Aug 13 - Rancheria Falls, Jade City

This entry is part of my catch-up, after 8 days of no internet. I don't like being so far behind on the blog, especially when there is such interesting stuff to cover.

We woke early, at Teslin Lake Campground ($12 night, limited services) and hit the road, with plans to get to Dease Lake, about 480 kilometers. The road was good, we reached the Cassiar Highway junction before Noon. We took a stop at Rancheria Falls Recreation site, where we walked a 500 meter boardwalk to the falls.

We stopped for lunch at Jade City, where an intrepid local family has been mining jade from the surrounding mountains for decades. "City" is bit of misnomer, as there are just 20 people living here year round.

Jade boulders are difficult to detect, and it is only when they are cut with these giant saws that the quality of the jade inside can be determined. A really good jade boulder could be worth as much as $1 million.

The jade shows its colours best when wet. Here are two rock slices with various levels of relatively poor jade.

There is a reality TV show, called Jade Fever, now in its 4th season, which follows their adventures out in the boondocks, mining jade. It is a bit of a hoot to see what they have to go through to get jade to the market. Most jade is exported to China, where it is highly treasured for jewellery.

We finished the day at the Water's Edge Campground, just north of Dease Lake. Next to us was Bod and Diane, from Florida in their 2015 R-pod 178. We had a great chat about the good and bad things of owning an R-pod, and made a new contact for when we travel south. It is great to meet other R-pod owners on the road.