Day 6 Part II

This is what we came for, right?

Lets recap. Today so far, (day 6) we had woken up in Portland in a nice hotel room, ate a delicious buffet breakfast, then packed up and hit the road, leaving Portland in the rear view mirror. We drove west through the remaining part of Oregon before reaching the coast then stopped for lunch at a pull out. After that, we continued south down the 101 highway towards Florence. We passed through multiple towns along the way and stopped at a few beaches for pictures. Just outside of Florence, we wanted a random camp spot close to the dunes but realized that would not be possible, so we then tried 3 separate campgrounds, all of which were completely full. On the forth attempt we were successful in finding the very last spot in a small campground.

This brings us to about 6:30 in the evening. We unloaded the 4Runner at our camp spot, had a quick snack then got back in after driving 9 hours and headed for the dunes! The sun was still high but beginning to set, it was still about 30 degrees C (86 F) and we were feeling the effects of being in a car for the last 6 days straight. None of that seemed to matter though, morale was high and this is what we had come for! The plan was to drive the dunes for an hour or so this evening then come back tomorrow morning for another few hours before leaving.

We arrived at the staging area soon after leaving camp. The tires were set to a lower than usual pressure coming in at around 10 psi. Before we left for Oregon, I managed to find a big ATV flag meant to be used in off-road situations, perfect! The purpose of the flag is to allow yourself to be seen more easily by other drivers – especially on large hills, or in this case sand dunes. When coming to the top of the dune you cannot see what or who is on the other side, the hope is that the flag will stick up high enough to give a heads up to whoever is on the other side ultimately avoiding a collision.

With the tires set and the flag attached, I engaged 4 wheel drive and shifted into low gear. Having never driven on real beach sand before, I was admittedly quite nervous. Not knowing how to drive on it or what to expect, we left the parking lot along with the paved asphalt. Once on the sand, I immediately noticed how much more right boot (gas pedal) I had to apply. The sand was very soft and felt like it was pulling the truck down into it. As soon as I let off the accelerator, I would almost come to a stop. No braking required! Lesson #1, Stay on the gas if you don’t want to get stuck!

We cruised along the relatively flat terrain for only about 30 seconds before coming to our first major dune. Sitting at the bottom looking up at the top of it was intimidating to say the least. Well, lets get into it! I gave it what I thought would be a sufficient amount of gas pedal. The engine of the truck roared under my heavy foot as we began to climb. Just when I thought we would make the top, the wheels sunk in, bringing us to an abrupt halt. We were sitting on a very steep angle, pointed up hill. The only thing we could see was sky! As I looked out the my side window, I realized that we had only made it up half way… Reverse gear was selected and I began to inch the 4Runner back down the dune face, trying to keep the wheels straight. The last thing we want is to become turned sideways and risk rolling down the hill.

The second attempt proved to be more successful as I engaged the rear differential lock and gave it twice as much gas. The truck bounded up the dune and as we approached the top, I let off the gas to avoid flying over the crest to the other side. Perched on top of the dune, I began to creep over the other side now pointing the front bumper straight down into the ground. My first dune was a success! In all the excitement of doing the first one, I failed to realize how many other dunes were in front of us. Hundreds of sand hills as far as the eye could see lay before us. Looks like I’ll get some good practice!

I can’t help but be thankful for our BFG mud terrain tires. The big lugs of the tire really did a fantastic job chewing through the soft sand to keep us moving forward. Combined with a low tire pressure, these things were almost unstoppable!

Small dunes, big dunes, the strategy was the same. Gas, gas, gas on the way up – let off when approaching the top, slow and steady down the back side. I was really getting the hang of things… Or so I thought.

We approached a tricky area what I can describe as the spine of a large dune. We weren’t driving up, then over. We were driving along the top of it, trying to stay balanced and not going over the edge of either side, as that would be an extremely steep decline. Things were going good until there was a bit of an off camber rut. Remember lesson #1? Stay on the gas if you don’t want to get stuck. Well, not only did I let off the gas, but I also applied the brake (shame on me) going through this off camber area at the top of the dune. The 4Runner not only instantly sunk into the sand, but also became leaned over on a very awkward angle. Things were feeling very tippy. I gave it a bit of gas to try and continue forward but that only made the situation worse. The wheels spun, sinking the truck all the way down to the bumpers and differentials. Not only that, but when the wheels spun, it shifted the truck sideways so now the back end was threatening to slip down the left side of this dune sideways. The more gas applied, the closer the truck inched towards the edge.

Maxtrax recovery boards were deployed as I got to work digging out some of the excess sand built up under the 4Runner.

