatchwan)

“Having driven highway #1 from Kenora to Moose Jaw many many many times, I had no idea this crazy hilly place existed”

**EDIT: We wrote this prior to doing the Top of the World Highway from Chicken, AK to Dawson City YT and we both decided the Top of the World Highway is the best drive so far. You literally feel like you are on the top of the world.

Best beach

Mike – Agate Beach (Naikoon Provincial Park – Haida Gwaii, BC)

Kim – Carcross, YT

Best pool

Mike – Canada Games Complex (Whitehorse, YT)

Kim – Canada Games Complex (Whitehorse, YT)

Best farmers market

Mike – Terrace, BC

Kim – Whitehorse, YT

Best attraction (free)

Mike – mountain biking anywhere that has trails

Kim – Writing on Stone Provincial Park (Alberta)

best attraction (paid)

Mike – Barkerville Historic Site, BC

Kim – Haida Heritage Centre(Haida Gwaii, BC)

Best side road that we are glad we took

Mike – Hyder AK - the dirt road drive up to the Salmon Glacier

Kim – Barkervile Historic Site

Best hot springs

Mike – Nisga’a Provincial Park

Kim – Ainsworth Hot Springs

Best community garden

Mike – Burns Lake, BC

Kim – Burns Lake, BC

Best restaurant/bakery/coffee shop

Mike – Fukasaku Sushi Restaurant (Prince Rupert, BC)

“Vegetarian rolls with brie cheese, walnuts and fire roasted wild mushrooms = yum”

Kim – Village Bakery (Haines Junction, YT)