2004/06 Yukon trip - Getting there - Cassiar/Jade City |
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Tuesday 20th July
It rained most of the night and the day began with low cloud hiding the mountains, but it was clear by the time we got going. We continued north on the Cassiar to Jade City. This is a good name for it as it only has two buildings, and they both sell jade. They also sell the pink rhodonite that’s mined nearby. 75% of the world’s jade comes from this area. The original finding of this jade “mother lode” is one of the best 
stories about prospecting. The geologists had predicted quite well where jade was likely to be found, but they’d actually sat down and eaten lunch off these big boulders before one of them noticed that the boulders they were sitting on were pure jade. There was plenty of opportunity to spend money here on jade carvings, but Sandie mainly wanted some raw jade pieces for making jewelry, so we came away quite cheaply for once.
The scenery continued with big lakes, rushing rivers, and mountains on both horizons, but now it was getting a little blurry as there was a lot of smoke coming from fires in the Yukon. We also had a problem with the camper. One of the straps holding the sewer had broken loose and we needed to find a hardware store with the right size of screw to hold it.
We heard on the radio that Charlotte Lake in the Chilcotin was being evacuated because of the fires. Sandie and I went there some years back looking for a spot to launch our kayak and accidentally ended up at someone’s house. They were kind enough to let us launch from their dock. We hope they can save their house.