Overland Adventure Excursions

We got up from the dusty spot on the BLM land outside of Smith’s Rock and packed up. We did a swing by a local store and I stocked up on creamer and found a breakfast burrito and coffee. The first stop was a quick hike around Smith’s Rock State Park, a climber’s mecca. It was definitely formidable, and as Carl would say, terrifying. The rock had a beautiful stream running in front of it that worked great for photos.

We pushed down out of Oregon and into the northeastern part of California. The road took us along the eastern Sierra Nevadas through some ranching country, some beautiful lakes, and endless views of high desert. We stopped for lunch in a town called Janesville, which apparently is home to the county seat and two prisons. Nothing much to see here at the visitors center so we pushed forward with Carl at the helm.

We made it to Reno about 5 PM and filled up with gas. The trip meter had us at 588 miles and we still had a half of the main tank, which means another 100 miles. I am really pleased with the Long Range Automotive auxiliary tank for this trip. It has made it easier to travel and not be hitched to the passing gas stations.

We finished the night in another wild camp on the middle of the Nevada desert. We have mountain ranges all around and views of the sunsets and sunrises were astounding. The stars at night were bright, even with a half moon. The beauty of the deserts. The next leg is to drop Carl off in Vegas and then head onward to home in Mesa. I am grateful for this trip and the opportunities is opened. And I am so happy to be getting home to my wonderful wife.

We decided to stay another day in Portland and cut the long day into two pieces.  Rich suggested Smith’s Rock state park north of Bend and so we packed up our stuff, left the truck, and headed back into Portland.  This time instead of the boroughs, we were in the city center. 

Our first stop was a huge bookstore called Powells.  Apparently it’s famous.  We had some coffee, chatted, looked at books and then left to find food or beer in some food trucks. We ran across the Deschutes Brewery and had some pretty good beer and then proceeded to the trucks.

Apparently Portland is filling itself in and building high-rise apartments in any place they can find.  One block was famous for the food trucks, but recently was cleared and re-appropriated.  We found some of the food trucks and had a pretty decent lunch before heading to our second stop at an outfitter store.  We looked around and bought a couple of things. 

Rich had to stop by a re-store to pick up some floor boards for his home (he’s re-doing the bathroom) so Carl and I waited for him across the street at The Mississippi Pizza Pub. Rich got his boards and then we headed back to the house, finished loading the truck and then Carl and I headed south-east.  

We camped in a BLM area across from the state park.  The juniper and weeded forest smelled kind of strange and took a bit to get used to.  Something strange must have been blooming.  

I planned to meet with some friends of Kristina and mine for coffee at 9 AM.  I got up around 6 and got started on the repairs for the truck.  The high pressure AC line had been rubbed on the bumper for years, but the Dempster apparently was its demise.  The part had been sent to Rich’s house and after removing the grill and a support bracket, I got the old one out and the new one in by about 8 AM.   

I had a great visit with John and Linda at a local Starbucks for about 90 minutes.  They suggested a mechanic and I checked their availability and they could take the truck at 1PM.   I gassed up and headed back to Rich’s and we took both vehicles to drop it off.  (Kudos to Top Performance Automotive for a fast and rea$onable recharge).  We had lunch while it was in the shop and then dropped it back off at Rich’s before we headed into Portland for some guided tours.

Rich showed us one of the houses he recently sold and then we had some gelato and walked around the area that is strewn with shops, restaurants, homes, and interesting nooks and crannies.  Carl and I agreed we could hang out here for several days and still not see all of the cool stuff.  Rich took us to a mountain park in the city and we hiked around a bit.  We then went out and visited his sisters, one whom was visiting from Bend, OR, and enjoyed some great conversation and lemonchella.  

Dennys for a late dinner and we headed back to his house for the night. 

We drove around the western part of the park and turned to the Hot National Rain Forest.  Carl got his Jr Ranger pin and patch and I took a small hike.  This is another place I really want to head back to and visit.  This park has a discovery trail for bikes and tons of hikes and overnight options.  One campground across from where we camped, is beneath ancient Cedar, Hemlock, and oaks covered in moss and mushrooms.  

We stopped a couple of times along the road, first at a giant cedar tree and then at the beach.  We stayed at the beach for about an hour checking out the cool tide pool creatures, rocks and driftwood.  The Pacific is cold, but nothing like the Arctic Ocean.  

About an hour further down the road we stopped at a roadside diner called Dino’s Diner.  I got the special of fish, shrimp, and fries and it was great.  Carl loved his burger.  We checked out an interesting mercantile next door that had everything from food, beverages, fishing gear, to muffin baking pans.  The interesting thing was that it was built on a slope and one side was several feet higher than the other and the floor was sloped in the store.  

