This view is looking southwards, the way we had come, with the highway on the left hand side.
The above sign is self-explanatory regarding the location of this airstrip.
Still at the same location, I am now standing at the side of the air strip, looking towards the east. After lunch, it was back on the road, heading northwards.
This is the Barrage River (you can just see a tiny bit of it in the picture), the rock pinnacles were the noted feature at this spot. We would now begin climbing in elevation again. About 2:oo pm we arrived at Kinaskan Provincial Park which is at the 365 km mark of the highway, or basically, half way up the Stewart Cassiar highway.
We drove down into the campsite, and as you can see, it was a case of 'winter on one side' 'spring on the other'. 
We found a site on the 'spring' side of the road. All the sites on that side of the road back right onto the lake. 
This is Kinaskan Lake....this was the view from our campsite, looking towards the northern part of the lake.
and this was the view looking southwards from the same spot. Note the snow along the shoreline a little further down. (By the way, these 2 pictures illustrate rather dramatically the difference between a picture taken using an SLR digital camera and a normal, still good quality 'point and shoot' type camera. The first picture being taken with the SLR as are most of the pictures I am posting on this blog) Getting back to Kinaskan, we talked to the park operator and she said the ice had come off the lake the day before (May 27), she said that was the latest date she could remember and she'd lived there for 25 years and operated this campground for 17. It was a beautiful warm day, irregardless of the snow laying around.
These 'Coltsfoot' were the only flowers I could find and there was just one small patch of them growing in a particularly sunny, sheltered spot.
There were, however, birds....lots and lots of birds. I've been mentioning Wilson's Warblers for some time now, well here, because the shrubs had yet to leaf out, I finally managed a few pictures of them. I didn't manage to get any of the McGillvary's Warblers, or the Orange Crowned Warblers, that were also in the same spot.
another Wilson's Warbler picture. These little guys are very small and very active....getting them to hold still long enough for a portrait is a challenge!
I had noticed that the park operator had a Hummingbird feeder hanging from one of the wood sheds and that there was a lot of activity around that feeder, so I quickly hung out my own and it didn't take long for this female Rufous Hummingbird to make use of it. Note the Pussy Willows!
Another Warbler I found here was the Townsend's Warbler....this was the best shot I managed of one of those.
Addendum: Approximately 2 weeks after we traveled this route a mud slide came down over the highway. I don't know the exact location, except that it was south of Bob Quinn Airport. The highway was closed for several days. Mudslides on B.C. roads aren't an unusual occurrence, what does make a slide on a road like the Stewart/Cassiar a bit different, is that there is no alternative route to create a detour. This is the reason that when you are traveling in areas such as this, you can't be in a hurry and you must be prepared with enough food, water etc. so that when an event such as this happens, you can simply wait it out. 
only a few vehicles were allowed through at a time......
another view taken June 15th.....
These 'Coltsfoot' were the only flowers I could find and there was just one small patch of them growing in a particularly sunny, sheltered spot.
There were, however, birds....lots and lots of birds. I've been mentioning Wilson's Warblers for some time now, well here, because the shrubs had yet to leaf out, I finally managed a few pictures of them. I didn't manage to get any of the McGillvary's Warblers, or the Orange Crowned Warblers, that were also in the same spot.
another Wilson's Warbler picture. These little guys are very small and very active....getting them to hold still long enough for a portrait is a challenge!
I had noticed that the park operator had a Hummingbird feeder hanging from one of the wood sheds and that there was a lot of activity around that feeder, so I quickly hung out my own and it didn't take long for this female Rufous Hummingbird to make use of it. Note the Pussy Willows!
Another Warbler I found here was the Townsend's Warbler....this was the best shot I managed of one of those.All in all we were very impressed with this campground and could understand why it is one of our friends (the one's we met in Ten Mile but that live in Terrace, B.C.) favorite spots.
Campground Fee: $7.50 (we were given the seniors rate) Total distance traveled to date: 1,641 km.
Addendum: Approximately 2 weeks after we traveled this route a mud slide came down over the highway. I don't know the exact location, except that it was south of Bob Quinn Airport. The highway was closed for several days. Mudslides on B.C. roads aren't an unusual occurrence, what does make a slide on a road like the Stewart/Cassiar a bit different, is that there is no alternative route to create a detour. This is the reason that when you are traveling in areas such as this, you can't be in a hurry and you must be prepared with enough food, water etc. so that when an event such as this happens, you can simply wait it out.
As it happens, our friends were at Kinaskan when the slide occurred. They took the following pictures as they headed home, once the road opened to one way traffic......
These pictures were taken on June 15th, 2009
These pictures were taken on June 15th, 2009
only a few vehicles were allowed through at a time......
another view taken June 15th.....our friends returned home for a week and then headed back up to spend another week at the park (like I said it is their favorite spot)
The above picture, taken June 25th shows that the slide area was still being worked on.
The above picture, taken June 25th shows that the slide area was still being worked on.
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