Heather & Sean's RV Adventures: Prince George/Stewart/Hyder, AK

May 23: Travel day from Prince George to somewhere down the road toward Stewart, BC. We woke up to another cloudy, rainy day. We had an egg, potato, and sausage scramble for breakfast after taking care of the pups. We didn't finish our errands yesterday and I was still working on a couple more loads of laundry, so we lingered around until I was on the last load to start in the washer. We took the truck into town to find rawhides for the pups. First we tried Canadian Tire, which proved not to have the rawhides, but Sean found a new water hose that we needed. Next to Walmart, which still didn't have the rawhide pack we were looking for, but we did find something else for them. By the time we got done with errands, the rain stopped and we got back to the motorhome just before checkout. I put our load of washer finished laundry in the dryer with the plan to start the generator down the road to finish it up. Sean is getting frustrated with the rain because when we drive there is a film of road grime that sticks to everything, sometimes so thick it's impossible to see through the truck windows. We have to remind each other that we need to appreciate this weather while we have it because we don't often get to experience this. We drive through some very pretty areas and a town called Houston (much smaller than the city we are used to) eventually get to Smithers. Sean found a book store that sells homemade pies and pastries, so we definitely had to stop there. The pie of the day was Cheesecake Apple Tort. We each got a slice! The bookstore was an eclectic assortment of books, loose leaf teas, pastries, and knickknacks. The store owner manned the register and we asked if she buys used books and she stated she would trade, so she gave us $6 off the books we were going to buy. After we left with our bounty, we headed back to road and decided we would stop at Seeley Lake Provincial Park. Once we got to the location, Sean quickly determined the motorhome wasn't going to fit with the truck attached, so he pulled in so we could detach the truck and he had to pull an Austin Powers move to get the motorhome to a position to drive through the park to the campsite we picked out. It was tight! Sean was able to get the motorhome settled into the site and with room for the truck to fit in the front. We got settled in and then took the pups for a nice long walk around the campground and to the lake. We were hopeful to see some wildlife along the lake edge, but nothing wanted to reveal itself. At this point, we started to notice there were mosquitoes here. Despite these annoying critters, we continued our walk. I made us some Poppyseed Chicken and green beans for dinner. I was way too full for my tort, but Sean ate his and reported that it was super good!

Inside Canadian Tire store, similar to Tractor Supply, but much bigger.

Mountain range views

Houston, BC

Downtown Smithers looking for the bookstore, surrounded by mountains.

Loose leaf teas inside bookstore.

Only parking would could find that motorhome would fit.

Our first bear sighting of the trip happened between Smithers and New Hazelton.

Campsite at Seeley Lake Provincial Park.

May 24: Happy Birthday, Heather! Sean cooked us some breakfast tacos and we went for a morning walk around the campground and on the lake trail, again looking for wildlife, but no more than birds and mosquitoes were found. On our way to the lake trail, we pass the parking area for the rest area for the park and two guys had stopped to use the restroom. All of a sudden, Sean and I hear the loudest fart from one of the guys and he looks at us and us at him, and you could tell he was relieved to have that out of him and not the least bit embarrassed, lol. We loaded up and headed out, this time to Stewart, BC. We turned onto Highway 37 and immediately found a sign to watch for frost heaves in the road. We soon found out what they meant by the sign with a few frost heaves catching us off guard. Sean was looking at a post online about Meziadin Lake Provincial Park having many bear sightings and very inquisitive bears that would walk on peoples cars. We went to the park in the motorhome, but we only found lots of people. We initially thought we would like to kayak today, but the rain made it a bit miserable, so we decided to come back on another day. We needed diesel and Sean stopped in Meziadin Junction at a gas station. We then made our way toward Stewart on 37A and the entire drive was beautiful. Snow capped mountains, rivers, streams, waterfalls, and forests filled the motorhome windshield. Sean stopped the rig at Bear Glacier in a pullout for a quick picture. Shortly, we arrived to the RV Park we would be staying at for the next few days and got settled in. We tried to go to their Visitors Center, but it was closed early, so we walked on the tidal flats boardwalk right next to the building. Sean looked up a trail guide online and we found one that looked fun, so we headed to the Sluice Box Trailhead. It was a rugged and steep trail, but we managed to get to the end which featured its namesake and to a pretty and forceful waterfall. On a split in the trail, there was a viewpoint of the Stewart area. We were pretty tuckered out after that trail and decided to go home and cook some dinner. Since there was no restaurant we wanted to go to open, we decided to cook fajitas that turned out fantastic! I finally ate my apple tort, and I can assure you it was delicious. We took the pups for an after dinner walk on the river levee behind the RV park and enjoyed the river views against the mountains and had fun pointing out all the waterfalls we could find.