We decided to turn inland instead of continuing down the 101 and got to our friend. Rich’s, house about 6PM.  We talked for a while and caught up for many hours.  Rich fixed some light dinner and then we all headed to bed around midnight.  

We had a bit of time to get laundry done and stock up with some supplies before check out.  We left town about 10:30 AM and headed for the US border.  It was raining all the way down into Vancouver, BC and the fog and rain provided some amazing views of the coast.  We made our way though the city of Vancouver and then found the line to the US border.  

The wait was listed ad 70 minutes so we grabbed some beverages and made friends with the locals.  I learned some interesting things about Canadians in line; they are pleasant and polite when you meet them and are generally apologetic, but put them in a queue headed for the border and if you give them 5 fee of space in between you and the car in front and they will push and shove and cut right in without a hint of a wave, thank you, or sorry.  Interesting Canadian characteristic.  

The 70 minutes turned into 90 and we finally found ourselves at the border.  The agent decided to use me for some training and tried to show the other agent where you can hide cocaine in an FJ Cruiser.  Glad I was not transporting any.  

We continued south into Washington and turned west to catch a ferry across the waterways at Port Townshend.  From there it was about 2 more hours of beautiful forest and coastal roads before entering Olympic National Park.  We drove around Crescent Lake, which was incredibly beautiful in the rainforest, and then found a great site deep in the rainforest on an old logging FS road.  The mosquitos are tiny here and not really a bother.  We hung out, drank some beer and good rum, and then turned in around midnight.   It actually gets dark here around 10:30.

I woke up early and headed to the truck to pay for the parking. We could not park the truck un the hotel lot due to the height and the library parking around the corner was $30 per day. We found open parking for $10 per day in the main lots, so I parked there. Pay is only 8am – 5pm, so I had to get it paid. We moved the truck closer to the hotel in the process.

I replaced my rear brake pad since they were getting thin and I didn’t want those to be sketchy on the hill. We were going to get breakfast at a local shop, but the lines were incredibly long, so we headed back and just made oatmeal and coffee back at the truck. The bike park opened at 10 am so I moseyed on over about 9:30 to get my ticket and get started.

Whistler Mountain Bike Park is world renowned for its trails and fun. It also hosts a Crankworks event and a world cup race. I took the easy trail down the first time to get a feel for the mountain. It was really easy and pretty fun. THe next time I moved to the B-Line intermediate trail. Steeper, challenging, and lots of burms and jumps, this trail is really fun. The trail was washboarded a bit, but still was great.

The lines were getting long and I had to wait 20 minutes to get on the third run. It was starting to rain, so when I got to the top, I took the second lift to get to the second ridge 2500 feet higher. That lift is 2x longer and I decided at the top to take the intermediate trail called Blue Velvet. This trail was wider than the b-line below, but it was FAST and STEEP with some incredible jumps. I still was not ready to get my wheels too far off the ground so I did my best to keep the speed down. By now the trails were sufficiently wet that the mud rooster tails were thick.

It took me about an 40 minutes to get all the way down to the bottom. By then the lines were almost gone. I guess rain and mud thin out the tourist bikers. I made another run up to the mid level and took the Crank It Up trail. This was a bit more technical than B-Line but had a lot of great burms. At the bottom I decided to get lunch and headed to the truck to cook some soup.

That afternoon I did probably another 8 runs down the hill on many trails. I managed to do a black diamond trail that Whistler is famous for, the A-Line. Now that trail is really good. It is wide, fast, has great and fast turns and tons of table-top jumps. I rode this trail several times and by the end I was jumping confidently, although not over a couple of feet high. There is one part that has a jump, and then cascades down a 10 story step drop into another jump. FUN.

I quit about 6 PM and headed back to the hotel after washing my bike and myself in the public wash rack. It tool several washes and showers to get all the dirt from the hair and clothes. Carl bought some KFC and then baked a frittata. I made it to about 10 and then headed to bed. What a great day.

We are making our way south and getting closer to the Whistler. Today it should ge only about 6 hours of drive to Whistler. The plan is to get there and get some lift tickets and then start riding. The drive in southern BC is a lot of farming and forestry. We passed many locations where trees were being loaded into barges for sale southward or overseas (Stewart) or actually processed locally. In one location there was a whole valley filled with rows and rows of rough-cut lumber.

As we got farther south towards Whistler, we entered a steep mountain range with super steep 12-15% grades. It was so beautiful going in and out of the clouds above the crystal clear streams and old growth pines. At the other side was the town of Pemberton, and low and behold, a brewery sign. They were not open until 3, but were open enough to sell a couple of bottles and we sat on their patio and I enjoyed a great IPA.

We arrived early into Whistler and attempted to get a camp spot but there was nothing available. After looking at the potential free roadside camping, we scored a great room at the Alpenglow hotel for $100 per night. It had a kitchen, fireplace, and balcony and 3 beds. Of course the shower was the best since it had been a couple of days for me and several more for Carl.

