We were looking for somewhere to backpack now that we finally have summer. The problem was a lot of the alpine was still under snow if we hiked for any distance. Since we are going back to the PCT later in the summer for 3 1/2 weeks, we needed to get some mileage under our belt. I found that the trails in the Stein Valley were clear. Only problem was that the ferry to cross the Fraser River at Lytton wasn't running due to high water levels. I found out there was a train crossing that had a pedestrian walkway across the river so we mountain biked with our packs on to the trailhead!!
We saw that the valley was smoky, but did ask beforehand and there was a fire, but south of where we were. Phew! We hiked in only a couple of kms Fri night. The Stein River was very high, very fast and very dangerous if you happened to fall in. We had a steady climb up the valley until we bushwacked for almost an hour and finally just turned around after we'd had enough. Plus it was full of bugs!!! I don't think I've had so many bites before.
We camped by the suspension bridge and enjoyed a good bottle of wine. Didn't take much to feel a little tipsy after the hike on a hot day. Little did we know but the squirrels there are really hungry. We woke up to the straps on both of our brand new poles eaten off!! Never in my 15 years of backpacking has this ever happened!! I had also bought a new alcohol stove, but got the wrong alcohol so it took forever to boil 2 cups of water. I also left the cutlery in the car. I was really messing up, but we managed. Had to eat/drink our omelettes out of our cups:).
Had a good hike back out, but it was getting really hot. We found a couple of other hikers who were waiting at the trailhead for a guy who giving shuttle rides back to the train crossing. We were all over that and loaded up our bikes. Overall, a successful trip. Dan had not been backpacking in over 30 years and he did great and loved it:) One step closer to the PCT trip.
