Day trip to the coast, in the rain!

June 17^th, 2026

Terrace, British Columbia, Canada

I woke up at 6:45 this morning long before my alarm went off at 8.

I did not really want to go back to bed, so just did some research on the phone in prep for todays short ride down to the coastal region.

I then showered and got geared up for my ride.

Today I will not be taking any of the luggage, just my backpack with a few things in it.

This meant I had to spend about 20 minutes securing all the straps attached to the bike so they would not be flapping in the wind or falling down and getting into places they should not be!

Once ready, I put on the rain jacket to keep me warm as the temperature was going to be a bit low until later in day, at least that is what the weather app said.

Rode over to the nearby fuel station to fill up the tank, should be able to get there and back on this one tank.

Rode through town and out the other side on highway 16.  The road stays along the Skeena River for most of the route other then short sections inland to go over hills and areas where they could not build next to the river.  Most of the route was under 500 feet altitude, in many places down under 100 feet, even miles before we reached shore.

The winds were blowing as usual, right in my face most of the way, blowing up the river valley.  Temperatures did not act like they wanted to go up much, but were tolerable.  A few short spits of rain, but nothing to worry about, at least to start with.

About halfway there, the clouds dropped down to the water level, could hardly see the opposite shore at times. (The river gets wide here, I would say up to and even over 1 mile in width at places.)

Had to stop at a rest area to rest and use the facilities, but lucked out and it was one of the spots right on the river.

Then the rains started, light to medium rains, typically for a few minutes, but some were longer.  In between the roads were still wet, and the mists in the air would still hit the visor and condensate into water.

Had a few 1 lane constructions zones to navigate, but did not sit long any of them.

The last 40 minutes of the ride things went worse.  Winds were higher, rain was constant, and the temperatures dropped several degrees (Celsius).

I pulled into Prince Rupert cold, wet (I did not put the pants on today, and my leather riding gloves were wet, therefore my hands were getting numb) and tired.

I pulled up at the first place I saw, which was one of the two parks I wanted to visit and took stock of things.

I pulled out my wet weather gloves to use them rest of the day, though after a few minutes the rain stopped other than a few sprinkles.

I walked around the Pacific Mariners Memorial Park, which is dedicated to those who have lived and lost their lives at sea.  There were a few sculptures and memorial walls along with some sea themed items on display.

On display was the Kazu Maru, a small Japanese fishing boat that vanished off Japan in 1985.  Roughly 18 months later it was found drifting off the islands near town, and eventually tracked down to the missing fisherman from Japan.

The city and private donors restored the boat and, in a ceremony, attended by the fisherman’s family it was put on display in this park.

This was also a good place to view the harbor area and look out over the sea.  There are islands in front of the this area, so you cannot see the ocean directly, just the bay the city is on.

Once done, I rode a few blocks over to the Rotary Park to see the old train station and a whale sculpture. (completed around 1985, but artist died around then, and it sat in storage till 1998 when it was finally put on display here).

The old train station was kind of cool, it is now a railroad museum, but was closed today, so could not visit.  According to the sign outside, the building was originally built for the railroad in 1911 and located several miles up river along the rail line.  When the station was closed down the building was saved and moved by barge down to Price Rupert.  Years later, a flood damaged its original home and it was moved again to the Rotary Park where it sits today.

I overheard a guy talking that they might be moving it again, but just to a nearby area next to the tracks and will turn it into an actual rail station again?  I was going to look that up, but just did not have the energy to research it.

After taking some photos, I decided to eat at the little pizza place next to the park, the Wheelhouse Brewery.

Food was good, views from the 2^nd floor dining area were nice as well.

I then decided to head back to Terrace.  First, I put on the rain pants, in case it rained again, my legs were finally warmed up again, so did not need more wet with the cold.

Then it was back on the bike and headed back the way I had come that morning.  Got a bit of rain right away, but after 30 minutes things dried up and stayed that way, and the temperature was a bit higher than earlier.

Thankfully most of the road works were done as well, so less stopping. 

I did stop once to remove the backpack and strap it to the rear rack.  It is a single strap pack and was just digging into my right shoulder enough that my arm was starting to hurt.

Arrived back into Terrace and rode to the hotel to drop off stuff and grab some things for my next tasks.

I grabbed all the laundry so I could go to the local laundromat and get it clean again.  On the way I stopped at the auto parts store to get some chain lube, I had forgotten to pick that up before I left.

After the laundry was done, I went over to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, then a quick stop at Walmart for something to drink this evening.

Worked on some stuff for tomorrows ride as I continue north, did a short video for the cat rescue project I am running along with this trip, uploaded my footage for the day and typed up this blog.

Now will get things posted online (think I still need to post yesterdays blog!) and then figure out a few things for tomorrow before going to bed.

Need to figure out if I will make the Cassiar Highway a 1 or 2 day trip.  Can do the whole route in about 10-12 hours, so would be along day.  There is a provincial campground at the end, but non-reservable, first come spots, so might not be anything left when I arrive later in the evening, and no way to find out till there, which would mean a 30 minute drive back to nearby town and hope one of the hotels has a spot.

Or I can try to camp midway, there is a campground, but conflicting info about it being RV only or RV and Tent.  There is a hotel nearby, but not cheap.

Will figure it out here soon though.

Catch ya down the road!