Stewart, BC: The Journey AND The Destination

A couple of years ago I spent a summer living and working in the northern city of Whitehorse, in Canada’s Yukon Territory. When the time came to migrate south for the winter, I decided to take a bit of a detour and visit a place I had been reading and hearing and dreaming about for years: Stewart, BC, home of Last Frontier Heli Skiing’s Ripley Creek Lodge and next-door neighbour to the infamous teeny-tiny town of Hyder, Alaska. Understand: this was a couple of years before I started contributing to this blog and completely coincidental, albeit serendipitous. I write about it today as someone obviously affiliated with Last Frontier, but also as a completely independent traveler who once experienced the beauty of an almost secret place as intimate and inviting as it is isolated.

Most people drive north to Stewart from one of the larger towns and cities, like Smithers or Terrace, BC. It’s a 316 km (196 mi.) trip from Terrace that can take anywhere from 3 hours to the better part of a day, depending on road conditions and construction – just long enough to give you the sense that you’re leaving the populated and civilized world en route to a great adventure. The trip south, however, is an entirely different experience. From Whitehorse, we took Route 37, also called the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, stopping for the night in Dease Lake. To say this is a remote stretch of road is a laughable understatement. It was originally built to service the mining industry and continues to see a high percentage of oil and gas industry traffic as pipelines criss-cross their way from Alberta to the Pacific. In between oversized trucks and muddy access roads, however, is nothing but wilderness. It’s awesome.

Regardless of whether you turn left or right, once you hit the Glacier Highway headed west the beauty of this corner of the world begins to reveal itself one incredible and surprising vista at a time. From crystal blue roadside lakes to misty clouds clinging to the sides of steep, craggy peaks, one thing is clear: this is no ordinary road trip. By the time Route 37A winds to an end in the coastal hamlet of Stewart, BC, glaciers tower and bald eagles weave figure eights overhead. You’ve arrived.

Ripley Creek Lodge is easy to spot. In the heart of town, its heritage feel and colourful exterior are a picture-postcard set against the greys and whites of the inlet and mountains beyond. On the inside, it’s all restored wood and cozy fireplaces, perfect no matter the season and an especially warm welcome if the fog has set in or the snow begun to fly. Every room is unique giving the place a vibe of personalized hospitality and local flare, from the regionally inspired art on the walls to the antiques scattered about the property (and don’t even get me started on the outdoor hot tub).

Guests of Last Frontier head across the street to the Bitter Creek Café for their evening meals and we did likewise. In keeping with the theme of local pride, BC wines and regional fare are heavily featured on the menu for good measure and good reason. I’m pretty sure I licked my plate. I have yet to experience après ski at The Bitter Creek but I do know how much better things taste in general after a day of crushing it in the backcountry, so my hunch is that this particular scene would be off the charts.

While I know that both of the Last Frontier lodges offer something entirely different to their guests in conjunction with all the heli ski goodness one can handle, I can only attest first-hand to the serenity and subtle luxury of Ripley Creek. I haven’t been back since that first trip a few years ago but my imagination tells me that to shred coastal ranges by day and snuggle fireside by night in Stewart, BC, would be a pretty idyllic way to live the dream.