Closer to Home We are slowly making our way east and south towards home. South Dakota roads are in fair condition, with some one-lane traffic on I-90. The joints where the highway meets entrance and exit ramps have significant elevation differences, 2 to 3 inches, creating tire problems for wide vehicles when venturing too close to the edge. There are also significant elevation differences where the highway meets bridge abutments, pounding the motorhome as we go on to and as we leave the bridge. Kay took a turn driving this segment of our trip, as expected, did a great job. We stopped at the rest area at Chamberlain, SD, on the east side of the Missouri River, and were surprised that it had a great Lewis and Clark exhibit, as well as a nice overlook of the Missouri River valley. We drove further east to Cabela’s in Mitchell, SD, and were astounded in the emptiness of both the parking lot and store; we’ve heard that they are in serious financial straits. After we shopped a bit, we realized that neither of us needed or wanted much; we walked out with a vest for Kay and a couple of packages of large strike indicators for me. We drove another 45 minutes or so to Camp America RV Park in Salem, SD, and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.

Kay’s Take This is one of the nicest RV parks we’ve stayed in. Clean, nice bathrooms and beautiful treed sites with grassy areas. I had tried a new technique as we traveled. I put a crockpot in the sink and plugged it into a plug in connected to our inverter and cooked a casserole while we were driving down the road. It was our friend, Ray Minardi’s Louisiana Jambalaya recipe and it turned out fine. We had enough to share with our friends, Dick and Carolyn. We played “Aw Heck” for a couple of hours as it rained some more. I came out low man! Donald was the high man.

Our Recommendations Enroute to Salem, SD The rest stop at Chamberlain, SD, is not necessarily a must see, but we’ll stop there in the future when traveling I-90 in South Dakota. It has ample parking for motor homes towing a dinghy, has clean restrooms; there’s a nice overlook onto the Missouri River Valley, and a decent Lewis and Clark Exhibit. Anytime we’re in an area with a Cabelas retail store, we stop, and the one in Mitchell, SD, has been one of our favorites. However, the amount of merchandise looked a little thin, the parking lot was near empty, and the store had few customers. It was an eerie feeling as we have stopped there before when it was so busy you could hardly move—another sign of hard economic times.

Campground Camp America, Salem, SD, was a very pleasant surprise. We were parked in a large site among tall trees, with full hook-ups, and could pick up a number of television stations using our antenna. The restrooms were clean, but did charge a quarter for a 6-minute shower. We’ll add this to a list of good RV parks in which to stay when traveling this route.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 18,238.0
Beginning Time: 9:30 AM Mountain DST
Ending Mileage: 18,495.1
Ending Time: 5:00 PM Central DST

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 257.1
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 9,103

Traveling with the Todds Soon after pulling out of Laurel, MT, we exchanged telephone calls with our good friends, the Todds who had been in Wyoming since mid-May, leaving today for Arkansas. As God would have it, we were traveling parallel to them, and agreed to meet in Rapid City, SD. It was great renewing friendships, catching up on news from home, and just laughing. We both filled up with gasoline, and decided to travel together to Lee’s Summit, MO, where they were going to stop off for a visit with kids. We traveled to Wall, SD, home of Wall Drug, and stayed in Arrow RV Park.

Kay’s Take It was warmer here and we began feeling some humidity again. I fully intended to go over to Wall Drug for a ‘walk-thru’ but never made it. Still experiencing ‘jet lag’ from changing time zones – Alaska zone to Pacific zone to Mountain time zone and tomorrow we’ll change into CST zone.

Our Recommendations for Wall,SD Wall Drug is a must see, and is within easy walking distance of the RV park. Also, the Loop Road in Badlands National Park is a must see, just west of Wall–one of our favorite national parks.

