September 4, 2009 – Rain and Salmon Glacier (Sort of)

We woke this morning to rain so we just hung out around the MH.  It was so nice not to have a travel day!!

When it stopped raining we headed out.  This is the Portland Canal going to Stewart – notice the mountains!

 

Here is the first house in Hyder.  This is Storehouse #4 – one of the first masonry buildings built in Alaska (1896).  The International Marker is to the left of the building:

 

Another of the buildings in Hyder:

On the road to the Salmon Glacier, we passed over into British Columbia again – this open path designates the border.  Every 10 years, all vegetation is cut down from Hyder all the way to the Arctic:

The Valley – the road on the right is the road we took:

We went from the valley floor up and up and up.  And it started to rain.  So we got to the one glacier lookout and decided not to go another 5 miles to the top (this is a dirt road so you can imagine).  You can barely see the glacier from this point because of the clouds and rain.

The valley floor:

And one last picture when we were back in the valley:

I was disappointed that we did not get to see it but then I guess we can’t have sunny days all the time – LOL!

Tomorrow we are heading out and south so stay tuned.

September 3, 2009 – The Cassiar – Day 3 and More Bears

We continued on down the Cassiar and we are going into high mountains, deep valleys and glacier country.  Some scenes from the road:

We left the Cassiar and headed to Stewart, B.C. / Hyder, AK.   Spectacular scenery!!  This is Bear Glacier:

We are staying at Bear Paw RV Park in Stewart, B.C. – full hookups – we are going to get spoiled – LOL!!!

After setting up we took a drive around Stewart and then Hyder:

What is interesting is that there are no customs going over to AK but a small Canadian customs on the way back.  There are about 70 year round residents in Hyder and this is the only way in when driving.

Hyder is famous for its bear viewing.  Here is Fish Creek.  On the right hand side is the walkway.  The ranger station is at one end and there is an escape area at the other – just in case the bears come onto the walkway.  There is also a big sign that says to stay in your car when the station is not open – Oh my!

Here is the lake behind Fish Creek – how about that water color:

And we rewarded – :-))).  According to the ranger, this is a female bear about 6-7 years old named Mira (yes, they name their bears!):

We watched her for quite a while from the walkway until she went under the bridge.  It was really neat watching her catch the salmon.  Sometimes she caught one and sometimes not..

We are staying another day here and hope to get to Salmon Glacier tomorrow so stay tuned.

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 163 miles

Routes Traveled:

British Columbia: PH-37 (Cassiar Highway); PH-37A (Stewart-Hyder Spur Highway)