I then put the Maxtrax under the tires to provide a traction surface to drive up and out. This seemed to work once, but as soon as the vehicle was off of the boards, it sunk back in. More digging. As I dug sand away, it seemed to just fill itself back in. Stress and frustration were setting in and with each attempt to move the 4Runner, it seemed to inch closer to the edge of the of the dune, threatening to roll all the way to the bottom. I wasn’t sure what to do at this point and was coming to the end of my rope. There was no one else around and nothing to winch off of, things were getting serious.

Off in the distance came a faint buzzing sound. I got up from digging to see two ATV side by sides at the next dune over. They stopped for a second once they reached the top of the dune, about 400 feet from us. We were stuck at the top of one dune and they were perched at the top of the next. After sitting there for 30 seconds or so, they started descending the dune towards us, gaining speed very quickly to be able to get to the top of where we were stuck. Faster and faster they were accelerating directly for us. I almost thought they were going to hit us because of how fast and how direct they were coming at us. Surely, I thought they would just fly by when they reached the top, but I was wrong. The two side by sides came to a hault right next to us when they reached the top.

The two men cut the engines of their machines and walked over to us. One of the men looked to be in his 50s and the other in his late 20s.
“Alberta, hey?” Said the older man as he took a look at my license plate. “We’re from Canada too. Are you guys stuck or just taking pictures?” He asked taking a walk around the truck.
“We are definitely stuck” I said, motioning to all the sand built up under the truck.
“Well why don’t you just back it out and down the hill?” The older man asked as he lit a cigarette.
“Theres no way way in hell I’ll be able to do that” I said profoundly. “We’ve been trying to move this thing for almost an hour now! That hill is way too steep to take the 4Runner down.”
“Ahh, sure you can! Look here, just put it in reverse and this thing will back out no problem. Want me to show you?” At this point I had felt like I’d exhausted all of my recovery resources as well as myself physically.
“Go ahead, show me how its done!” I said, gesturing for him to get in the drivers seat.
“Alright, well if I brake your truck, you can have my side by side. How does that sound?” I shook my head in agreement with him, thinking in my head that this guy is crazy! There is no way he’ll be able to back out of this, much less be able to back down the hill! Lesson #2, if someone is offering their help, they probably know what they’re doing.

As he got in the truck, his phone rang. He answered it and started chatting with a buddy asking about getting beers later. This guy is going to take a call!? Now!? I heard the 4Runner crank over as the man turned the key to fire it up. He selected reverse gear and to my amazement, the truck backed right out of that hole, no problem at all. That was the least of my amazement as he did exactly what he said he was going to do. He backed the truck all the way down the 200 ft dune to the bottom all the while talking on the phone and having a cigarette. Now what? I thought. How the heck is going to get back up here? He’s surrounded by huge dunes in every direction, three times the size of anything I’d done so far.

Still talking on the phone, we watched in astonishment as he drove the 4Runner 3/4 of the way up the dune adjacent from us and performed a U-turn before coming to the top while still on the steep incline. Foot to the floor, he then raced downwards to gain enough speed to make it back up the dune we were stationed on top of. I had never seen the 4Runner move so fast in my life. I didn’t even know it was capable of such movements! Engine screaming, wheels spinning, he must have gotten up to 100 kph (60 mph) coming up towards us. And just like that, the truck was back up top with us, not stuck and pointed back in the direction we had come. Truly incredible.

The keys were handed back over to me and we said our goodbyes, not before expressing how grateful we were for the help!

By this time, it was getting late and I still really wanted to get myself and the truck down to the water. We hightailed it out of that area and followed the gps towards the ocean. It was a bucket list item that I got to cross off, getting this truck to the ocean with nothing in between. No parking lots, no barriers, just the ocean and the 4Runner at the edge of the North American continent. A magical moment.

Day 7

This morning we woke up a bit earlier than usual. We wanted to head back to the dunes before having to pack up everything again and hit the road. A quick breakfast of eggs and toast was in order, then it was time to get back in the sand. Nothing major to note in the dunes this time, we stuck to the more manageable sized ones, gaining a better foundation and respect on just how to get up an over. It was less stressful and more fun this way. We also headed back to the beach and drove along side the ocean for a few kilometres. Nothing around but the crashing waves, soft sand and the sound of the 4Runner.

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The time came to say goodbye to this magnificent place in hopes that one day I’ll be back to explore more.

You could spend a solid few days here just exploring along the beach and over the dunes. If you do decide to pay a visit, make sure to bring a shovel, and a friendly attitude -they may just save the day.

The rest of this day gets a little hectic. We’ve decided to pack up back at the camp site and head north towards Olympia Washington, a 450 km drive. We’re not entirely sure where we’re going to stay, but theres a few websites and apps that show various camp spots in the area you’re looking to stay. The best one I’ve found so far is called “iOverlander”. Its an awesome app that shows you camp spots and gives a brief description of what you’re in for. We look around Olympia and find a few possibilities. Gps coordinates are set and we’re back on the highway.

