With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
from the National Anthem of Canada
Going out of the country Yukon and the long road drop to the banks of the impressive Yukon. 
A small ferry swings into the current dropping downstream moving in an arc. Grateful vehicles offload, followed by cautious cars embarking to Dawson. Sitting off bank the great paddle wheel SS Keno, dry docked, restored, watches as an imitation tours the river. Jack London‘s cabin, rebuilt partially from original logs, is a neighbor to Robert Service‘s (“The only society I like, is that which is rough and tough – and the tougher the better. 
That’s where you get down to bedrock and meet human people.”). On Church Street, the Church is an “unstable structure” and leaning to the right. A shaggy Ursus arctos grazes along Klondike Hwy. A long and winding road up and downs to Ethel Lake Campground. Fisherman cast from the dock, a group of men in a large camper offer beer admiring Golden Era. USB Bill Bryson: “A Short History of Nearly Everything”.
A suspended DC-3, serving as a weather vane, swings in the wind outside the Yukon Transportation Museum. Inside, a hornet engine(d) fokker F VII hangs over US Army trucks and Yukon history. But the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center travels further back in vast place and time history. A warm evening wind keeps Marsh Lake Campground mosquito free.
Facing downstream the stately SS Klondike (#2) similarly sits safe from the current along the Yukon. The river, seen again from the deck of a dry dock, is not discernibly less powerful in Whitehorse then in Dawson. On “walkabout” Whitehorse, an Old Log Church Museum has saved historical personal articles and artifacts reflecting the endearing influence of history.
Sergeant Preston of the Mounties with Yukon King his companion film loops in one building, an albino Alces alces, shot locally, mopes in post taxidermy pose on the first floor of another, a sheltered steam locomotive, its track days over outside in a small courtyard, all parts of the tardisesque Macbride Museum of Yukon History. Kwanlin Dun Cultural Center of the First Nation people, a sense of native. 
A location mistaken to be the the Yukon Art Centre turns out instead to be the Whitehorse Corrections Institute. A helpful corrections officer gives the correct directions with a recommendation for viewing more art on campus. 
More bored animals watch from behind fences at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. Ground squirrels chasing each other nearly pull off a between the legs run. A bluebird lands briefly on the fence and nearby, a ruddy duck with blue spoonbill feeds in the pond weeds. Marsh Lake Campground again for another lakeside rest.
At Johnson’s Crossing chipmunks tease Golden Era from among the rusting remains of US Army vehicles, derelicts of the the ALCAN construction. Listening to the lapping of Teslin Lake old landing for a short lie on the rocky beach before: out of Yukon, into BC, out of BC, into Yukon and out, for the last time, of Yukon into BC. 
Another Ursus arctos horribilis along the road almost playfully rolls in the grass. A bald eagle lifts from the road clutching some heavier carcass, barely clearing the pines before dropping out of view. Streaming such beauty is a constant along 37 south. Fresh moose tracks at French Creek Site along the fast Dease River, a short trail and a place to rest.
A nesting swallow watches from a shelter of Boya Provincial P.P. while Golden Era plunges, retriever mode into the jade blue waters of Boya Lake. 
Vetch, lupine and dandelion color passing roadside which has been uniformly trimmed ~ 40 yards to forest. Mountains with white hats crowd the forest into valleys and the road following, the terrain, drops, rises, declines to cross narrow bridges over waters, gains altitude and repeats. 
Meziadin Lake Provincial Park there is wifi! There are clouds of mosquitoes that have figured or found access to camper which becomes a killing field for the Anopheles and Culex sp. Rain is heavy all night.
Early morning clear skies reflect on the lake. Aforementioned pests drive motivation for continuous movement. Refueling plus additional purchase of repellent. 
Kitwanga to Terrace following the Skeena to Prince Rupert. Windows of the Museum of Northern British Columbia view the Port of Prince Rupert: an anchored tanker, fishing fleet, tour boats and an occasional ferry. A teashirt “I got Crabs at Dolly’s” walls the market and meal fare of the same name. A chowder gives gastric nirvana whose mantra is “yummmm”. 
Butze Rapids viewpoint trail provides a postprandial workout but no rapids as the tide is in. Easy sleep in forest shadows at Prudhomme Lake P. P.
Port Edward, “Port Ed” locally, where North Pacific Cannery tours the former cannery process, the evolution of the industry, the workers and the buildings. The facility is in process of renovation and restoration. An attached rendering area still has a stench. 
A cluttered shed area is a nest for otters. An HO scale railroad works through a model coastal diorama. The open mess offers chowder! “Visit Historical Old Hazelton” sign does not include a warning regarding one lane bridge over the chasm confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers. Hazelton, historical end stop for steam ships out of Prince Rupert and access to the interior of BC. 
The local public library holds a museum with an interesting B&W picture of a plane being ferried in what appears to be a canoe. The side of the plane (wings detached) reads “Mexico to Siberia”. A totem peaks through an upper window. 
Back to the highway entails the crossing the one lane which has workers in hard hats (repairing? Maintainence?) in diligence. Unable to locate Francois Lake, a camp at a closed recreation site spur and again in the rain and mosquitoes.
Vanderhoof (the center of BC) with several restored buildings making an museum stop, information and wifi. 
Now the forest is consistently patched with cleared fields.Pet friendly Prince George Railway and Forestry gives Golden Era trainspotting. Overwhelming fatigue necessitates a motel stop and long sleep in Quesnel.
Along ~ 2 km road stretch a series of photo ops: a derelict boat rests askew in a small pond, disintegrating buildings in overgrowth, at the edge of a field a small church, a rock roadside marker and next to a Quonset, two vintage vehicles displayed. (Bootstrap?) Bill Turner proudly shows off a 1936 Buick. 
Departing Bill good lucks “yol bolson” a Mongolian expression meaning “May there be a road”. Helmcken and Dawson waterfalls of Wells Gray P. P. draw deep breath inspirations of awe. Ages in the making through a continuous flow of water and time to the up close and personal now. 
A big black bear stops along the road, then walks forward, approaching, hair up then veering slightly arrogantly walks past in the middle of the road. The river roar, a whitewater background noise in sleep at Clearwater Lake Campground.
Curiously (not far from the previous evening bear sighting) in the parking lot of Spahats Falls, a concession stand is selling Hagen Daz in made from scratch, on the spot Belgian waffle cones. Glancing around the parking lot, there are only two cars. Thinking “location location location” while walking the trail. Entranced by the view then a situational awareness of a rapidly increasing crowd.
At the parking lot, a large bus of tourists from Belgium have debarked and are queued for cones. Coincidence? Okanagan Lake P.P., is tiered above the lake. 
During the night a child perhaps with colic crys briefly accompanied by coyotes.
A sprinkle under sun, through Osoyoos then traveling East staying in BC, the temperature drops, rain picks up including hail. Elements force a retreat from BC south to the safety of a place that is home.
