Hyder to Edmonton

We left Hyder August 1st with over 3,000 miles between us and WashPA where we want to be by the middle on the month.  Since that is a lot of miles in a short time for us, (a normal day is 200 miles or less) we decided we would drive three longer days and then stop for two to catch up with laundry and other chores.

Going back up the Hyder spur there was still a lot of snow right off the road.  

We did see some wildlife on the way to Edmonton, another black bear.

The sign at the south end of the Cassiar.  We did the whole 450 miles and the road got better the farther south we drove.  We then turned east on the Yellowhead Highway toward Edmonton.  About 20 miles outside of Smithers we began seeing signs every mile or so for an RV wash.  Opus sure needed it after the trip down the Cassiar so we stopped and gave him a good bath.  No pictures as we were both working.

The first night we stopped at a rest area along the road to spend the night.  When we pulled in, surprise, surprise, there was Bjorn and Britta who had stopped to take a break.  We chatted a bit and they were on their way.  How neat!!

Many towns across North America celebrate their heritage.  Here, it was the railroad....

and here, I'm not sure, still interesting.  It may have been a mascot for the Prince George curling team.  Passing through Prince George, the largest city we had been in in quite a while, we stopped at Wally World to refill our larder.  Nanc was shopping and I was in McDonald's checking email and guess who walked in, Bjorn and Britta.  That is probablily the last time we will see them, though we tried to convince them to stop in WashPA on their way to Toronto.  Not really that far out of the way for someone who has travelled to Alaska from Germany. 

On  the second day after leaving Hyder we spent the night at another rest area along this river and had a fun evening with two couples who were staying there.

Darren is a gold miner who was on his way back to Edmonton after working his claim in BC.  He had buckets of sand that he had collected and planned to spend the winter getting the gold out of it.  Here he is showing me the proper technique.

He put a table spoon of sand in my pan and after a few minutes of working it I had isolated a few small specks of gold.  Very neat, but it sure is a lot of work.

Nanc, Tina and Ben (from Germany) and Joanie and Darren.  It proves again you never know what will happen or who you will met along the road..

On day three we drove through beautiful Jasper National Park.  Many of the vistas looked smoggy, but it was the smoke from distant forest fires.

More of Jasper.  We did not spend any time here as we had been here for an extended visit two years ago.

A bit of the smoke blew away for a better view of the mountains.

The road through Jasper is part of the Trans Canadian Highway so when there is an animal jam it really ties up traffic.  The ranger soon appeared to save the idiots from the wild elk.

A mom and baby goat running along the road caused another major jam.  Just our luck, it was also a holiday weekend.  In Edmonton we just took it easy for a couple of days and did some chores before three more long driving days to Winnipeg and the US border in North Dakota.  A very scenic and interesting beginning for our journey back to WashPA.

Bears, Bears and More Bears

Our goal for going to Hyder was to see the bears feeding on the salmon as they swam up Fish Creek to spawn.  The forest service has constructed an elevated walkway where people gather for a great view of the bears below.  We were able to get unbelievably close to these large and powerful predators.  The first evening we saw both a black bear and grizzly bear near the creek, but neither were able to snare a fish.

How would you do? Find the salmon in the water.

This small black bear walked along the shore...

....and then into the water, but went away hungry.

Next this tagged grizzly showed up but she also went away without a catch. 

Check out the claws!!

There were a few eagles, but we did not see any fishing.

The next morning this smaller grizzly showed up and went on the hunt.

This is what they were looking for, a salmon moving through the shallow water.

Our first time seeing this happen, very impressive.  The salmon eggs flying through the air as it is captured by the grizzly.... 

....who carries it to shore to enjoy a meal.

Keeping an eye out for any unwelcome visitors while finishing dinner.

Looking to go back for seconds.

Up close and personal right below the boardwalk.

What powerful creatures.

This one caused quite a stir as it ambled down the road.  The rangers jumped into action with their bear spray at the ready.  Probably more to keep the people away from the bear, not the other way around.

Then it went into the water and went on the chase........

.......and got one.

Later, that same bear moved under the platform and into a nearby lagoon.

Then the black bear, who was not able to get a fish the day before, reappeared to eat some berries from a bush right by the platform.  Look how she is holding the bush with her claws. 

She then went to the creek and launched herself into a school of several salmon...

.......and came away with a BIG one.  Because there were grizzlies in the area she did not stick around to eat it.  She ran up the slope to the road and leaped over the guardrails and disappeared into the woods.  It was one of the most fantastic things we have ever seen.  Here is a link to a video of the whole thing that Nanc shot.

Yes it is true, they do and we witnessed it.

 

This big guy then went into action, catching four salmon in less than an hour.  As an old bear, check out the scar on the nose and the half missing ear, he rarely missed.  This guy has seen some action!!!

