We got a late start getting away from Prince George but that was ok as we were in no particular hurry to get anywhere. We spent some time trying to set the carbs on Jim's Virago and to seal the oil leak he developed on the way up. Jim's Yamaha was to determined to give us trouble the whole trip but we tried not to let that get us down.
After a few games of pool in Vanderhoof we proceeded on to Beaumont Provincial Park at Fraser lake, where we set up camp for the night. The next day was nice and sunny so we decided to put on some miles and stopped only to get gas and something to eat. We stopped at Moricetown for a while and watched the natives catching salmon as they went through the canyon. Somewhere around there is a spot that is called idiot's rock. You are guaranteed to catch a fish but we were not into that kind of fishing.
In places, the river followed the road, but we only stopped a few times as the immense size of it was overwhelming and not our usual type of fishing water. At a creek mouth we stopped for a few minutes and made a few casts. I landed a dolly that was a couple of pounds, and hooked a few salmon smolts.
While looking for a place to camp we took a side road that went down close to the river. It was very rough and very steep so I decided not to go down with my Goldwing and managed to get turned around and back up to the top. Jim went to the bottom only to discover that his battery was dead and the bike wouldn't start once he shut it off. I had to take the battery out of my Goldwing and bring it down to his bike to get it started and then climb back up the hill with his dead battery. After a short rest we carried on.
Not far past the Kitwanga turn off the weather turned bad and we took shelter in a rest stop. There we met a couple from Kitimat that was riding a new Goldwing. When we said we were looking for a Park to camp in, they lead us to Lakelse Park between Terrace and Kitimat. It was a nice park with showers and everything so we stayed there two nights while we checked out the local towns and rivers. We fished the Kitimat river but caught nothing then fished a little river that ran into Lakelse and caught a few cutthroats.
From Terrace to Prince Rupert the river turns into a large estuary and we stopped to check out an old abandoned tug boat and to have some grilled cheese sandwiches in one of the rest stops. We checked out a few local lakes around Port Edward and the visited the Cannery Museum. It was neat to see how the fishery worked in the early years. It was getting late and the rain had locked in so we set up camp at a private site in Prince Rupert for the night. The following day we checked into a motel to dry out and to have a good nights sleep before we got on the ferry the next morning. Without to much trouble we boarded the ferry and spent 18 hours cruising down the inside passage. Between napping, eating, and watching movies we whiled away the hours. At about 11:00 p.m. we landed in Port Hardy, quickly set up camp in a private campground and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke to pouring rain and broke camp kinda wet. After breakfast in Port Hardy and another attempt to get the Virago running properly, we proceeded down the Island. We stopped briefly in Campbell River to visit brother Bill then made our way to the Nanimo ferry. A quick departure and we were on our way back to the mainland. We decided to swap batteries again as Jim's was run down again. It was then that we discovered the ground wire that was not connected. Could this lousy wire be the source of all our frustrations? Sure enough, the bike ran great from Horseshoe Bay to home that night. This time Hutch's Road Kill Tour had ended on a good note!