Iskut, BC to Hyder, Alaska

A red fox with a white pouf on his tail tip crosses the road as we set out.

Bears appear all day long. One makes a lasting impression by looking straight at us with a mouth too full of leaves and twigs, just having breakfast. Another sits upright at the side of the road giving us the once over, one more 'who is watching who' moment. A little guy scampers as we approach, unsure which direction to take. This is a bear zone.

Mileage markers reappear, as do double yellow lines, but the road remains narrow. We cross several constricted wood decked bridges with “yield to oncoming traffic” signs, but there is no traffic, oncoming or otherwise. We pass the site of a 1950’s forest fire which is now an abundant huckleberry patch. The Barrage River flows in a deep-cut canyon around rock pinnacle islands.

The mountains play peak-a-boo behind wispy gray-white clouds, ducking in and out of view. Avalanche chutes still filled with snow and ice but benign in the summertime become visible on the high slopes.

Northern yarrow and cow parsnips hoist their white heads on tall stalks, and white daisies with yellow centers are sprinkled like salt in the greenery.

We cannot resist one last meander. We take the turn onto the Stewart-Hyder Access Road. It’s a spur road off a side road leading to two small communities. Stewart, (population 699), is in British Columbia at the head of Portland Canal, a narrow saltwater fjord about 90 miles long which forms a natural border between Canada and Alaska. Hyder, (population 100), is 2 miles further on in a little piece of Alaska that’s so small there’s no US border crossing. The access road is a neck swiveling experience with multiple waterfalls dropping down on both sides. Although it hardly qualifies as a highway this route is called The Glacier Highway. The hanging glaciers, (definitely plural) are spectacular, but Bear Glacier is the big daddy. It pours down into a lake all blue ice and glint. We stop for lunch and admiration.

Bear River Canyon is a dramatic passage. Near a “watch for landslides” sign a tractor is parked and ready to clear debris. Probably comes in handy.

We drive through Stewart and on into Hyder where the pavement dramatically turns to dirt. We drop the trailer at Camp Run-A-Muck and drive out to Fish Creek to the bear viewing platform. When the pink and chum salmon spawn in this creek, (August and September), the bears come in droves, and so do people. The platform is a long gated boardwalk with walls paralleling the creek. There are rules. You must be quiet, you must not disturb the bears, (and eagles and sometimes wolves), you must stay inside the boardwalk, and oh, don't forget to close the gate. All is quiet today, we are here too early, but we envision the action.

Wildlife count: 1 fox, 6 black bears

Airstreams: 0

Miles: 210

Gratitudes: PKB: bears and more bears JMB: the vistas in the canyon

Gin Score: J:2725 P: 2795

Welcome to Hyder

Bear Viewing at Fish Creek