Starbuck to Portland

Three miles from the town of Starbuck, I had to check it out. Sadly the dinner that I was told by lady at the campground office would be there was closed. I was looking forward to having some breakfast and a cup of coffee in Starbuck. Get it! It would have been funny.
The trip from Lewiston yesterday until I hit the Columbia River was fairly flat and boring. Long rolling hills for the most part. The last leg of my journey takes me through the Columbia River Gorge. It’s huge if you’ve never seen it for yourself. I got onto I-84 (a real interstate!) and followed it all the way into Portland.
I passed what looked like a large-scale tree farm just after I reached I-84. They were big trees, large sycamores or some other pine reaching 40 to 60 feet easily. I don’t know if it was the way all the trees were the exact same size and color or the way they were all planted in straight symmetrical rows in every section but the whole thing creped me out. This went on for miles and I just thought I’d mention it because it was so weird.
Eventually I got to Portland and then my right leg started to cramp up as I was driving through traffic. I was not sure if it was the stress of driving a long distance or driving in big city traffic that caused it to start hurting but I couldn’t shake the pain until I got to my aunt house.

Grandparent’s House to Starbuck around Nez Perce

My grandparents were worried about the route I was going to take over Lolo Pass. They though it might be snowy. I don’t know why they thought I might not be able to handle a little weather but when I got up there, there was none. Sure it was a little cloudy but that was it. The snow line had not yet reached the summit of the pass.
The trip down from the summit was nice. It followed a river that looked like it would be good one to float, maybe in the spring when the water will be a little higher. There were several footbridges that crossed the river every so many miles to reach trails on the other side. I stopped for a short while at one and took some pictures when a couple on horseback came out of the wild side with a couple of pack horses each. They said they had been out a couple of weeks.
The weather broke here and there the entire way down the pass and around the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. I reached Lewiston around 5:30pm and it was 60 degrees outside. So I kept driving.
Yes, every time I’ve written the words ‘I kept driving’ I usually have regretted it latter in the day. I was only driving another hour or so before it started getting dark again. And I wasn’t near anything. I finally saw a sign for a camping area and I took the turn towards the town of Starbuck.
The campground wasn’t in Starbuck (another 3 miles away) but this was the first time I reached a campground (of the non-state campgrounds) and somebody was manning the office. It was also the first night I was able to make a fire in a pit and enjoy it.
After I got the fire going, I was staring into the sky looking at the stars and realized they were different. The constellations were not where I always see them and I couldn’t see any sign of the auroras. I also realized that I could see the stars and not be freezing my ass off.

Grandparent’s House

Spent the past five days helping out around the house. Cleaning up the yard, moving deck furniture into storage, cleaning out the hot tub, shutting down the garage water system and other things of the like. I also helped out by driving my grandparents to and from Kalispell to some of their medical appointments.
I also got to relax and eat Grandma’s cooking! Mmmmm.

Dickey Lake to Grandparent’s House

It was only 2 and half hour drive today. I started to recognize where I was just north of Kalispell with an hour left to go. I was so very happy when I caught the first glimpse of Flathead Lake driving into Bigfork.
I arrived too early or maybe I was too late. There was a note on the door saying that my grandparents had gone to breakfast (too late) and weren’t expecting me till the afternoon (too early) but I could let myself in and make myself at home. So I did with a big breakfast.
My grandparents eventually got in and I spent the rest of the day talking with them about my trip so far.

