August 15, 2019 – Quesnel, BC to Clearwater, BC
We slept pretty well overnight and after packing up and stuff, we headed back for Denny’s for a forgettable breakfast.
It was a nice morning and while I was checking the tire pressure on the bikes, all four tires were down a couple of pounds of pressure. So I busted out the mini-compressor to give them all puff. I got one tire up to spec, then started on the second tire, when the compressor quit. A bit quick troubleshooting revealed the problem to a blown fuse for the accessory plug on the FJR. I had forgotten that it’s only rated for low amperage use on phone chargers and the like. So I had to pull the dry bag, tent and everything off the rear seat on the FJR so I could plug the compressor into the higher amperage 12v jack I have under the seat. I should have used that jack in the first place. Oh well.
With everything all packed we headed south out of town on Highway 97 towards the junction with Highway 24 where we’d head east to Little Fort and north to Clearwater on Highway 5.
Not much eventful happened on this leg as it would be a relatively short day. We stopped for gas, bio break and snack in Williams Lake. turned east on Highway 24, which was a pretty scenic ride with a low mountain pass in the northern Monashees range.
We arrived in Clearwater in the late afternoon and stopped at the Clearwater KOA. We’d stopped here years ago on a trip to Horizons Unlimited and camped overnight.
We were just going to get a tent spot, but I’ve always wanted to try one of the KOA Kamping Kabins. So we got a cabin! The Grizzly Cave. Cool!
After unpacking, I jumped onto the internet to find a place to eat – ideally something within walking distance. As it turned out there was a place close by – the Hop and Hog Tap and Smokehouse! It was literally 400m down the road from the KOA entrance. So around 530pm or so headed out for dinner.
It was a warm evening so we opted to sit out on the covered deck where we had a terrific dinner! It’s worth planning a road trip to Clearwater just to go to the Hop and Hog again!
Hunger and thirst abated with brisket and a beer, we waddled back to the Kabin and chilled for while. We finally got to test out our area bug deterrent which worked pretty well.
Once it got dark we headed to bed in our kosy KOA Kabin.
On The Road with Ian & Louise 