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