Today is the big day! We got up early and packed up camp in record time. We had decided the night before that we would not make breakfast at camp but would drive the 30 miles to Stewart, have breakfast there, and then hop right over the border to Hyder, Alaska.
Stewart, B.C. is not much larger than Hyder, AK, but it had a gas station and a hotel that had a restaurant. The restaurant served us bottomless cups of hot coffee and fluffy pancakes. We ate like the condemned. Then we walked around town to take chicken pictures and to see what else they had to offer. We were gravitationally attracted to a museum that had an old timey fire engine out front, so S and K had some photo ops. Then enough stalling! Time to head back to the U.S. of A!
We got our passports out and ready, then drove the one mile to Alaska. No guards, no customs, no anything but dirt roads to a seedy little town. There is nowhere to go from Hyder except Hyder, so apparently if this is your big idea on how to sneak illegally into the US, the country wishes you well on your journey over the mountains and/or sea.
There are two tourist attractions in Hyder: The Blue Glacier, and a National Park where you can see bears. We had been told by friendly folks at the campground last night that there had been a rock slide two days ago at the glacier that took out the road, so we would not be able to see it. We were set on seeing bears, though. We did pass Bear Glacier while still in Canada on our way to Stewart. We did not get any photos, but the ice looked as blue as Windex. It was quite lovely.
We got to the middle of town, as far as we could tell, and there were no signs or any help at all in figuring out which way to go to see bears. However, there weren’t many options. We took the only road that looked like it went anywhere. We drove the length of the town, all on dirt roads, and then continued more miles down the same dirt road, hoping it would lead somewhere other than a crusty old coot’s cabin. In fact, it led directly to Tongass National Park, Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. We found it!
This park has an observation deck built by a shallow creek where salmon come to spawn. You can see the salmon, but this is also a great place for bears to catch an easy meal. The observation deck keeps the visitors safe from the bears, and vice versa. Over time, the bears learned that they are safe from people, and they continue to come to this creek, to the amazement and optimal viewing by throngs of tourists. Today we added four observers to the deck.
We had been told at breakfast that the bears typically come to Fish Creek before 8:00 a.m. and after 3:00 p.m. We arrived at almost noon. There were no bears, but we saw salmon spawning. They are huge fish. It hadn’t occurred to us before that when you see the classic photo of a grizzly with a salmon hanging out both sides of his huge head that the fish, too, must be of good size. I hoped that the wilderness supported a couple of lazy bears that didn’t like to get up early, or at least a bear or two that got peckish about lunchtime.
People on the observation deck talked amongst themselves, and we met a guy that showed us on his camera the amazing photos he had gotten that very morning. We practically seethed with envy. Then the alert went out. Black bear spotted! We watched, and sure enough, this fairly young bear, very skinny, came out of the underbrush and started wading in the creek. Have you ever watched an indoor cat go out in the snow? They walk a step, shake their paw, take the next step, shake the paw, etc. The black bear did this with the water in the creek. It looked like it was his first day getting his paws wet. Then salmon splashed behind him and he jumped away from them startled. Everyone on the deck laughed quietly. Poor bear was going to stay skinny if he was afraid of the fish. He headed to the other bank, directly below us, and he started eating berries. Maybe this bear was a vegetarian.
Word went out again – grizzly bear downstream. We could barely make him out, but slowly and surely he approached. Unlike his young black bear friend, he clearly knew what he was doing, and he was huge. He paced along the bank, watching for the salmon spash, then pounced in. The chase took less than 15 seconds, and he was back out with a huge catch. He ambled into the brush to eat. Ten minutes later, he was back. Same result.
We were so thrilled at our luck, and then word went out again. Another bear! This was a black bear that had some brown on his shoulders. The park guide ventured this bear was about 3 or 4 years old. He was very skinny, and his fishing skills made it understandable. First, he satisfied himself by eating the leftovers from the grizzly. Then he splashed in himself and tried to chase a salmon downstream. Upstream, we silently chastised him, chase them upstream if you want to have a chance. He chased again, then stood up on his hind legs as if he’d sort of forgotten what he had got in the river for. Finally, he chased upstream and caught himself some lunch. We cheered quietly -- no startling the bears allowed. “I just love a happy ending,” I overhead a tourist say. Well, happy ending for the bear, I added to myself.