Campground Arrow RV Park, Wall, SD, was a good overnighter. The staff was friendly, the sites level, and electric, water, and sewer adequate. We would stay here again.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 17,853.5
Beginning Time: 7:30 AM Mountain DST
Ending Mileage: 18,238.0
Ending Time: 5:00 PM Mountain DST

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 384.5
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 8,845.9

Taking Care of the Motorhome After several weeks’ of worry about mechanical issues with the motorhome, we overslept, but hurriedly got the motorhome ready to roll. We drove south to Don Aadsen Ford in Ronan, MT, a town of about 4,000 people, and one of only a few Ford dealers in the northwest that can work on motorhomes. We were astonished by the Flathead cherry, peach, and apple orchards present in the Flathead Lake valley. This area was very neat and clean, with several gated communities built on the hillsides. Back to the motorhome, the service department checked out the motorhome said the ball joints were a little loose, but only to the extent of normal wear and tear, that the motorhome was fine, and recommended an alignment. They refused to charge us for the check-up, despite our insistence of paying for at least an hour’s labor. We hooked up the Saturn, and headed to Les Schwab Tires in Missoula, MT. After a 2-hour wait, they finally pulled the motorhome into a bay, and aligned the front end; the front passenger tire was almost an inch out of tolerance for tow-in. We gladly paid the $60, and were on our way. (Note: Aleyeska Tires in Soldonota, AK, wanted $250 to align the motorhome, but said the ball joints were bad , and for $1,400 they could replace them.) Our intent had been to head towards Idaho and/or Yellowstone National Park for a few days, but we talked and agreed we were both desensitized to the beauty they offered. We traveled in some of the best fly fishing country the U.S. offers—Bozeman, Butte, Livingstone—but were singularly focused on getting home. Even though we had an early start, the “maintenance” stops took their toll accumulating mileage. Finally, at 8:30 PM, we had had enough and stopped at the Walmart in Laurel, MT, just west of Billings, to rest until morning.

Kay’s Take Driving toward Billings, MT we came upon Laurel just after dark. They have an oil refinery there, we think that’s what it was, and it was lit up like Christmas. We could see these structures for miles out but couldn’t figure out what it was. It reminded me of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’. Spires, towers, columns, spheres, etc. All lit up like Christmas decorations. Very surreal. I want to go back and explore Missoula, Billings, Livingston and Bozeman. Our friend, Frank, wrote about all of these when he was a fishing guide in this area one summer. The landscape changes from the hills and mountains to high plains in these areas.
We were so relieved that there was nothing significantly wrong with our rig. Jayco builds an amazing RV! Alaska tested and came shining through!

Our Recommendations for Laurel, MT Laurel is a great place to fill with fuel, and the Wal Mart met our needs for an overnight rest.

Campground Dry Camping, Walmart, Laurel, MT

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 17,392.2
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Mountain DST
Ending Mileage: 17,853.5
Ending Time: 8:30 PM Mountain DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 461.3
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 8,461.4

Glad to be Back in the Lower 48 (Saturday, September 5, 2009) Radium Hot Springs is definitely a resort town, with lots to see and do, but we were anxious to begin our drive down to the Lower 48. We passed through Fairmont Hot Springs, and were surprised to find it was less developed; however, the whole valley from Radium Hot Springs south some 40 miles is a resort complex with numerous condos, golf courses, lakes, etc. The countryside began to change considerably as we drove south towards Montana. Our border crossing went without fanfare, with a 5-minute wait, a couple of questions, and a “Welcome Home!” from the customs agent. We were so glad to be back in the Lower 48 that we almost stopped to get out and kiss the ground—there’s no place like home. We stopped at one of the first gasoline stations across the border, in Eureka, MT, and filled up with $2.789 per gallon gasoline, having driven all the way from Jasper, AB, on one tank.

Driving through Whitefish and Columbia Falls, we arrived in Hungry Horse about mid-afternoon. After setting up, I immediately tried the former Alltel, now Verizon, broadband “air” card in the router, and it worked great.

After I checked email, we drove back to Columbia Falls, washed the car, and then drove the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park. As we began our ascent, we noticed a couple of cars stopped on the road, and sure enough, a young black bear was in the creek, cooling his “heels”. He was obviously suffering from “discomfort.” Going to the Sun Highway had quite a bit of construction going on, causing traffic to be extraordinarily slow. We opted not to stop at Logan Pass, and drove to St. Mary’s Visitor Center. It began raining, and heavy rain and nightfall caught us on our way via US Highway 2 west back to Hungry Horse.
We “chilled” the next morning, unable to get excited about hiking or photographing Glacier National Park. It is one of our favorites, but after Canada and Alaska, the mountains didn’t seem as big and the waterfalls appeared a bit smaller. We did drive the Going to the Sun Highway to Logan Pass with an intent to hike a short trail, but it was spitting rain, the clouds were low, and we just couldn’t get up for it.

