Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 164

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 164

Canada - Alaska

8/12/09  – Hyder, Alaska

Our Worst Section Of Cassiar Highway

We got up at a decent time and as Sam is sliding in our slide out on the trailer – it happened.  A clunk.  Not a good clunk.  A clunk.  Sam and our campground neighbor, Rick, got under the trailer and noted that one of the bolts was missing from the slide out motor.  Not a normal thing. They viewed and tested and jiggled and turned and tapped and talked - all the things that guys do when ‘working’ under cars, trucks and trailers.  It did not fix the motor.  Sam decided that since the slide out was in, we would go on to Hyder before taking a closer look.  Our campground neighbors, Rick and Cheryl, were going in the same direction.  As we shared information, we learn that we had stayed at many of the same areas, just at different times or at different campgrounds.  They had stayed at Centennial Park Campground in Soldotna, just across the Sterling Highway from us. The Cassiar Hwy improved some after Mountain Shadow. We passed Eddontenajon Lake, Tatogga Lake, Kinaskin Lake, Natadesleen Lake, Iskut River, Several very narrow wooden deck bridges (slippery when wet), Eastman Creek (names after George Eastman of Eastman/Kodak fame), and many, many, many more bodies of water of all types.  We made it to Meziadan Junction, the turn off to Hyder.  The big mountains, filled with glaciers, were back.  They must know how much I love them.

Bear Glacier

We cross bridge after bridge, passing Bear Glacier on the left.  We want to stop to see if we can witness more ‘calving’ of icebergs, but keep on going. Stopping along side this road with the trailer, is very dependant on the amount of roadside there is and there wasn’t much.  We admire the scenery, while watching for road bumps.  Falling Rock and Watch Out For Wildlife signs litter the road. We spot no road rocks or wildlife.  We enter Stewart, British Columbia.  (Not to be confused with Seward, Alaska.) Although a small town, it makes obvious efforts to maintain a bright, colorful, tourist town look and new paint is evident everywhere. We peek at the shops along the way, but keep moving. We want to see if there is space available at the campground Sam has chosen in Hyder, Alaska.  We pass the border – no one there – enter Hyder and start looking for Camp Run A Muck.  Not hard to find as there is only one main road and signs point the way.  They had space. Instead of dropping the trailer off and rushing out to see the sights, Sam decides we should actually try and determine the status of the slide out on the trailer.  That was easy.  It does not work.  Three out of four bolts have sheered off and two of them went into the motor.  Not nice.  Luckily, Sam knows that he can hand crank the slide out out and after he finds the tool that came with the trailer many years ago, he cranks it out.  Our new neighbors at Camp Run A Muck are the same ones we met at Mountain Shadow.  Sam gets help looking things over again.  After setting up, we go have dinner at The Bus.  That takes the rest of the evening and far into the night.  

Hyder Grocery Store