Independence Day

Salmon Glacier

Ever have a song stuck in your head?  The whole time we were in the Stewart - Hyder area I kept singing “Stuck in the middle with you" by Stealers Wheel but substitute middle with the word Hyder.   " And your wondering what is we should do"?  What did we do for the two weeks we had to wait for the dog sled team to arrive with our new hydraulic motor?

First, this area is very beautiful! The towns are situated on a long narrow ocean inlet surrounded by steep mountain walls capped with glaciers. The drive to Salmon Glacier is spectacular! The town of Stewart is picturesque with a pavilion and boardwalk on the estuary. The town of Hyder also has its own brand of the charm. Rustic and colorful are the words that comes to mind. 

Portland Canal

Second, there are a lot of bears!  Take a ride and you were sure to see one.  One day I was riding my bike when a bear started coming out of the brush alongside the road, we saw each other and we both promptly turned around and high tailed it out of there! We had a mama and two cubs that frequented the park.   Needless to say I was little on guard every time I took Mr. Wodi for his morning walk.  It was a little early for the real circus act the bears put on when the salmon are spawning. The boardwalk viewing area on Fish Creek is a pleasant walk even if the bears are not gorging themselves on salmon.   

View at Fish Creek

Boardwalk at Fish Creek

Third, everyone was friendly and genuine. We chatted with local business owners and even got to know the border guards while they were searching our vehicle.   Saturday mornings they have a small Farmers Market.  We frequented the restaurants and the local bakery maybe a little too much.  The local restaurants grow some of the food and bake a lot of their bread due to the fact it is so isolated.  I thought I had sticker shock at the Smither’s grocery store it was just a warm up for the food prices in Stewart. Plus, eating at The Bus in Hyder is a must do.  It is run by a married couple, the husband catches the fish and the wife cooks it.  Simple menu but it is just about the freshest seafood you will find anywhere. Yummy!

Eat at The Bus!

Everybody Loves a Parade!

We happened to be there for the Canadian Independence day celebration which runs into our 4^th of July celebration.  The two towns combine the celebration and call the 4 days of festivities International Days. And everyone is invited!  Cook outs at the pavilion, bonfires, fireworks and parades!  Hyder has an ugly car parade and pet parade which we missed because the part finally showed up.  Let’s hope it works!  Note to self - never ever ship anything from the US to Canada.  In addition to the extra cost for the dog sled team from the nearest town 250 miles away they also added an import fee which is 25% of the value of the item. Ouch!  It arrived on Thursday, Jack popped in the new motor. The slides and jacks were now working but things were still not exactly correct.  One switch and everything moves! Huh? Oh, well after playing with it awhile we got the hang of  the right sequence.  We could get everything in and out even if the individual switches did not work.  We were back on the road Friday morning of the 3^rd.  I’ll look back on this area with both fond and frustrating memories. I think Wodi would have been the hit of the Hyder pet parade.

Girls just wanna have fun!

Past winners of the Ugly Car Parade?

Slider Hyder

 We merrily left Smithers happy to be on the road.   Okay, this was it!  We were at the turn off for the Stewart – Cassiar Highway.    We filled up the diesel guzzling white beauty at the junction turnoff.  Gas stations are few and far between so fuel up when you have the opportunity.  There are few roads in the lower 48 this desolate and turning onto the Cassiar brings a real sense of excitement and adventure.  You are really on your way to the great northern wilderness.   How many bears will we see this time?  We pulled over at one of the wayside rests and pulled out the slides  to chow down on lunch.  Ahh, Jack – the slides are not doing anything!  Oh, not good! The drizzle now turned into real rain and here we were trying to figure out how to get the slides in manually.  Nothing quite like being stranded on the side of the road in the rain, in one of the most remote areas in North America. I know those bears were watching us.  It might have been a little easier if the manual was correct about how to use a drill to bring in the slides  (we found this out later).  Finally,  slides in!  Jack is my roadside hero again!   Decision time do we go ahead to Stewart or back to Smithers?  Well, we were stranded in Smithers last time.   What is it about this part of British Columbia?  Let’s move forward. 

Cassiar Highway

I'm watching you!