On Labor Day, Kay washed clothes, and we again intended to do some short hikes on the west side of Glacier National Park, but after getting within sight of the entrance station, I realized I had forgotten the National Park Pass; we turned around, and returned towards the motorhome, not wanting to make the 45-minute drive again. We took a side road to find Hungry Horse Dam, and drove by several saloons, but no dam. Giving up, we both read and relaxed the remainder of the day, eager for the next morning to arrive to get the motorhome front end checked out at the Ronan, MT, Ford dealer about 90 miles south.

Kay’s Take I did go into Hungry Horse and bought some Huckleberry pie and tasted some huckleberry fudge. I also bought some Flathead cherries which were quite sweet. I had no idea they grew cherries in Montana, but they do around Flathead Lake. Miles and miles of cherry orchards! Oh, yes, I AM getting better with my acrophobia. The drive on the Going to the Sun Road was much more tolerable than the first time I came.

Our Recommendations for Hungry Horse, MT With several national forests and Glacier National Park within a few minutes, there are a myriad of outdoor activities available. Glacier National Park, in particular, is one of our favorites. However, after a couple of months in Alaska and western Canada, we were desensitized to all the area’s beauty.

Campground Mountain Meadows RV Park and Campground was a welcome relief from those gravel parking lots in Canada and Alaska, though we once again had a downhill-sloping site. All the sites were surrounded by trees, and had water, electric, and sewer. Wi-fi was available, but we didn’t use it. A coin-operated laundry was available, and the bathrooms and showers were clean. Also, there’s a small lake on site that is stocked with rainbow trout, and customers may fish without a fishing license.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 17,172.0
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Mountain DST
Ending Mileage: 17, 392.2
Ending Time: 2:00 PM Mountain DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 220.2
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 8,000.1

On Our Own, Again (Friday, September 4, 2009) Our intent was to leave early, but it was close to 7:30 AM before we pulled out, saying more good-byes, and taking care of necessities related to preparing the motorhome for a night of expected dry camping at Icefield Centre in Jasper National Park. Thinking there would be gasoline stations before getting on our main route, I bypassed on a side street, then realized that it was 130 miles to the next station, further apart than on any other leg of our trip. Apparently we were driving through a Canadian national forest as there was no development for the 130 miles. Arriving in McBride, we filled with gasoline, and continued, seeing changing landscape and more ranches. Traveling through Mount Robson Provincial Park, I caught sight of a black bear in the shrubs near the road, began braking hard, and sure enough, the young bear ran out in front of us, narrowly escaping being hit. As we drove through Mount Robson, crossing our first mountain pass of the day, the number of tourists and the resulting traffic increased significantly, as most of the parking lots were full. Crossing into Alberta, the time zone changed to Mountain DST, and we moved the clocks ahead one hour. We topped off the gasoline tank in Jasper, and drove the Icefields Parkway towards Athabasca Glacier, crossing our second mountain pass, opting to drive on towards Radium Hot Springs, BC. Despite gearing down, I thought I had overused the brakes as we could smell the odor of burning brakes. A quick check at a pull-out did not reveal any heat coming from the brake area and we drove further south. At Lake Louise, the traffic increased to the point of being bumper to bumper. Grateful that we were turning off to go west again, crossing the mountains through Kootenay National Park, to Radium Hot Springs, we were surprised that traffic on this highway was just as heavy, bumper to bumper, at 100 kilometers per hour, about 65 mph. (We’re not sure if Canadians have a lot of money to spend on recreation, but suspect they, like Europeans, place a much higher value on weekends and time off, or holidays, as they call them than those of us in the U.S.) We crossed yet another mountain pass just after turning off into Kootenay National Park. Interestingly, there was a portable flashing sign warning traffic of a wolf on the road and to keep moving; we didn’t see the wolf, but were amused that our portable signs in Baxter County warn people of sex offenders—different cultures! Crossing our final mountain pass and descending its 11% grade, we were shocked to arrive in this heavily developed resort town of Radium Hot Springs. Apparently, the entire valley is filled with resorts, golf courses, and shops. Turning onto Kootenay’s Red Streak Campground road, we saw several Big Horn sheep, and as fortune would have it, the campground had a vacancy, and we set up for the night. After a dinner of leftovers, we drove to the hot springs for a nice, hot soak, and just a half mile before the campground, another black bear ran out in front of us—a great way to end our first day on our own.
Kay’s Take I really like the not for profit campgrounds better than most commercial campgrounds. The commercial ones are more like ‘parking lots’ with water, sewer, and electricity, but you’re sitting on top of your neighbors! In parks, state, local or national, your site usually has trees, a nice picnic table, and it’s quieter – off the road – no road noise. You’re communing more with nature. We met a nice couple at the hot springs and visited with them as we relaxed our muscles and distressed in the 102% water. Golly, it would be nice to have a heated pool (like a hot tub) in Norfork or Mtn. Home area. Canadians just love them! Summer and winter both!
Our Recommendations for Radium Hot Springs, BC Being in a big hurry to reach the lower 48, we didn’t tarry in Radium Hot Springs to sample the attractions. Apparently, there is something for everyone, from hiking to golf. This might be an interesting place to which to return, on a not-so-crowded weekend.
Campground We stayed at Red Streak Campground, part of Kootenay National Park. With a pull-thru site and electricity, it met our needs, as we were only going to be here for a few hours. It was definitely better, and in a better setting, than some of the commercial parks in which we stay.
Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 16,711.1
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 17, 172.0
Ending Time: 2:00 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 460.9
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 7,779.9

