Day 60 - Monday July 17/17

(Posted Friday July 21)

We remained based at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park for a second day of touring in the area. But we had to switch campsites before we left the park to explore. Nancy endeavoured to catch up on some writing for the blog while Michael organized the trailer for the move. (Another day of blog was completed but can’t be posted because there is no internet available.) All preparations were completed and we were on our way for 65 km of exploration by 10:30 am.

We drove the Stewart-Hyder Highway (#37A). Travel guides described the drive as “dramatic” and “breathtaking” and it certainly was! The day started out mostly sunny with some high cloud which was perfect to enjoy the scenic mountain route. The road was very good with just one stretch of the obligatory construction. Traffic was light and that meant we could slow down (and even stop) to enjoy the views. In write-ups it said there are 20 glaciers along this 65 km stretch of highway and we saw most of them. The most striking was the Bear Glacier (photo). It was larger than the Athabasca Glacier we toured in Japser National Park and it certainly was less developed.

We reached Stewart BC at noon. A very helpful woman at the Information Centre loaded us up with info not only for today’s travels but for the next leg of our journey in Yukon and Alaska. She also pointed us to the Ice Cream Parlour where we got some delicious cones. We bumped into the couple from Quadra we had chatted with in Haida Gwaii – it seems this northern travel attracts like-minded folks. By 12:30 we were at the Alaska border. We needed to check with Canadian Customs about the three boxes of wine we had in the pickup. We didn’t want them to be seized when we returned to Canada in a few hours. The agent said it wouldn’t be a problem so we headed into the USA. The Americans do not have a border agent here so we just drove on through. Hyder AK is billed as “Alaska’s Friendliest Little Ghost Town”.  

Both Stewart and Hyder had their heydays in the 1920’s with mineral exploration and development. Now they are both mere shadows of those days.

With a brochure for The Glacier Highway and Salmon Glacier Self Guided Auto Tour firmly in hand we began our afternoon. We stopped at the US Forest Service’s Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Area where most years at this time the salmon would have been spawning and both grizzly and black bears would be seen dining on the salmon. Unfortunately this year the fish are late and therefore the bears are also absent. 

We passed a couple of abandoned mines and noted the border cairn and line of tree clearing denoting the US-Canada border. (photos)

We were once again back in Canada. No border station here on this gravel road!

Descriptive adjectives are beginning to fail us. Majestic, awe inspiring, breathtaking have all been used often in our blog and are becoming worn out. But the drive this afternoon was all of that and more. We wound our way up towards the head of the Salmon Glacier on a narrow gravel road, clinging to the mountainside with shear drop offs to the river valley or glacier below. We stopped for lunch at a look out with a picnic table and trash bin. The view of the toe of the glacier made us feel so close. 

We drove on to the final stop on the auto tour a look out over the head of the glacier. We did make a stop by a piece of icy snow that lay beside the road and we had a snowball fight! 

When we reached the final outlook we were overcome by the reality of the sight - the shear size of the glacier spread out before us. We had seen glaciers before and even walked on one In Jasper, but this was nature in its pure, uncivilized form right in front of us. It was humbling and incredibly beautiful. We felt closer to the force and majesty of nature than we did in the busy national parks- lovely as they were. This was the real thing.

Interestingly at the glacier summit we met a young couple we had seen yesterday at the Nisga’a Museum. They are taking two months to travel north and explore. It was a joy to see two young people undertaking this lengthy trip. The fellow had saved several years of vacation to be able to do this. 

The drive back to our trailer at Meziadin Lake took much less time than the trip out. Pasta at our site by the lake ended another wonderful day of exploration.