Hyder, Alaska

Glaciers, Gold and Bears

We entered Alaska today at the hardscrabble town of Hyder. Almost all of the businesses were closed and shuttered. The cruise ships don't stop here.

To get here you turn off the Yellowhead Highway and drive 97 miles up the Cassiar Highway and then jog 35 miles west toward America and the Coast.

The town of Stewart, British Columbia seem marginally more prosperous. They still have a grocery store open and a place to buy ice cream and rent DVDs. "The Thing" starring Kurt Russel was filmed here in 1982.

On the American side is a great place to see big bears at Fish Creek when the salmon are spawning. The salmon aren't here yet so neither are the bears.

I had thought to ride my bike on the long downgrade into Stewart but in Canada the law says you must wear a helmet when riding a bicycle.

You can still see bears in Hyder at the town dump, but we've seen more than our share of big bears over the years.

We take the 25 mile gravel road to Salmon Glacier and eat our picnic sandwiches.

In 1898 an American named Burgess swindled 65 people into landing here by telling them that it was a shortcut to the Klondike gold fields. In the morning he was gone.

Only three of the 65 stayed here. One who stayed was "Pap" Stewart who discovered the "American Girl" gold mine.

The Bear Man (Keith) is still camping out at the Salmon Glacier overlook (3,700 feet) so we buy another DVD and more of his postcards. The picture above is from 2007 so you can see changes in the glacier as well as those in Phred Firecloud and Mrs. Phred.

Salmon Glacier and Bear Creek

Stewart, British Columbia

In the morning, we drive two miles over to Alaska and cross the border. Bear Creek is a place where the salmon are spawning and the bears come out to feed.

The Pink and Chum salmon like this little creek. It’s shallow, the water is clear and the gravel is just the right size. The female salmon flutter and clean the dirt and algae from their nest area. They dig a hole in the gravel and deposit their eggs. The males swim over and fertilize the eggs and then they cover the nest with gravel. Both parents guard the nest until the fry hatch out. They have grown teeth and changed color and shape. Then they die. Only one bear is hungry this morning, but the dozens of salmon fluttering and fighting for turf in the shallow water are very interesting to watch.

We drive up a narrow gravel road 25 miles to the summit of Salmon Glacier. We meet Keith Scott. He is living in a tent on the summit until September. He tells us that the glacier forms a big lake which drains in July like emptying a giant bathtub. The result is a huge flood down river and a broken ice field at the top of the glacier. It happened last week.

We talk to Keith awhile. He suggests a hike and loans Mrs. Phred a can of pepper spray in case she attracts any grizzly bears. The hike is about a mile along a ledge with a good perspectives looking down at the huge glacier.

The view is stunning. It reminds us both the tourist town high in the Alps, with the cog railway, but without the train or the hundreds of jostling Japanese tourists with expensive cameras. We have the whole place to ourselves. I make a bunch of videos, but the Wi-fi back at the camps won’t let me post files that large.

We return to camp and play some tennis in the municipal park (I lose 2-6) then go back to Bear Creek in the evening. A big grizzly sow and her three cubs come out and put on a 30 minute show fishing and playing on the bank. A big male shows up and mama quickly runs away with her cubs. One cub gets left behind in the hasty departure and bellows for 15 minutes until his mother returns to fetch him.

Here are some pictures of the glacier, maybe some videos later?