Day 22 Dease Lake to Gnat Pass

July 13, 2014

Good morning from Dease Lake!

Woke up, swam, watch trout jump out and into the lake. 

Used the fishing line the hitchhiker gave us in Tok to make this crude fishing pole. I could cast the line, but never quite figured out a good way to retrieve it or respool the line. Still a lot of fun.

 One way to cast it is to swim the lure out into the middle of the lake. I don't recommend that, as it scares away all the fish. And it's a lot of work on the swimmer's part.

A couple showed up to use the swimming hole. They had kayaks and dogs. The dogs got all our nice clean laundry all sandy again, and as an added bonus they shed some hair on our clothes, too.

We thought about having a rest day, but then we got itching to hit the road, so we did. We climbed up a steep, long hill and made it to the top of Gnat Pass.

Easy riding after that with some beautiful scenery. Tip for cyclists and roadside campers: Use the rubbish bins as bear proof containers by opening htem from the back and putting your bags behind the rubbish bags. If the bear bin is locked from the back, open it from the inside by lifting the bar.

A conversation I overheard:

While in Dease Lake, eating at the grocery store, we met a man from Luxembourg. He had a curly moustache, looked and acted exactly what I would expect a man from Luxembourg to look and act like. 

He started talking with a First Nation woman and somehow they ended up talking about construction or development that was being planned in the area. She was opposed to it, and he had a naive faith that human engineering would be able to solve any problem that may lie ahead of the project, and that the project would make the lives of everyone in the area better. 

I loved the woman because she thought exactly the same way I think, "You can't beat mother nature," she said, and talked about landslides that blocked off salmon runs. The man had an idea for transporting fish using nets and trucks and stuff, which sounds like an awful hassle considering the salmon would do all right if we just leave the river be. 

Then the man started telling the woman how much money could be made from the project, and how it would increase tourism by making all these ridiculous attractions to go along with the project. To this the woman said "It's always about money. I've tried the white man's way and it's too expensive."  

For her respect for nature and quiet resolve to fight the machine, I gave her a thumbs up behind the back of the Luxembourg man as I left. It was a fun conversation to overhear.

For being a very tense subject, she was very civil and respectful. I love Canadians, I've seen them behave way more decently towards difficult people than I would have expected, and never thought "Oh, that was one rude Canadian."