Last Day of the Caravan (Thursday, September 03, 2009) Fifty-eight days and 4,696.1 miles ago the caravan officially began in Dawson Creek, BC; all but a couple of RVs met 8 days before in Great Falls, MT. It seems so long ago, yet the time has flown by, particularly since Fairbanks. We left early again this morning, stopping in Houston, BC, for a photo of the world’s longest fly rod. Made out of anodized aluminum, we kept thinking of Wayne and how he could use a long fly rod, and this one might be just right. It rained practically all day, and we had had enough of trying to turn around in tight places, so we drove straight in to Prince George, stopping at the Walmart for some necessary groceries. We made a stop at Costco’s where we purchased a Canon Digital camera for Kay as an anniversary present. Arriving at the South Park RV Park at 2 PM, we parked on a downward sloping site, hooked up, and read email. Members of the caravan carpooled to Cariboo Steak House in Prince George for our farewell dinner, after which several people gave short talks on their perceptions of the trip. Many thanks and praises were heaped on Les, Richard, and their wives for outstanding work in pulling off the “best” caravan of all times. I gave a short talk concerning trying to please everyone on everything, and praising Les for a miraculous job in accommodating everyone. We gave cards privately to Les and Jean, and Richard and Virginia, thanking them for the great time we had. Tomorrow morning, we leave the group for good and head out on our own.

Kay’s Take There was a guy at this campground who had set up a tent to carve wooden statues, etc. Many were displayed around the campground. They were beautiful. There was one long bench with salmon carved 3 dimensional jumping from the top as if the bench was the river and the fish were jumping up out of it. He had bears and eagles and even a beautiful elk. The dinner was a nice farewell and it was a good way to say goodbye to our caravan friends. I think everyone else was ready for our ‘journey’ to end and also sad too.

Our Recommendations for Prince George, BC Prince George is the largest city we’ve been in since Anchorage and the second largest since late June. It has just about everything in the way of shopping and dining. However, it rained the entire time we were there, so we did not explore the city or participate in any activities except for the farewell dinner.

Campground South Park RV Park is typical of Canadian and Alaskan parks, uneven gravel pads, with tight spaces. We were parked double in what should have been one pull through site, and did not have enough leveling blocks to raise the front end high enough. Electric, water, sewer, and wi-fi were provided.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 16,479.6
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 16,711.1
Ending Time: 2:00 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 231.5
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 7,319.0