McBride to Dickey Lake through the Ice Field Parkway

It was a cold start this morning. Frost covered my tent and the surrounding area in McBride. To warm up I quickly packed then located some coffee at a local café.
The drive in to Alberta and back out again took me through four parks: Mt. Robson Provincial Park and Jasper, Banff and Kootenay National Parks.
The roads through Jasper were packed with weekend travelers making the trip through the ice fields very slow. I didn’t realize it was the weekend until later in the afternoon. There was a point diving just after passing into Banff that I had the urge to stop, unpack my snowboard and hike up a mountain. So very tempting but I didn’t.
I was a little concerned about going over the pass at Castle Junction into Kootenay. I thought there might be bad weather or bad driving conditions. But after I reached the junction and saw how the road looked I felt a lot better. The road through Kootenay was gorgeous with all the burnt forest areas. I know, how morbid but it was really pretty.
I was looking forward to the end of the road where I thought I would stay at Radium Hot Springs. My map that I received coming into the park showed a nice campground within walking distance of the hot springs. But when I got there it was all a heavily developed tourist trap. So I kept going.
And going and going. I wanted to spend the night somewhere between Radium and the Canadian Border but it was still early enough to keep driving. I’ve now reached the lower 48! I reached the border a little after nightfall and knew there was a campground just on the other side. When I got there I was disappointed to find out it was going to be $25 bucks for the night. I decided to keep going.
I was really tired at this point and had been keeping my eyes peeled for deer on the road for the past 2 hours. I finally stopped at a little campground north of Dickey Lake and pitched my tent in the darkness.

Kitwanga to McBride following the Yellowhead Highway

Not quite as far as yesterday but certainly made better time. My first stop was for gas and coffee at New H---. After that I just kept driving because there was nothing but farms and logging areas between the small towns.
I stopped once at a rest stop to stretch and check the map for place of interest. Finding none I just kept going to Prince George where I had a late lunch; around 3:30ish. Before lunch though I stopped for gas and ran into Home Depot to have a spare key made for the car. See yesterdays log to know how I learned my lesson.
After navigating my way out of Prince George, not well marked, I just kept driving until I reached McBride. Today’s animals included 2 young deer of some type, a buck (reminded me of the one I ran into last summer) and a coyote or big fox. Not sure what lives up here but my first thought was coyote at the distance I saw it at.

Boya Lake to Kitwanga along the Casier Highway

Today was a long day but that doesn’t mean I was just driving the whole time. First on the agenda was (of course) coffee. However it wasn’t as convenient as yesterday with a Starbucks right on the corner.
A hundred miles after cleaning up my campsite was Dease Lake where I got a free cup of coffee with filling up my tank. My next planned stop was for gas again at Bell II resort. There was however a few unplanned stops like stretching my legs, restrooms and photographic detours.
Just south of Dease Lake is Istuk and the middle of the Cassier Highway where I’m guessing is the highest point in the pass. I finally had reached snow levels and with the weather that had been with me for the past couple of days was now turning to whiteout and fluffy conditions. The road was not very icy but was very slushy.
It was really nice snow, very picturesque. So I stopped to take a nice snowy picture of the snow covered hillside near a lake and stream with the snow cover trees and shrubs and I locked myself out of the car!
First thoughts that came to mind I won’t write here but for the most part I was laughing at the situation that I had gotten myself into. I was wearing a sweatshirt over a thin t-shirt and jeans. Not ideal in the conditions outside.
Luckily a trooper (Mounty!) was not far behind me. I had passed him earlier on the road when he had pulled over, for whatever reason, a camper. With the tools in the back of his car we were able to open my car without doing any damage. I was probably only outside for 15 minutes. I am one lucky S.O.B.
Despite the mishap, today’s drive was has been the best day so far. After the morning run in with winter, the road dropped into the Ningunsaw Valley. It was beautiful. The road eventually turned into a deep canyon all the way to Bell II. My Father had suggested this route through Casier because of the scenery. I decided not to spend much time at Bell II after overhearing a couple talking about the pay phone (satellite) was $5 a minute.
My Dad had also visited Hyder, Alaska along this route. Well, not along the road but 40 miles off the road. The drive getting there was amazing. It was deep valley road that wined sharply as it followed a river to the Pacific Ocean. Hyder was at the very end of the road and yes I did get stopped at customs coming back into Canada despite that I had parked about 100 feet from the border.
Until today I hadn’t seen much wildlife on this trip. Just before I hit ‘winter,’ I saw a moose. Blue skies and warmer weather found me just outside of Bell II. From there to my detour to Hyder and all the way down to Kitwanga, I counted 14 black bears along the road and 3 of those were cubs.