Jade City and Mountain Shadow

After using the dump station then going through the complicated process of getting diesel at Nugget City, we headed south down the Cassiar Highway which is in poor condition and crosses the B.C./Yukon border 6 times.

We stopped at Jade City, which is not a city but a highway community made up of one jade business: Cassiar Mountain Jade Store.  The store has an extensive selection of gifts and jade products.  Out front there are jade-cutting demonstrations.

 We talked to a very knowledgeable young man, the grandson of the jade miner who started the business, and learned a great deal about jade.  The Cassiar Mountains produce more than 90% of the world's jade (about 1 million pounds each year) from several mines in this area, and most of it is exported to China.  This is because the Chinese revere jade even above gold, and most of the master carvers of jade are Chinese.  Jade City designs over 100 new items each year which are then sent to China to be carved.  The young man said that when you see "Made in China" on a jade item, it is a good thing.  This business is in its third season of a reality show called JADE FEVER on Discovery Canada.  It was an enjoyable, informative, and expensive  stop for us.



We proceeded on our bumpy way down the Cassiar Highway to our stop for the night: the Mountain Shadow RV Park near Iskut, B.C.  This is a lovely park nestled in a valley next to a pretty lake and surrounded by mountains.  This is where we learned the reason we haven't had any phone service:  there is no phone service anywhere on the Cassiar!  Again we had 30 AMP and electricity only but having TV and a beautiful view made it seem much better than last night.

Mountain Shadow RV Park

The view out our front window  

View of the lake.  

There is a nice path down to the lake so the 4 of us went for a walk down there with our two dogs.  However, the nice, easy path went to a restricted area, and the more difficult path led to the lake.  I had worn the wrong shoes (not expecting a more difficult hike), I did not bring my hiking stick, and dear little Precious nearly pulled me off my feet a couple of times. We met several other hikers and their dogs on the way there and back, and we watched two fishermen catch some rainbow trout.  It was good to stretch our legs a bit and give the dogs some exercise as well.

This is the nice, easy path to the lake.  

I made it to the lake--now can I make it back!

David grilled sausages and burgers, and after our feast we had a quiet evening.