Winding Down (Wednesday, September 02, 2009) Happy Anniversary to us! Today, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary by departing Stewart, BC, and Hyder, AK, at 7 AM, headed south for our next to last day of the caravan. The scenery changed dramatically as we turned from Highway 37A to Highway 37, with fewer snow covered peaks, excellent roads, and more houses and people. We drove by two different First Nation villages with totem pole displays, took moving photographs of both, but didn’t stop at either. In fact, at one, we almost didn’t get the motorhome and Saturn turned around. We drove along the Bulkley River and thought of our friend, Rod Hardinger, who fished for steelhead here several years ago. Arriving in Smithers too early to park the RV, we filled-up with gasoline, parked the RV, and had an anniversary lunch. Smithers is a fly fishing town, has the world’s longest fly rod, and even has a statue of a fly fisher. Regrettably, we had too little time to fish, and there were not many steelhead in the river; maybe next time. After setting up the RV in Riverside Golf and RV Park, Kay drove back into town to see the sites.

Kay’s Take The downtown area of Smithers was charming. The theme of most of the main street shops was Swiss and there was even an applehorndoff statue at the beginning of the street. I browsed through several shops and almost all of the workers spoke with a heavy Swiss accent. Not sure how many folks from Europe settled here, but I suspect quite a few. It was a beautiful setting – the river and the mountains. I did find a bakery and they made the most delicious muffins I think we’ve had on the trip. We drove by New Hazelton instead of going to their heritage site and canyon site because we were becoming wary that some of these places weren’t prepared for ‘bigger rigs with toads’. Were we right! Some friends of ours in the caravan drove into there to see the attractions. They had a huge diesel pusher rig – 42 ft. with an SUV tow. They had to unhook their tow car three times in order for the coach to backup and get out of a ‘tight’ spot. The third time, our friend was so frustrated he misjudged and backed into his own car. Those of us who tow can’t back up unless we unhook our tow cars. When folks park too close to us in front or block us in in front, our only option is to unhitch our tow in order to back up and move forward. Yes, it is a pain, and we’re very careful not to get ourselves ‘locked’ in when we go places or pull off the road.

Our Recommendations for Smithers, BC Smithers is a Swiss-type village, and celebrates their Swiss heritage. The community is big on fly fishing, with the Bulkley River so close, and a walking tour of the business district is worth the effort. A guided fly fishing trip on the Bulkley will be on our next trip’s itinerary.

Campground We stayed at Riverside Golf and RV Park, and had 30 amp electric and water. Wi-fi was good. The parking spaces were tight, and most of us were parked with just a few feet separating the RVs, and for some reason, we were parked so that everyone had to hook-up on the passenger side, yet we all could have pulled in from the opposite direction and hooked up on the correct side! Our campgrounds have varied from great to marginal. The caravan wagon master has done an incredible job of arranging RV sites and activities for the whole of the caravan, and with 18 RVs, it’s hard to please everyone. Some, especially the big rigs, like all the luxuries in an RV site so as to take advantage of all the luxuries in their RVs, while others, like us, prefer more rudimentary features found in provincial or state parks. Also, when one tries to arrange for 18 sites, few RV parks can support that many RVs at one time. Les did a miraculous job of finding us places to park without driving lots of miles between stops, and our hat’s off to him.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 16,268.9
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 16,479.6
Ending Time: 1:30 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 210.7
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 7,087.5

The Cassiar Highway Lives Up to Its Reputation (Monday, August 31, 2009) We were positioned such that we had to wait until an RV finished “dumping” before we could vacate our site, then had to empty our own black and gray tanks as we would not have a sewer dump station for the next couple of days. Also, we added more potable water since we would not have a water connection the next couple of days. Also, we both had numerous bug bites that swelled to about the size of a quarter and itched like all get out. Consequently, it was about 8 AM before we left Mountain Shadow RV Park and Campground. The Cassiar Highway steadily improved as we drove further south, and the scenery was spectacular at every turn. We saw a grizzly bear after our second stop, but neither of us was able to photograph it because of a passing car traveling at an excessive rate of speed, scaring the heck out of the bear. As we traveled further south, the road improved, and even had yellow stripes separating the lanes—civilization at last (we say this with some regret and trepidation, because it means added traffic, more people, more semis, and fewer animals). We made the turn west towards Stewart, BC, and Hyder, AK; these are sister towns separated only by the Canada/U.S. border. The great views only improved as we saw several hanging glaciers, and one glacier was very close to the highway. Today, we officially changed our minds about the Cassiar Highway; it does live up to its reputation and is very worth driving. We arrived at our RV Park about 2 PM, set up under some large trees, and vacuumed the inside of both the RV and the car. Kay thawed a salmon filet which we grilled and had an early dinner of salmon, rice pilaf, and cole slaw. We then drove to Hyder, AK, for some serious bear watching at Fish Creek, a U.S. Forest Service site some 3 miles out of Hyder, and we were surprised that there was no U.S. Customs station. We were lucky enough to see two bears right away, then saw another come upstream relatively close, all feeding on salmon. When we departed, we drove further down the road and saw another bear, turned around, were driving back to Hyder, and saw two more. This proved to be a very successful bear-watching afternoon. As we drove back into Stewart, BC, we had to go through Canada Customs, but the agent didn’t even check our passports. As a side note, Stewart, BC, is on Pacific Daylight Savings Time, so Hyder, AK, is also on the same time; however, because the Post Office is a U.S. government agency, it has to operate on Alaska time, one hour earlier!