Stewart, B.C. is not much larger than Hyder, AK, but it had a gas station and a hotel that had a restaurant. The restaurant served us bottomless cups of hot coffee and fluffy pancakes. We ate like the condemned. Then we walked around town to take chicken pictures and to see what else they had to offer. We were gravitationally attracted to a museum that had an old timey fire engine out front, so S and K had some photo ops. Then enough stalling! Time to head back to the U.S. of A!
We got our passports out and ready, then drove the one mile to Alaska. No guards, no customs, no anything but dirt roads to a seedy little town. There is nowhere to go from Hyder except Hyder, so apparently if this is your big idea on how to sneak illegally into the US, the country wishes you well on your journey over the mountains and/or sea.
There are two tourist attractions in Hyder: The Blue Glacier, and a National Park where you can see bears. We had been told by friendly folks at the campground last night that there had been a rock slide two days ago at the glacier that took out the road, so we would not be able to see it. We were set on seeing bears, though. We did pass Bear Glacier while still in Canada on our way to Stewart. We did not get any photos, but the ice looked as blue as Windex. It was quite lovely.
We got to the middle of town, as far as we could tell, and there were no signs or any help at all in figuring out which way to go to see bears. However, there weren’t many options. We took the only road that looked like it went anywhere. We drove the length of the town, all on dirt roads, and then continued more miles down the same dirt road, hoping it would lead somewhere other than a crusty old coot’s cabin. In fact, it led directly to Tongass National Park, Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. We found it!
This park has an observation deck built by a shallow creek where salmon come to spawn. You can see the salmon, but this is also a great place for bears to catch an easy meal. The observation deck keeps the visitors safe from the bears, and vice versa. Over time, the bears learned that they are safe from people, and they continue to come to this creek, to the amazement and optimal viewing by throngs of tourists. Today we added four observers to the deck.
We had been told at breakfast that the bears typically come to Fish Creek before 8:00 a.m. and after 3:00 p.m. We arrived at almost noon. There were no bears, but we saw salmon spawning. They are huge fish. It hadn’t occurred to us before that when you see the classic photo of a grizzly with a salmon hanging out both sides of his huge head that the fish, too, must be of good size. I hoped that the wilderness supported a couple of lazy bears that didn’t like to get up early, or at least a bear or two that got peckish about lunchtime.
People on the observation deck talked amongst themselves, and we met a guy that showed us on his camera the amazing photos he had gotten that very morning. We practically seethed with envy. Then the alert went out. Black bear spotted! We watched, and sure enough, this fairly young bear, very skinny, came out of the underbrush and started wading in the creek. Have you ever watched an indoor cat go out in the snow? They walk a step, shake their paw, take the next step, shake the paw, etc. The black bear did this with the water in the creek. It looked like it was his first day getting his paws wet. Then salmon splashed behind him and he jumped away from them startled. Everyone on the deck laughed quietly. Poor bear was going to stay skinny if he was afraid of the fish. He headed to the other bank, directly below us, and he started eating berries. Maybe this bear was a vegetarian.
Word went out again – grizzly bear downstream. We could barely make him out, but slowly and surely he approached. Unlike his young black bear friend, he clearly knew what he was doing, and he was huge. He paced along the bank, watching for the salmon spash, then pounced in. The chase took less than 15 seconds, and he was back out with a huge catch. He ambled into the brush to eat. Ten minutes later, he was back. Same result.
We were so thrilled at our luck, and then word went out again. Another bear! This was a black bear that had some brown on his shoulders. The park guide ventured this bear was about 3 or 4 years old. He was very skinny, and his fishing skills made it understandable. First, he satisfied himself by eating the leftovers from the grizzly. Then he splashed in himself and tried to chase a salmon downstream. Upstream, we silently chastised him, chase them upstream if you want to have a chance. He chased again, then stood up on his hind legs as if he’d sort of forgotten what he had got in the river for. Finally, he chased upstream and caught himself some lunch. We cheered quietly -- no startling the bears allowed. “I just love a happy ending,” I overhead a tourist say. Well, happy ending for the bear, I added to myself.
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Spectacular photos! I'm glad you were able to make it to Alaska after all.
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