Dunfey Alaska Journey

We arrived in Eugene, Oregon for our appointment to get our “Camper” fixed. We did get about half of our “Camper” issues fixed at a Trailmanor RV dealer in Eugene. Unfortuately, they created new problems for us. In trying to adjust the camper’s up/down alighment, they made the situation much worse. We will have to stop at the factory in Tennessee on our way home.

We also got into a traffic accident in downtown Eugene without the camper. We were changing lanes and the car in our”blind spot” hit us in the side damaging both doors. No one was hurt but other car had to be towed. We may wait to get the damaged fixed until we get home since it will take 10 days in the repair shop to get it fixed.

We kayaked in a big lake outside of Eugene while our “camper” was being fixed. We met a man who told us about this great lake for kayaking – Waldo Lake. We went to Waldo Lake National Park about an hour’s drive east of Eugine and stayed 3 nights. The kayaking was very, very good. The lake water was crystal clear. There were many little coves to review the rocky shore. We went swimming for the 1st time this summer ( not counting hot springs). The weather was great!

Waldo Lake area has many, many trails to hike or bike. It seemed that most of the campers were bikers.

Waldo Lake was one of the best places we have ever camped!

Crater Lake

We headed to Crater lake about 3 hours drive south of Waldo Lake. We stayed at the national forrest campground there for 2 nights. Crater Lake was formed after the volcanic Mazama Mountain collapsed. The magma holding it up had come to the surface with near by eruptions.

The road around Crater Lake is high on the mountain ridge with the lake about 700-1000 feet below on one side and a valley on the other side. It is an incredible drive that often had Fred’s knuckles white. The second day we were there, we climbed down to the lake and took a boat tour of lake. It was great fun to see the lake from above and then look up from the lake at all the various rock formations.

The nights at Crater lake were cold – about 37 degrees. We decided that we would keep out of the mountains at night wherever we could until we get back home.

We are driving today to the National Redwood Forrest in Northern California.

We arrived at the Oregon Coast at Beachside State Campground on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend after visiting St. Helens Visitor Center in Washington. The campground is right on the ocean about 10 miles south of Newport.

The noise of the ocean waves and wind is exceptional. When we put our generator on, our neighbors can’t hear it.

We visited a historic lighthouse and several beaches along the coast.

Today, we are going to Eugene for camper repairs tomorrow.

The amount of traffic and the hustle bustle of continental USA is very noticeable to us after being in northwest Canada and Alaska for so long.

We arrived at Cougar Rock Campground in Mount Rainer National Park on the morning of Sept 2. We stayed two nights. Our campsite was great! We had privacy in the woods.

Mount Rainer was visible from the road near our campsite. On the first day there, clouds covered Mt. Rainer most of the time. We travelled up to the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise on both days we were there. 

On our second trip to Paradise, Mt Rainer was quite clear when we started our hike. We chose an easy trail to follow. Then, we switched to the Dead Horse Creek trail to head up the mountain. We switched again onto the Skyline Trail that went to the top of the mountain or close to it. (As far as the hiking trails go)  We stopped just short of the top. We were above most of the surrounding mountains at 6400 feet. We went down a different set of trails to get a different perspective.

On the way up, we met another couple from our campground. It turns out that he was a CIA trained and directed scout sniper during Vietnam and he wrote a book about his experiences. He is Robert Boyd and his book is “Codename Litefoot”. We were intrigued, visited them in their trailer and purchased an autographed copy from him.

On Saturday, it was raining heavily as we set out for the Mount St. Helen’s Visitor Center and the Oregon Coast.

The drive to Whistler from the north was very scenic. The road wound up the valleys high above the floor. An occasional switchback brought us over the mountain ridge to the next valley. The weather was very cloudy. The clouds and the smoke from the local fires spoiled the views.

Whistler was teaming with people and traffic. We couldn’t even find a place to park. We toured the area. Whistler is the largest Ski Area in North America and will host the 2010 Winter Olympics. The whole area was knee deep in preparation for the Olympics.

We continued on towards Vancouver. We camped for 3 nights at Alice Lake Provincial Park in Sqaumish about 30 miles north of Vancouver. This was a great family campground with swimming beaches on Alice Lake and plenty of trails for biking and hiking. We took an 8 kilometer hike around the 4 lakes in the area.

In Vancouver, we went to Stanley Park and the Museum of Anthropology at University of BC. On the way to UBC from Stanley park, we saw more of downtown Vancouver than we anticipated. We got lost! Stanley Park was wonderful. It had great views of the bays and islands. We had lunch high on a hill overlooking one such bay.

In Squamish, we toured a historic copper mine by taking the miner’s train into the mine. We experienced somewhat what was like to have worked in the mine.

It took us two hours to get accross the US/Canada border!

This is our last journal posting from western Canada and Alaska. We have crossed into USA and are now in a Wal-Mart “campsite”  with Mount Rainier  clearly visibile above us. The traffic is very noticeable after travelling on isolated roads of northwest Canada and Alaska!

We have a 9/8 appointment in Engene, Oregon with a Trailmanor dealer to get our camper a check up! We thought we would see Mts Rainer, Helen and Hood while waiting.

When we left the Stewart-Hyder area on 8/27/2009, a black bear was eating at the side of the road as if saying goodbye for our Alaska visit. 

We pulled into Tyhee Lake Provincial Campground just south of Smithers, BC. We bought a stack of firewood and enjoyed a campfire after dinner.  In the morning, we got the oil changed for the car and shopped for groceries in Smithers. Then we paddled on Tyhee lake. A float plane came in for a landing right over our heads. A little while later another one took off just before reaching us. 

On Saturday 8/29/2009, we were planning on going to a provincial campground between Prince George and Whistler, BC. It was sunny all day with the temperature getting to 84. After passing through William Lake BC, the right trailer tire blew up. This was our first tire problem of the trip. It took us about 2 hours to change the tire. We had to figure how to do this. It is a good thing we decided to buy a bottle jack in Watson Lake, Yukon a week ago. It came in handy.

When we pulled into an RV Park. it was pitch black. We put on beans and franks for a 10 PM dinner.

In the morning, we will depart for Whistler for a couple of days before going to visit Vancouver.

We woke up on morning of 8/26/2009 to find the rain had gone and the day was beautiful.  Since the rain returned the next morning,  this would be our last day in Alaska. It would rank among our best days on our trip.

Who would have thought that Stewart, BC – Hyder had so much to offer.

We came here to see Fish Creek Salmon Observation area in Hyder, Alaska. This is where Black Bears and Grizzlies  come to feast on Salmon. We did see many, many Salmon spawning in 2 miles long creek. There were many people and photographers waiting for the bears to show. We came twice to find them and never saw them at the creek. We did spot a couple of teenage bears as we found our way back to Hyder from our trip the the Salmon Glacier.

The 20 mile mountian gravel road trip to the top of the Salmon Glacier was stupendous! Fred was white knuckling most of the drive. The mountain/canyon views were outstanding. We were able to see the Salmon Glacier from its toe all the way up to the ice field at the top.  We looked down to the glacier from the road. This is the only trip like it anywhere we had been. It also came as a complete surprise. We didn’t know about it until we arrived here.

We would classify Stewart-Hyder as a must see. It appears to be not highly recommended and out of the way. This are presented us with a fond farewell from Alaska.

The Bear River RV campground was woodsy, full service, a Good Sam and inexpensive. We had lunch at  The “Bus” in Hyder as recommended at the campground. The seafood was outstanding. The owner’s husband does the fishing, she does the cooking. Her seafood chowder was the best Fred has had in along, long time.