Stewart, BC, and Hyder, AK, Day 2 (Tuesday, September 1, 2009) With some grilled salmon left over from yesterday, we had salmon omelet, hash browns, and English muffins for breakfast—our anniversary breakfast one day early. After clean-up, we drove to the foot of Salmon Glacier, climbing for about 20 miles on what should be considered a 4-wheel drive road. We opted not to drive the remaining 5 miles up a very steep grade to the top of the glacier. After making our way back down, we stopped at the Fish Creek Bear Viewing Area, and didn’t even make it off the fenced-in board walk because a large grizzly was crossing the parking area within a few feet of us. He continued passing, within 10 feet, with a large salmon in his mouth. He did not look at me—the closest human to him, only about 6 feet away—nor did he budge one inch despite all the other on lookers, and one could tell that he was single focused, and was not to be disturbed. He crossed the small creek, went into the woods, and ate the salmon. We waited an hour or so for him to return to the creek or for other bears, but no such luck. On the way back to Stewart, we took photos of the post office at Hyder for our neighbor and friend, Loretta, and stopped at the “Bus” for halibut fish and chips. This is an old bus converted to a kitchen, and seafood is prepared on site; it is rated 5 stars by the Alaska Tourism Board. Today, the lady who runs the place offered fresh halibut, fresh sockeye salmon, and fresh Dungeness crab. Returning to the RV park, Kay did laundry and “toured” Stewart, BC, and I cooked hamburgers for a future meal. The Stewart Visitor Center has free wi-fi, and I was able to read email, discovering a humongous Verizon bill; when we get back in the lower 48, Kay will have a serious talk with Verizon. Since their buyout of Alltel, and the switch over to Verizon on July 11, we’ve have not had a lot of positive service! In the early evening, we returned to Fish Creek in Hyder for more bear watching; no bears, one bald eagle, lots of people.

Our caravan is just about over, two stops, one night each, after tonight. After the caravan, we’ll drive from Prince George, BC, to Icefields Centre, AB, on Friday, September 4, then to Whitefish, MT, on September 5 where we’ll spend 3 nights, have cell phone service and hopefully, internet via our broadband card. After that, we’ll decide on the route home, and will likely detour to Yellowstone National Park for a few days. Depending on the likely route, we have just over 3,000 miles to home in mid-September. Wow!

Kay’s Take Stewart, B.C. has a population of about 500 people and Hyder, AK has a population of 100. There are two gas stations, two small groceries, a few B & Bs, one motel, a couple of restaurants and that’s it. The scenery is gorgeous – mountains, glaciers, Pacific Ocean Portland Canal, blue sky and sunny all two days.

The bear watching is incredible! The people are up on an elevated boardwalk, looking down on the habitat – a creek with returning spawning salmon, birds, eagles, and bears eating and playing. We saw a black bear driving there tonight (Tuesday) who was hugging a utility pole and scratching it’s tummy, I think. He turned his head and looked at us like ‘yeah, I’ve got an itch, so what’. Many of the bear watchers are serious photographers – specialists and professionals too. Be sure to look at the picture of the ‘Bus’ restaurant. What a hoot! Well, the Cassiar redeemed itself on this lower part – but the upper 50 miles is pretty tough. Everybody is glad our caravan is close to ending and we’re also sad at the same time. Lots of good shared memories with many special people.

