August 06, 2018
Today was a long drive and I made it to beautiful Boya Lake Provincial Park.
After leaving Atlin, BC, I drove into Yukon, into BC, into Yukon, into BC … and then I said good-bye to the Yukon as I was heading south on the Cassiar Highway in the northern part of BC. I drove for an hour and stopped at Boya Lake Provincial Park.
This was the most expensive campsite I have had to pay yet on this trip, $20.00CDN. It is a beautiful place and I got here around 4:30pm. The funny thing is while driving I hardly saw a vehicle and when I got into this campground it was almost full. Within half an hour the entire campsite was filled. Quite a few people drove through, but did not have a spot to camp.
While in Atlin, I truly enjoyed the Recreational Area by Atlin Lake. Not just because it was free, but because I could hear the lake waves lapping on the shore throughout the night … so peaceful.
In the morning, after breakfast, I headed back towards the town of Atlin and then turned right onto Surprise Lake Road. I drove for a little while looking for the ghost town of Discovery. I couldn’t find it anywhere.
I headed back to Atlin and fuelled up the truck. In Atlin, they need a sign that says population 250 and one grumpy old man. The guy that works at the gas station, or owns it, must be the Grumpy Old Man. I asked him how do I get to the old townsite of Discovery. He replied, “There’s nothing there.” In a gruffy voice.
I asked him again and he said up the road. LOL
I then asked him if he sold any ice and he said no. I had to ask him where I could buy the ice and he replied … are you ready for this … “At the grocery store.” HAHAHAHA
He must have saw the look on my face as I was getting pissed off. I was trying so hard to be nice to this guy. Well, he finally told me it was just the second building down from him. What a guy! LOL
When I went in to buy the ice the guy there was very nice and not only gave me clear directions of how to get to Discovery, but told me of an old powerplant that was built back in the 1920’s. He explained that he didn’t think anyone else had taken any photo’s of it.
I made my way to Discovery and finally found it. Where I turned the first time I was looking for it, it was just around the corner. LOL Funny, how I always said to my kids, “It’s just around the corner!” And in this case it truly was just around the corner. HaHaHa
There were about 6 old structures in this area with most of them completely flattened to the ground and making its way back to mother nature. Most of the buildings were moved from here to Atlin after Atlin had its second major fire town fire. Again, it was truly amazing to see how a town which was heavily populated disappear into dust.
I stopped at the Atlin Pioneer Cemetery and found this to be quite interesting.
One person was shot by accident, another froze to death, another drowned and so many more for various reasons.
I left Atlin around 10:40am and only stopped to take a few panoramic shots. Once I drove out of Atlin back to the AlCan Highway, I had come full circle from Yukon – Alaska. Now I need to drive 360km to get to the turnoff onto the Cassiar Highway … then it will be new scenery again. After 6 hours on the road I arrived at my destination, Boya Lake.
The road is much more narrower than the AlCan and does not have a painted line down the center. This will be a much slower pace getting south from here, but certainly will be worth the visit.