After a nice dinner and evening with our friends in Prince George, we said adios to ‘Mr. PG’ and made our way Westbound on Highway 16 early on July 1. 
The Bear was in fine form after a rest day so was ready to log some serious road miles. We passed through several towns – Vanderhoof, Burns Lake, Houston – which all seemed to have fishing and boating as the primary attraction. This was clearly evidenced in Houston with the world’s largest fly rod.
The terrain along this stretch of highway is wooded and fairly flat but changes noticeably as you approach Smithers. Snow capped mountains appear quickly and provide an incredible backdrop to the town. We pulled into the municipal campground and it was better than expected – large grassy sites, free firewood and hot showers set adjacent to the river. The campground is just a 15 minute walk into town and is a bargain at 19 bucks a night.
After setting up, we walked into Smithers knowing that everything would be closed for the holiday but wanted to scout things out with the plan to return the following day. As the town has a strong German influence, there are several key places to check out.
So stay tuned for a post sausage review (along with a couple of good German bakeries) in the near future.
Interestingly, as we were driving along Highway 16, there were a lot of reports on the radio of bear activity in the area including a couple of attacks on humans. Luckily we have THE Bear on our side. Happy Canada Day!
Bear's Groove 