Meziadin Lake

Highway 37A toward Stewart.

Bear Glacier

RV park campsite.

Stewart boardwalk.

Sluice Box Trail starts in the valley forest and you cross over a wetland area.

Homemade ladder...

...and bridges

Look how these trees grow over boulders!

Found the waterfall!

Namesake of the trail.

Viewpoint

Fajitas!

River levee trail.

May 25: We chose today to go to Salmon Glacier and to get there you have to go through a border crossing in a remote area called Hyder, which is in the panhandle of Alaska. The only ways to access this is by boat or drive through Canada, there is no ferry access that we know of. We start the day with blueberry pancakes for breakfast, yum! We got our hiking boots and rain jackets (again a rainy day) and set out in the truck. We stop at the Stewart Visitors Center (which is now open) and pick up an Auto Tour booklet and head to the border. There is no American border crossing checkpoint, but later we will have to stop at the Canada border checkpoint. We stop at a Wildlife Viewing Boardwalk that has locking gates and emergency exit in case bears manage to get in. It's funny to feel like you are the caged animal in their zoo, lol. We saw only a duck... no bears, moose, or other critters. We got to a point that you could view across the riverbeds and pulled over for a few minutes to look for bears, but we are thinking the rain probably made them seek shelter for the day. The road starts getting rougher and muddy, but still passable. We soon start passing by an active mine and all their equipment, and then the road gets smaller as you start climbing. We happened upon the end of the drivable road, which was snowed in beyond this area, so we unfortunately couldn't get to the spot where you could hike down to the toe of Salmon Glacier. Despite this, we still were able to get a spectacular view. Sean got his drone out to see if it was possible to get a but view, photo below. We ate our picnic lunch in the truck due to the rain and headed back to Hyder where we drove to their marina and watched a couple of boats come in from the bay. We stopped to get a magnet in the only gift shop in town, lol, then we stopped shortly down the road at the Canada border checkpoint and got the Spanish Inquisition of questioning from the young man, then he got to the gun question and I was thinking here we go... but shortly after Sean answered him we were released. We stopped at the Visitor Center to return the Auto Tour booklet and then walked over to the grocery store because we were on the mission to make our own salsa! We can't find any salsa in the grocery stores worth eating, lol. We were surprised to find fresh cilantro in one of the grocery stores. We made it back home and I started on our salsa while Sean attended to washing off the truck because the dirt road made it a complete mess. Soon I was done and Sean came back from his chore and we stuffed our faces with chips and good salsa for a while...there's nothing like it. Sean made us some grilled chicken and corn on the cob and we stuffed our faces again, lol. We went on a long walk down the river levee again and then a little way on the road where the levee ends. We decided to go back and get the truck and explore some of the roads to see if there were other areas we could look for bears, but despite our best effort no bears were found.

USA!

Wildlife viewing boardwalk

Waterfall later down the road.

Another one!

No idea what this is for...

Glacier melt river. We couldn't figure out what the blue pool was from.

Our stopping point because of the snow.

Sean lightly testing the truck 4 wheel drive until I told him he better not get us stuck way out here, lol.

Salmon Glacier view from our stopping point

Sean's drone picture. Look at all the waterfalls.

Active mine

Hyder Marina

Homemade salsa!!!

Finally seeing some blue skies.

Bald eagle in the river bed.

May 26: Happy Memorial Day to those back home! We slept in a bit today and skipped breakfast. Sean attended to the pups while I completed a few chores inside. Sean packed us a picnic lunch and then we were on road to Meziadan Lake Provincial Park to try to find the grizzlies and kayak the lake (we skipped stopping to kayak a few days before due to the rain). Sean and I were searching the roadsides for any wildlife while he was driving and then got to talking about random things soon forgetting we were on the search. Then... BEAR! Sean hits the brakes. We found a grizzly right there on the side of the road, lazily grazing on the grasses. It didn't seem to mind us as we gawked at it for a good 5 minutes. Funny how we weren't really paying attention and then found one of the animals we always seek. People were driving our way, so we let our friendly bear to his day and headed on stopping at Bear Glacier again for a picture. We get to the park and unload the kayaks and set out on our journey. It's a nice non-rainy day with no wind and calm waters. We didn't find any wildlife other than some waterfowl, but we did find a small stream that runs into the lake. As we were making our way back the wind decided to start up and made some small waves for us to navigate. We stuck to the shore and were able to make it back safely. After we got loaded up in the truck, Sean pulled up to the picnic area and we claimed a table for lunch to enjoy our PB&J sandwiches with a few snacks while watching the lake. No bears made an appearance, so we headed back to Stewart. We are having leftovers tonight and went on a long walk after dinner.