Reno to Hyder: One Looong Drive

Skeena is a perfect travelling companion, but five days in the 4Runner makes for a pretty long trip. We left Reno on Wednesday and finally arrived in Hyder Saturday. Of course, I didn’t take the quickest or most direct route (I could’ve shaved a whole day off of Oregon), but we had fun. Our first night we free camped off of highway 58 in Oregon. I had the bright idea that we should work some hiking into our journey. I had started to research hiking ideas, but had other stuff to do and figured that we’d just find something. You know, much like the way Ken is just able to find great hikes for us to do.

Night 1: The Free Camp

I thought that a brief jaunt on the Pacific Crest Trail would make for a good bit of exercise. And it did, we went south from where the PCT crosses 58 down into some lakes (don’t have the map with me to look at the names). The hike was nice: through trees, not too steep, we had a turn-around destination. But we didn’t get a whole lot of views out of it. Oh well. It certainly was nice to get out and stretch the legs and Skeena conked out in her bed for much of the afternoon.

Leaving Maintained Road to find the Trail Head

We hiked into Diamond Peak Wilderness

When we were finished, I wasted about 90 minutes trying to find some hot springs. I should have called Ken before I took off and asked him to look up directions online. Instead he left a voicemail with directions about an hour after I had given up. Heh. We then drove up I-5, went right on the 205, and headed east on 84 so we could drive through the Columbia River Gorge.
I stopped at Multnomah Falls on a whim. Traffic had been horrendous and we needed another leg stretch and Skeena was allowed as long as she was on a leash. We did the strenuous mile up to the falls, took a few pictures, and went back down to the car. That night we spent at a pay campground along the river gorge. It was sandwiched between railroad tracks and the highway, so it was a bit noisy, but we were both pretty tired.

My Tired Puppy

The next day we left the campground by 7:30 am continued east until we hit 73 and went north on that all the way to the border. Crossing at Osooyos was a piece of cake. There were only 3 cars ahead of me and the customs agent didn’t even hassle me about the dog (although I had her proof of rabies vaccination in hand just in case). We followed the highway up to Peachland and followed the signs towards Ashcroft. At Logan Lake I thought I’d try to find a free place for us to camp. I drove along a lot of BC forestry roads and kept coming up empty handed. In the US, it’s easy to find free camping spots on Forest Service roads. In BC, however, the trees are too close together and it’s too damned bushy. After spending a good 90 minutes driving around a bunch of dirt roads, I decided to cut my losses and continue on towards Ashcroft. That night’s sunset was spectacular. I stopped a few times to get out and marvel at the clouds (and give my aching back a rest!). Eventually we hooked up with 97 and continued on to Cache Creek where we found a campground and went to bed nearly right away.

I couldn't find a free spot to camp, but the sunset was lovely.

I started driving Saturday with the thought that I would make it all the way to Hyder by that night. I made that plan a little less likely when I stopped in 100 Mile House to find out about local hikes. But the 2-hour suggestion the InfoCentre had ended up being a mere 45-minute walk up to a waterfall.

100 Mile House is home to the world's longest cross country skis.

The Waterfall Hike Waterfall

I didn't help our time table any by stopping in Houston to let Skeena play in the dogrun.

The get-to-Hyder-tonight plan was totally thwarted in Prince George (which is about 8 hours from Hyder) when I spent nearly an hour in the Canadian Super Store battling crowds, stepping in spilled margarine, and doing a bit of grocery shopping for my dad. I then gassed up and spent almost another hour outside of town in the midst of a traffic jam that had been caused by an accident down the road. By the time I was ready to stop, I was in Moricetown where the sign for the campground was just too tempting to pass up. So we camped there for the night.

By this point, I was only about 3 hours from my destination. But since this might be the last time I’m up here for a while, I thought I’d take my time and visit Hazleton and the reconstructed K’San village. I didn’t roll into Hyder until nearly 3pm Sunday afternoon and by the time I arrived, I was ready to be done driving for a long, long time.

K'San Village in Hazleton

It's nice to finally be at our destination. Dad likes the dog (I dare someone not to like Skeena), and not too much has changed although a several structures didn't make it through the winter.

Dean and the dog

The first place I lived in Hyder partially collapsed from all the snow this winter