Last time we took this stretch we opted out of taking the side spur to Stewart, BC and  Hyder, AK.  The drive on 37A is spectacular.  It is worth the side trip.    Stewart and Hyder are right next to each other. Hyder is an itty bitty US community surrounded by big old Canada.  They claim to be the friendliest ghost town, the descriptions fits.  You can cross into the US without being checked but Canada is pretty cranky about letting you return to Canada.  So you better have your passport.  More than few folks have found that they were denied entry back into Canada.  The only other way out of Hyder is a sea plane to Ketchikan.   I suspect more than  a few of the residents just said what the hell and decided to stay when Canada would not allow them entry. We crossed back forth between Stewart and Hyder more than few times during our stay.   You can tell when you cross into the US by the bullet holes in the street signs.  I've seen this more than few times and at multiple boarding crossings.  We'll show those Canadians we have guns, guess we are just rebels to end in the US.

We made it to the Bear River RV Park in Stewart and even managed to get the slides back out. Whew! The next day was a scramble to get the part ordered.  We did not have cell coverage so we were dependent on the rv park wifi.   A big thank-you to RV Sales of New Mexico  in Moriarty for taking our texts and all the help troubleshooting and sending the new hydraulic motor.   So how long does it take for a part to get delivered to the middle of nowhere? Stayed  tuned!

Bear Glacier on the way to Stewart and Hyder

North of the Border

 The Road to Merritt

We left Sun Lake on Saturday and headed up Highway 155.  We passed the Grand Coulee Dam one last time continuing North on Highway 97 to the Canadian border. We crossed over in Osoyoos.   Jack and I have crossed into Canada more than a few times and you really never know what to expect.  Sometimes it is a breeze but this time they did a full search of the truck and RV.  It took us well over an hour before we were allowed to cross.  The border patrol was friendly but they have been checking more thoroughly since a bunch of Texans tried bringing their guns  across a few times.   So if you are planning to come to Canada, respect their laws and do not attempt to bring any type of firearms.   One nice thing about our new truck is one quick setting change and we were now using  the metric system to tell mileages and speed and  Celsius for the temperature.  Just wish we knew what it meant.

The area just before and across the border was beautiful and idyllic filled with cherry trees and vineyards.  Rolling valleys banked by mountains and lakes.  The famed Okanagan area with lots and lots of traffic and Canadian tourist.  I suspect this is area is being promoted as the Canadian Napa Valley because there were wineries everywhere!   It soon became a zoo!  It was stressful driving.  We originally were planning on trying to make it to Kamloops but with the delay at the border crossing and the traffic it became apparent that would not happen.  Pull out the Trailer Life and find an RV Park quick! No more cell coverage until Alaska for us.  We found one not too far and it sounded like the sites were big enough.  Big mistake!  It was a packed sardine park in the middle of a congested town on a hill.   We decided this would not work and turns out the next couple behind us said it was booked to boot.  They asked us if we had GPS and needed help finding another park.  I am always pleasantly surprised by how nice Canadians are to us folks from the states.  Where next?  We backed tracked a few miles and took 97C to Merritt.  Wait , what did that sign say?  No gas for next 200 K! The problem is you see the sign  after you already passed out of town with no way to turn around.  Well at least it was a two lane highway with no traffic.  And  a very winding road climbing up over some significant mountain passes.  We have enough diesel right?  Ahh, maybe. Turns out we did – whew!  We pulled into the municipal campground and breathed a sigh of relief.  A very stressful day indeed!  The  municipal park was nice and the town looked interesting but we wanted to get some miles,  wait I mean  kilometers under our belt. 

Smither's area

The next day was another long driving day.  We decided to spend two nights in Quesnal.  We stayed at Roberts Roost, a nice RV park on the shores of Dragon Lake just outside of town.  We did not do much except rest up.  We did get our first cup of Tim Horton’s coffee along with a doughnut and I was able to catch a yoga class in town.   Some needed down time.

Next stop Smithers, BC!  Jack and I got to know Smithers quite well last time we came through these parts.  We had to wait a week for a part for the black truck on our last Alaskan adventure (see previous Blog post). The town has a nice downtown area with a few nice restaurants and shops.  We knew once we continued on Yellowhead 16 that it becomes very remote and even more so when you turn onto the Cassier Highway.   It is a good place to stock up on supplies but beware of sticker shock!   Time for the adventure to continue, bye bye Smithers.