We checked out the local shops and restaurants and then grabbed a drink and some food. I decided not to get on the lift due to the late hour and just do a whole day on July 5. The lift was only $52 (American) so I purchased online. We had a few more beers along our tour of the place, and then went back to the hotel for rest.

There is not a lot that we want to see in this portion of the country and are making it a marathon day.  We left around 7 AM and then headed south east and then finally turned south.  We did stop in a couple of towns to get some repair parts for the tent and of course hot dogs at Costco in Prince George.

Some highlights of today was that we saw 4 black bears and one grizzly bear.  I kind of got a picture of the grizzly but he was not too ready to pose.  He already had a tag on his ear, and if I remember what one of the rangers told us, they get 1 tag when they are interacting badly with humans and have to be moved.  The second tag is more of a bad-bear danger warning, and if it happens a third time the bear is removed permanently.  I am not sure how much is true of that bear, but apparently he has been tagged for some reason.

This is logging and lumber country here.  We have passed multiple processing plants as we traveled south.  There are stacks and stacks of rugs cut boards that go on for hundreds and hundreds of yards.   The biggest so far has been in Quesnel.  Very impressive.  

We ended the night after driving about 700 miles today and camped at another iOverlander suggested campsite.  It was a cow patch along the road near a ranch. The mosquitos were thick so we ate quickly and headed to bed.

We filled up this morning at the Tin Chicken gas stop, grocery store, outfitter, and breakfast joint.  This was the HIGEST price we have had to pay for gas so far.  It was $1.50 Canadian per liter, which translates to about $4.32 per gallon. BC is noted for the highest cost gas in Canada.

We met a young couple in a 4Runner that are doing some overloading on their way up to Anchorage where he is working with some clients.  They had a nice custom drawer system and a fridge in the back and a Alucab tent on top.   And then a guy from Sacramento pulled up in a nice older land cruiser.  He showed us his work on the vehicle that included a fridge and sink inside the back and had a fold out bed.  The upgrades also included a Diesel engine conversion and he said he now gets 24-26 mpg.  Sure would be nice to get those….  35% cost cut in fuel on this trip.  That would be nice.

We made it to Stewart about 1 PM local time and took a look at the port town.  It has some beautiful places and is a quaint community.  I would like to definitely return here and stay at the local inn and bed and breakfast.  The buildings were easy 1900’s but inside were modernized and clean.  I had a chance with the LTE service to talk to my wife, Kristina, and we had a great conversation.  It was really cool because the town had a 1 mile boardwalk path over the estuary so I got to view the grasslands and marshes of the estuary.  I actually saw some salmon yearlings (I cannot remember the names) in the river pools.

Carl and I tried to get a bite to eat, but the restaurant that had an Open sign was actually closed so we just made lunch out of the back of the truck.  I used the last of the pork tenderloin, a spicy sausage, noodles and tomato soup to make a delicious concoction.

We headed across the unmanned border into Alaska again (for the last time) into the town or Hyder.  I is labeled “the friendliest ghost town in Alaska”.  We drove through to the wildlife viewing platform, but since the salmon are not running for a couple more weeks, nothing was there.  Apparently this is the place to go to watch the black and grizzly bears catch and eat the salmon headed up for spewing.  Oh well.

We continued up the road, which turned to dirt, and then back into Canada.  We drove the 18 miles or so up the road to points above the Salmon glacier, which is the fifth largest in North America.  It is impressive to say the least.  I took a few moments to just feel the mass of ice below me and of course took lots of pictures.  

I decided to ride my bike down the hill after some suggestion from Carl.  I suited up and got my bike out and rode down the 3000 feet elevation road to the bottom.  About 1/3 of the way into it, a black bear was in the road so I slammed on my brakes.  He didn’t want to go into the bushes and after several minutes, sauntered out of my way.  About that time Carl came up in the truck and provided blocking from the bear as I continued down.  I rode fro about 45 minutes to the bottom and wanted to get the bike cleaned in the river.  As I was looking for a good spot, another black bear was blocking the road, so I just took the bike apart, loaded it into the truck and we got out of dodge.

On our way out of Hyder, Carl found a group of folks convened in a garage, so we stopped to speak to the.  Well about 2 hours later, some beer, tons of laughs, and hand shakes, we decided to head back on the road southward.  

And finally, finally, on our way back we saw our first grizzly on the side of the road.  We couldn’t get a good picture, but man was he a big guy.  We hope to see more, but that was a memory you cannot take away.  AND, by the way, it was in CANADA.  We are convinced there are few bears in Alaska.

We stopped about an hour up the road at a pull off and set camp for the night.  What a memorable day.