All went OK last night (Saturday, June 29) out in the woods.

There were some motels nearby, though expensive. The problem is that none of them hit me to make the most of the long days. And they have been long days.

It got really cold, and it rained Saturday morning. The rain stopped and the biggest hill of the Cassiar Highway came. The Gnat Pass took 20 linear miles to get up and over. The downhill took 12 miles.

The only town was Dease Lake, British Columbia, Canada, the last official stop for food on the way to the Alaska Highway. There is about 110 miles to finish on the Cassiar Highway, and I will certainly give it a shot.

Dease Lake is a small town and home to Northern Lights College. I stopped at the store first and got a few things. When I asked about Wi-Fi, two store clerks sent me to the college. I had trouble getting started, but Tetreau Gueve helped me and was really interested from the start.

All the people in the store and others in the town were fun, especially the first guy who said, “Welcome to Dease Lake. Welcome to town.”

My goal was to do as much as I could in the afternoon. I was pleased with 80 miles.

Late in the afternoon, almost dark, I met Pierre, who is from France and going to South America. I bet Pierre meets the four Frenchmen I met earlier in my journey.

A couple set me up with an apple, ice, water and Cokes. I totally forgot to write their names down, but his was Elton.

I slept so poorly Saturday that I hope tonight (Sunday, June 30) is much better. No bears, but I did see a moose this afternoon. He walked across the road in front of me and slowly walked into the woods.

A few things come to mind as this section of my trip is getting closer to completion.

As you might have guessed, the mile markers for British Columbia 37 are in kilometers. There is a notification for every 5K or 3.1 miles, and I have gradually ticked it all off.

There are no egg biscuits. There just is not much of anything anywhere, except in Dease Lake.

If I can climb my way out of here, I will be ready to move on. I can’t wait to get on the Alaska Highway and get my phone working again. I will turn north and go hard.

The excitement is building. I know there will be lots of challenges, which is OK. I have already heard a few times about how that enhances what you do. Mine must be pretty good lately.

I still haven’t got things squared away in my email. My phone still has not started working again.

David Freeze is a Salisbury Post contributor who is biking from Nevada to Alaska. He can be reached at runner.david.freeze@gmail.com while on his journey.