Our Recommendations for Steward, BC, and Hyder, AK We definitely recommend Fish Creek Bear Viewing Area, and the drive to Salmon Glacier is wrought with spectacular scenery. Our car sits too low to the ground, and we continuously dodged potholes and heavy equiPMent tracks. There are a number of quaint buildings and churches in both Hyder and Stewart worthy of photographing, and a meal at the “Bus” is an absolute must do.

Campground There are few choices for RV parks in the Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK area. We stayed at Rainey Creek in Stewart, and had marginal 30-amp electricity—no water, no sewer, no cable. The campground sits in a rain forest, and sites are surrounded by large moss covered trees, ferns, and mushrooms. The bathrooms were clean, and showers were $1. We would stay here again, but more likely would opt for the smaller Camp Run-A-Muck in Hyder, closer to the bear viewing area.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 16,075.4
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 16,268.9
Ending Time: 3:30 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 193.5
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,876.8

Finally, the Cassiar Highway (Sunday, August 30, 2009) We had relatively clear weather last evening, and a couple of our caravan members saw the northern lights when they got up during the night. Maybe we’ll see them tonight! We departed about 8 AM, and within a couple of minutes were headed down the BC Highway 37, also known as the Cassiar Highway. Two RVs in the caravan opted to go another route, one to have warranty work done in Moscow, IA, and the other because of the intimidating reputation of the Cassiar Highway. After a few miles’ drive, we entered a construction zone, driving on pavement, gravel, and even dirt, for several miles. The highway finally returned to pavement, albeit narrow. Kay estimated that construction stretch at 14 miles. We stopped at Jade City, a retail outlet selling anything made of jade. This particular area produces 90% of the world’s jade. Returning to the highway, we hit a 20+ mile construction zone of gravel, and fresh chip and seal. The remainder of the highway was OK. Though not as bad as the Top of the World Highway, the Cassiar Highway received our No. 2 Worst Road designation for the trip. We had heard so many great things about scenery and wildlife along the Cassiar Highway, but we were disappointed as we saw no wildlife, and the scenery was average when compared to what we had seen in the preceding few weeks. Now that we’ve driven it ourselves, the mystique is gone, and we would opt, next time, for the better Alaska Highway. After arriving at Mountain Meadows RV Park, we set up and had a late lunch of homemade soup provided by Charles Hard. It was excellent. As the sun set, a couple of the ladies rounded up some firewood, and we had our second campfire of the caravan; this group doesn’t seem to be much of a campfire group. Tomorrow, we’re off to Hyder, AK, our final trip into Alaska.

Kay’s Take The trip today was more tiring because of the ever changing road conditions – good paved road, poor & patch pavement, construction, and gravel. When we are stopped by construction waits we usually try to give the flagger several pieces of ‘boiled sweets’ to brighten their day. Most are usually quite surprised and pleased. One older guy today would have none of it. Don’t know if he was just a sourpuss or on a diet! LOL. The campground is a lovely surprise even though we do have those pesky black’ no see ums’ who bite and leave an itchy knot on our skin. I have two such bites I’ve been scratching since yesterday. If it’s not mosquitoes, it’s these pesky bugs. Well, Alaska is beautiful, lush and green and mountainous with beautiful lakes, ponds, and rivers, but their bugs are brutal also!!

Our Recommendations for Iskut, BC The remoteness of Iskut resulted in Iskut not lending itself to activities and things to do.

Campground Mountain Meadow RV Park is tucked down in the valley, overlooking a lake, and surrounded by mountains at Iskut, BC. The parking pads were gravel, surrounded by grass. It was immaculate. We had 30 amp electric and water, and free wi-fi. A dump station was available on site. This is one of the neatest RV parks in which we’ve stayed. If we were to travel the Cassiar Highway again, this would be a great place to stop.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 15,879.4
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 16,074.8
Ending Time: 3:30 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 195.4
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,683.3

Heading South (Saturday, August 29, 2009) Another early start in the rain, a little past 7 AM, and we were traveling north, up the 11 mile, 11% grade. Using 3rd gear, we experienced no problems with the climb, and once we reached White Pass, the rain stopped. We made it through Canada Customs with no problems. Instead of driving all the way into Whitehorse, we took the Taggish Scenic Loop, cutting off several miles, and true to its name, it was scenic. We stopped for fuel, both for the motorhome and us, at Jake’s Corner, where we turned south for trip home. Notable for this entire leg of travel was the change in colors of the shrubs and trees as they had begun taking on fall hues.

