The Agnew Family aboard the "Dog House"

After a great breakfast we left Mukluk Annie’s and headed for the Cassiar Highway and Jade City (population 12). The section of the Alaska Highway we were driving was fairly flat with wide shoulders and was in good repair. I’m not sure what possessed me, but I asked Ed if I could drive and he actually said yes and pulled over. When we radioed Colin and Margaret to let them know we were stopping and why, Margaret asked if I had read her mind as they were planning on stopping and she was going to drive. I guess great minds think alike. Now you do need to remember that Margaret is use to driving the truck while I’m not. Ed is very possessive over what he still calls his truck. I passed a vehicle, was passed by a number of vehicles, went up hills, down hills, around sharp bends and through 2 one lane bridge construction areas. When we got to the Cassiar Highway I decided to continue driving even though the road was narrower, more windy and did not have shoulders. I did pretty good even if I say so myself. I know that Ed has told me this but you barely notice that you are pulling a trailer — you just have to push a little harder when you brake. About 20 km from Jade City I decided that I was tired and didn’t want to take any chances so I let Ed drive. Margaret drove to Jade City and parked the trailer. Way to go Margaret!

The drive along the Cassiar Highway led us into a mountainous area — some great views. Jade city consists of 2 stores one on either side of the road and yes they both sell jade. The jade is mined locally but made into jewelry and carvings else where. Both stores offered free camping and of course we stayed at one of the campgrounds — nice sites in a treed area. The “store” we stayed at also showed 3 video tapes about the area.

One of the video tapes was about a “ghost town” called Cassiar. It was located in the mountains about 15 km from Jade City. Cassiar was a company owned mining town with a population of about 3,000 – they mined asbestos. In the spring of 1992 the company went bankrupted, closed the town and sold everything they could including the houses. What little remains is behind locked gates. It’s a really weird feeling to be in an area that is pretty isolated and know that only 13 years ago 3,000 people lived there.


look out world, here I come


Blue Lake BC



The waterfalls of the 2nd North Fork Creek



Jade City