Most of his catches were so close to the bushes on the shore that we only saw him carrying away his catch.

He made short work of the salmon....

.....even skinning it by holding it down with a paw, biting the loose skin and pulling it right off.

He then went further downstream for a couple more.  Still later, after he left another black bear showed up, but stayed out of camera range.  If you want a fantastic wildlife experience get to Hyder when the fish are running. It is incredible to see!!! 

Skagway to Hyder

When we left Skagway we headed for our last Alaska stop in tiny Hyder to see the bears (next post).  Hyder, Skagway and Haines are the only Southeastern Alaska towns you can drive to and they are all long drives, part of which are through Canada.  This trip was a 700 mile, three day drive through Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon, back into BC and finally into Hyder.  The trip started with a climb over White Pass, the same pass we went to on the train excursion (last post).  Part of the road had an 11% grade, some of the steepest we have ever had to climb. Opus did well and we were to the top in no time.  The first 100 miles of day one was over roads we had not traveled before.  The last 190 miles was retracing a section of the Alaska Highway we had used going northbound. Days two and three where down the Cassiar through BC and the spur road into Hyder.

Once we were over the pass above Skagway we drove along the White Pass & Yukon Route through the mountains and along many lakes.  You can see the railroad tracks.

More beautiful mountains.

Even though there are many old mines in the area the water in the lakes and streams is still very clear.

The color of the water is beautiful.  On the first night we stayed in Bear Creek, a very nice Yukon Territory Campground.

Really, south to Alaska.  On day two we headed down the Cassiar through British Columbia to get to Hyder, over 400 miles away.

This is a recent burn area because it was not listed in our two year old Mileposts.  The fireweed is always the first flower to bloom after a fire.

While there was not a lot of traffic on this road there were a few trucks because this is the shortest way north.  This route was considered for the Alaska Highway, but officials feared it was too close to the coast and vulnerable to Japanese attack so the route from Dawson Creek was used.

We did see a few black bears along the way, but they were just a warm up for the main event, the bears of  Hyder (next post).

Several sections of the road were gravel and very narrow.  The fact that it was raining made for some slow driving.  I think the rain caused another problem as well.  Not long after fueling up, the H2O in fuel light came on.  This had happened on the way north, but it happened as we were pulling into a campground through a couple of puddles and the next morning the light was out.  I had the fuel filter changed as a precaution.  This time we were at least 200 miles from any possible service and had no cell phone coverage.  Since Opus seemed to be running fine we pressed on, but stayed in an RV park to have Internet, rather than along the road as we had planned, so I could do some checking.  Turns out, others have had the same problem when it rains and the sensor gets wet.  The next morning even though the light was still on Opus started right up and ran just fine. After 150 miles and drier roads the light went out and has not come back on.  We sure are happy it was not a major issue in the middle of no where.

We did the mandatory stop at Jade City.  There are several jade mines in the area and this place has everything jade, from huge blocks of jade to finished jewelry.  

Even though the Cassiar is the most recent highway built to the North Country, being completed in 1976, there are still many wooden bridges.  This is the only one lane bridge we had to cross, but there were several that  I would only consider two lane for motorcycles.  Fortunately, we did not meet any big rigs on these. 

After a night in the campground, when we were getting ready to pull out we saw Pat and Larry, who we met in Nilnilchik. They had pulled in late the evening before.  Since they were also headed to Hyder, we now had someone who could go for help if the H2O in fuel light issue had not worked out.  Thankfully, that was not necessary.  We spent several hours in Hyder watching the bears together (once again the next post). 

After a few miles of day two on the Cassiar the scenery got better, the road got wider and smoother and those yellow and white lines made the driving much easier.  The skies were clear and the mountains were beautiful.

The last 40 miles to Hyder is on a spur road through a long glacial canyon with many beautiful hanging glaciers and waterfalls.

Bear Glacier is one that still comes all the way down to the lake. 

Welcome to Hyder, population 100 happy people.  There is not much in Hyder, a couple of bars, an inn, a couple gift shops, a small market and a couple of campgrounds.  We chose Camp Run-A-Muck because it is only three miles from the bear viewing area (next entry).

As soon as we were set up we headed out to see the bears, (next post).  Look who was there, Bjorn and Britta, the couple from Germany who we met in Haines.  We had a fun time watching the bears together (next post) for two days.

Between bear watchings (next blog) we watched the birds.  The mother, top right was gathering berries and taking them to her chicks, very neat. 

A must see if you go to Hyder to see the bears (next entry) is the drive up to Salmon Glacier.  This is the largest glacier in Canada and the view from above is something that you rarely get to see without a long hike.

Hyder claims to be the Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska and we even found this happy, friendly ghost on the side of the mountain near Salmon Glacier.  Hyder is well worth the drive and I have not even posted any bear pictures yet! Stay tuned, you must see the next post.