STEWART, BC - HYDER, AK - JULY 20 - 24

LEAVING ALASKA
July 20th we left Fairbanks to start our journey back to Wisconsin.  We spent the next three days traveling all day and made 1 night stops in Tok, AK; Haines Jct., YT; and Watson Lake, YT.

BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP

Areas of road built over permafrost and swampy land are a recipe for super-sized frost heaves and broken pavement; road repair in this part of the country never ends.  By far, one of the worst frost-heaved, mini-rollercoaster sections of road was between Tok and Haines Jct.  The motorhome's windshield is getting nicked and dinged by flying gravel, and the Jeep's windshield got cracked some time during those three days.

BACK TO ALASKA

July 23rd we got off the Alaska Highway in the Yukon Territory and headed south on  Cassiar Highway to the end of scenic highway 37a.  I never get tired of seeing snowcapped mountains and waterfalls cascading down the mountainsides, and this drive had it all.  At the end of the gorgeous drive through steep-walled Bear River Canyon, the town of Stewart, British Columbia appeared and around the toe of a mountain is the town of Hyder, Alaska.  

These two towns are in a valley nestled between rugged mountains of the Coastal Range and are at the head of the Portland Canal, a narrow 90 mile long, saltwater fjord which forms a natural boundary between Canada and the United States.

Stewart, B.C. has a population of 700, and services include a grocery store, gas station, hotel, restaurants, clinic/hospital, and school.  Hyder, AK, "The Friendliest Almost Ghost Town" has a population of 100, a U.S. post office, an artist studio, a bar, The Seafood Bus (food truck), a campground and several abandoned falling down business buildings and homes.  Citizens of Hyder go to Stewart for shopping, medical care and school; I'm not quite sure how that works with medical care and school.  Something else unique here, there's no U.S. Customs and Border Control Station entering the U.S. at Hyder, although there is a Canadian Customs and Border control when leaving Hyder and entering Canada. 

The town has a lot of character and characters including this ATV.

CLOWN CAR - PART 2

One of our camping neighbors at Hyder's Run-A-Muck Campground were a father/son duo from Florida; dad was 45-ish and the son was in his 20's.  The morning after they pulled in, I saw dad stretching beside the car and I also noticed there was no tent set up on their site.  I had to ask, "Do you sleep in the car?"  Dad replied with a chuckle, "Yes, we do", and invited me over to see their set up.  It was pretty impressive that not only did these two grown men drive from Flordia to Alaska in this little car with all their gear, but managed to sleep in it too! 

SO, WHAT'S THE BIG ATTRACTION IN HYDER?
Fish Creek

About 4/12 miles up the road from Run-A-Muck is the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Area. This part of the creek is operated by the U.S. Forest Service as a day use recreation area and has a gated boardwalk that runs above the creek.  Fish creek is a spawning ground for some of the world's largest chum salmon, and when the salmon are running it's a popular fishing hole for grizzly and black bears to fatten up before their winter hibernation.  

The boardwalk provides a safe viewing area where visitors from all over the world come to watch this annual event.

The salmon were just starting their spawning run, and a beaver dam downstream was slowing their progress, which meant few fish = few bears.  We stopped 3 times during the day and a couple of the times had just missed seeing a few bears in the creek.  Although it was disappointing not to see the bears catching fish, we did see a bald eagle teaching her two babies how to fish the creek.

ON OUR WAY TO SEE SALMON GLACIER

Driving further up the mountain from Fish Creek we spotted this black bear cub.

Mining and logging are the main economy of the area.  This is a view of Premier Mine.

Salmon Glacier boarders Alaska and British Columbia, and is the 5th largest glacier in North America.  .

It was a different glacial experience looking down on this massive ice flow.

During the summer, Keith Scott, aka "The Bear Man", camps at this observation point, only going to town once a week for groceries.  The Bear Man sells his photographs/post cards, books, and DVD's of the glacier and bears, and he was an interesting guy to talk to about Salmon Glacier.

Although we've been warned about drinking water from the streams, Jim couldn't resist tasting the crystal clear ice-cold snow-melt water running down the mountain.  It turned out ok, he didn't get sick.