Escott’s Bay Resort Anahim Lake, BC, Canada Day 2

I woke up really early and saw a solitary white pelican on the water in front of the RV.

I worked on the blog for a couple of hours before Tim got up.  He saw a flock of white pelican further across the lake.  Our plan today was to drive the Jeep on the infamous Highway 20 dirt and gravel hill to Bella Coola. The gravel portion is 39 miles long. Full of switchbacks, sheer drop-offs and with 18% grade it is one crazy ride.

This road was built for the landlocked community of Bella Coola back in 1953.  The government refused to build the road so the citizens built it themselves.  With a single bulldozer working from Bella Coola and later a second working from Tatla Lake, the road was carved along the mountainside.  The two dozers met and touched blades.  There is a sign on the rocks commemorating the moment.

The road was called the Freedom Road because of the added opportunity it offered the citizens of Bella Coola.

Today was cool but beautiful for a drive.  Many people who have never been to British Columbia in Canada might underestimate the wild beauty here…we certainly did before we took this trip.  This trip was all about Alaska, but many of our favorite campgrounds and drives have been here.  It is all about the journey…not just the destination.

The view around the first curve of “the hill” was breathtaking and we were really happy we decided to do this side trip.

We went into 4WD mode on the Atnarko Tote Road.

Then a little further along we took the backroad to the McCall Flats Recreation Site and then the forest service road across the way.

The Jeep smelled a little like burning rubber but we had been heavy on the brakes all the way down the hill.  There was an area of road construction with rough gravel and that is when we noticed the weird whining noise.  It went on for awhile before we could stop and check.  There was a piece of a belt hanging underneath the Jeep and reddish fluid leaking from somewhere down there.  Tim determined that it was power steering fluid.  Fortunately, we were not too far from a service center.  The guy there was already in vacation mode for the 3-day weekend.  He said he and his boss were going to Williams Lake and maybe they could tackle our Jeep on Saturday night and NO they did not have power steering fluid…but maybe the general store down the road would.  The general store did have power steering fluid and we bought 2 quarts.  We filled the reservoir and continued toward Bella Coola.  We finally had enough cell service to look up mechanics.  Albert’s Repair Services was 8.4 km away and had a 5-star rating.  The mechanic got us in fairly quickly after taking a quick look in the parking lot.  He took the Jeep back and came out shortly to pronounce “Worst case scenario, new power steering pump.  The seal is broken on the pump.  It’s a holiday weekend so hopefully we can get the parts by Wednesday of next week.” Oh, and it’s going to cost $700.00 – $800.00 for the parts…his best guess. Okay, the parts have to come from Williams Lake…300 miles away…the closest Jeep dealer.  This is the equivalent of driving from Reisterstown to North Carolina somewhere.

Oh my…our RV is back over the hill…approxitmately100 miles away…safe and plugged in with all of our stuff.  We were just going into Bella Coola for a fun day trip. Okay, we will stay in Bella Coola until the Jeep is fixed next Wednesday…unless the truck can’t get here and then we are looking at next Friday!  The guy says we should rent a car and just drive back and get the RV and camp in Bella Coola until the Jeep is ready…actually he tried to convince us it would be better to stay outside of town.   Okay, drive the RV over that huge hill with all of the switchbacks and the steep grade and the acute drop-offs…NO!  Okay, so yes, we will rent a car and stay somewhere close by.  The mechanic calls the rental company for us.  Great, they can be there in 20 minutes.  $100.00 per day for the rental.  Okay, can you recommend someplace we might stay.  They tried again to convince us to stay out of town…I am thinking cute little town on the water with shops and restaurants and it would be fun to stay in town.  They give us a bunch of options and phone numbers.

The mechanic went back into the bay to take the car apart and figure out what parts to order today so that they can hopefully get here on Wednesday.  Tim went back with him to start to collect the cooler and his tennis shoes so that we could be ready when the rental car guy got there.  The mechanic found another piece of what was a part of our serpentine belt.  The piece was wedged against the seal of the power steering pump and the pulley and when he removed it the seal resealed itself…wow!  “I think I fixed it” he said.  It was a mini miracle.  The serpentine belt had lost a rib but was still functional.  The mechanic took it for a test drive and there was NO leak!

He called the car rental guy “Steve, hold up, I think I fixed their Jeep.”  If you have cash it will be $75.00.  Gladly, happily, we paid him.  His name was Jeff.

Jeff saved the day!

We still kind of wanted to go see Bella Coola.  It would be a good chance to test the seal, I reasoned.  We went into town and really there were no cute shops, no seaside town, no nice restaurants…it was a kind of sad and rundown place and then we understood why the mechanics thought we should stay elsewhere.  What would we have done here for all of those days!?!

There was a harbor area for fishing boats and for the ferries on the maritime highway.

We were afraid to be to giddy…we still had a couple of hours drive back up the hill and all the way to Anahim Lake.  I felt like we were both holding our breath.  But we made it!  Thanks to Jeff!  The Canadian people have been so kind, and so hospitable, and so gracious.

We will start to head back to Williams Lake tomorrow, towing the Jeep, where we have an appointment first thing Tuesday morning to have the serpentine belt replaced…of course not covered under warranty…but oh well.

We did get a little worried but it’s all part of it…another day in our adventures!