The drive was uneventful, though we had rain on and off the whole day. We reached the Baby Nugget RV Park at 3:15 PM, filled up with gasoline, set up the motorhome, and drove to the Sign Forest at Watson Lake where we took photos of friends Jerry’s and Ann’s sign from a couple of years ago, and to make sure our sign was still there.

Now that we’re reaching the end of the trip, it all seems like a whirlwind; after all, we were at Watson Lake on July 13 and 14, some 6 weeks ago, and much has changed since then. I remarked that on the way up, I was so cowed by the road, its history, and the mystique surrounding it, while on the way down, it seems much easier.

Caravan Adventures Tomorrow, we anticipate some RVs will leave the caravan, not wanting to make the trip down the Cassiar Highway. The Top of the World Highway and the road from Tok to Valdez was just too much for them, and the reputation of the Cassiar Highway is not a good one. We have just about completed all of our planned activities and Les Potteiger has done an incredible job, way beyond our expectations of what a caravan entails. His scheduling of activities was right on target, not too many on any given day, but not too much free time. Also, his excellent planning and leadership resulted in no hiccups; everything was ready when it was supposed to be. Frankly, we don’t know how he pulled it off given the diversity of businesses with which he dealt, and the differences among caravan members. One thing for sure, Gulf Stream (the RV manufacturer providing the corporate sponsorship for this caravan) may not realize how brand loyal their customers are, due to rallies, caravans, etc.; if they ever lose those networking activities, their business may suffer beyond recovery. More about the caravan in a later journal, but kudos for Les!

Kay’s Take We didn’t see any bears or moose on the road, but we did see a few beaver in some ponds busily working away. It was kind of funny going to the Sign Post Forest; we found Jerry & Ann’s sign immediately. We couldn’t remember at first where our caravan sign was. It took us 5-10 min. but we finally found it. I have no idea how many signs are there, but it’s got to be in the 10,000s. Maybe more. It was great to travel and not have any frost heaves. How to explain one? It’s like a road roller coaster but some dip too quickly and your backend will ‘bump or hit’ if you don’t slow down enough. Especially if you’re in a long vehicle. They’re not too bad in our little Saturn, but the higher and longer you are the harder they are to take. We heard from some friends that they broke their axle and their cabinets dropped in their rig when they hit too hard. They are not to be taken lightly. Some are marked by orange flags and others aren’t marked at all. I think they may be the worst in April and May just after the thaw because the road crews haven’t had the time to repair them all by then. By August many repairs have been made. They say in Alaska that they have two seasons: winter and construction (road). LOL. Donald had a quiet birthday – sixty sits well on him. Our anniversary (9th) is this Wed. and we will be in Smithers, BC. That’s our next to last day with this caravan. We will be heading down to the ‘lower 48’ this Friday as fast as our rig will allow.

I know it’s time and I’m glad but also sad. This land grows on you. We drove for miles and miles today with no one on the road but us – mountains, lakes, ponds, and fall is descending every hour. It was magical – such a big picture and we were just a minute part of it all.

Our Recommendations for Watson Lake, YT See our entry for July 13 and 14.

Campground Baby Nugget RV Park is among the newest along the Alaska Highway. Nevertheless, it is gravel like most of the rest. We had electric, water, and cable TV. Wi-fi was $5, too expensive for us just to read email. Baby Nugget RV Park is very nice, and most convenient for our trip down the Cassiar Highway tomorrow. The Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake would be our first choice, but it is 22 miles down the road, necessitating a 44 mile round trip if traveling the Cassiar Highway from the north. We have decided that on our next trip, we will stay at provincial parks most of the time while in Canada and US Forest Service campgrounds or dry camp in Alaska, stopping at commercial parks every 4 or 5 days to do laundry, fill with potable water, and dump the tanks.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 15,575.7
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 15,879.4
Ending Time: 3:00 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 303.7
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,487.9