One thing about the iOverlander app is that it has no way of telling you how busy these places will be. Sometimes you score big with a remote, secluded spot, other times you are confronted with very busy and over crowded places. In this case, every spot we tried to go to in Olympia had no open spots available and the next marked camp spot was further out of the way than we wanted to go. It was coming up on 6:00 in the evening and we were both very tired from driving the dunes in the morning then driving the 450 km to Olympia.

A big decision was made to push north into Canada. My friend had contacts in Vancouver that were expecting us the next day, however due to our current situation of not being able to find anywhere to stay, he called in a favour by asking if we could come a day early. Thankfully, she agreed so we turned our sights to the Canadian border. This was about to become the longest day yet.

A quick stop for gas was needed before continuing another five hours north. We were outside of Olympia, in rural Washington, where we thought we could’ve found a camp spot. Thick forest, rolling hills and the occasional road side house were the only landmarks for miles.

Once outside of Olympia, the highway widened to a handsome 5 lane freeway. I was excited that we would be passing through the major cities of western Washington including Tacoma, Seattle and Everett but also disappointed that we would not be able to stop for a look around.

Five and a half hours later, with only one stop outside of Seattle, we saw the first Canadian border sign. The sun was setting and we were both extremely tired after 10 hours of driving straight through Oregon and Washington. There were more people than I had expected trying to cross over at this time of day; it took us about 45 minutes to reach the front of the line. The standard questions about where we had been and if we were bringing anything home with us were asked, then we were home! Well, not really, but it felt so good to be back on Canadian soil. Road signs were normal again, Tim Hortons were everywhere and temperatures were just a bit colder. We made our way through the outskirts to Vancouver headed towards Burnaby, our home for the next day and a half.

Day 8

Awaking in Burnaby was a good feeling. Even though the trip so far had been incredible, I was glad to be getting closer and closer to home.

After a breakfast of cereal, we headed out to walk around Burnaby, then later to downtown Vancouver. I have been here many times before but it was nice to be back in such a diverse city, including the busy downtown streets, the ocean, harbours, large shipping yards, boats and sea planes. Being from Calgary, we don’t have the economic support of the ocean, so it’s an interesting sight to see. I enjoy being in places like this because it gives me a different but familiar feel of being downtown.

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Massive cruise ships and yachts lined the docks as we walked along the sea wall

That evening, after stopping back at the house for a rest, we headed back down Hastings St in search of a local brewery by the name of Parallel 49. I have had their beer back in Calgary, but now it was time to see where it comes from! It turned out to be a neat bar with around 30 beers on tap! Back out to Hastings, we walked towards Gas Town stopping in places along the way for refreshments; a fun night to remember.

Day 9

Day nine wraps up our time in Vancouver as we set our sights on the last and final stop of our Oregon Expedition; Shuswap. After saying our goodbyes and thanking our wonderful hostess for her hospitality, we climbed back in the cab of the oh so familiar 4runner and headed east.

Shuswap is a 4 hour drive from Vancouver taking the gorgeous Coquihalla Highway. Massive mountain passes take you up and down thousands of feet, winding through the Central Okanagan and the Columbia Shuswap district.

We rolled into Shuswap around 4:00pm still looking for something to do for the rest of the day. We dropped our camp equipment at a site I have been to multiple times before, then headed out to explore some forest service roads.

We found ourselves exploring the back roads of the Larch Hills along the Salmon Arm of this massive lake. Views of the water peaked through the trees as we climbed higher and higher up the service roads. At the top, we were greeted with stunning views of the afternoon sun glistening out over the deep blue water. Shuswap is one of the deepest lakes in BC, coming in at a depth of 836 Ft! (254 M).

Camp that night was relaxing as we reviewed our time on this trip. We thought of some of the best memories as well as some of the worst. No trip would be complete without some sort of struggle, and let me tell you, there were plenty. Many people would call this a “vacation”. I wouldn’t, I would classify it more as exploring/adventure travel. To me, a vacation is sitting at the pool of some resort all day sipping Pina coladas. While this may be relaxing, you really don’t gain a sense of culture, accomplishment or experience. That is why I love traveling in this sort of manner. You are forced into doing things that are not particularly comfortable, but that’s where the experience actually happens, those are some of the best memories. There would be no story worth telling if nothing bad ever happened. Nobody, not even the author, wants to write a story about how everything goes smoothly. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Adventure is worthwhile in itself -Amelia Earhart.

Day 10

We made our way from Shuswap to Calgary through the infamous Rogers Pass with a stop in Golden for gas and lunch. This has truly been an incredible ride and I’m so grateful for having the opportunity to complete it. Now the real question is, were to next?

Thanks so much for following along with us over the last 10 days of the Oregon Expedition, we hope you enjoyed it! Questions, comments, concerns? We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or send us an email 🙂