Glacial Beauty and Bears????

It has been a beautiful and interesting few days. Meziadin Lake was beautiful as promised but not the fishing haven that we were hoping for. We had the perfect back-in site right on the lake. Really beautiful. A great place to sit and relax. We were only there overnight so we were able to stay hitched up.

The one thing that we had forgotten about is that this camp ground is a little different in that they do not have water hook-ups at the site. Electricity yes, water no. We had not filled our fresh water tank so we were hoping that we did not run out...our luck didn't hold. We ran out in the morning. Fortunately we were close to the washrooms.

We left Meziandin Lake with full expectation that the short drive to Stewart would be breathtaking and we were not disappointed. This glacial valley is surrounded by dark pointed peaks and glaciers nearly everywhere you look.

The clouds hung low adding to the mystery and throwing shadows that really accentuated the crevasses in the glaciers. The District of Steward was only reachable by sea, the Portland Canal which is more than 80 miles long reaching up from the Pacific, until 1972 when the road was completed. There are 70 avalanche zones along this stretch of road managed in winter by 3 people and 1 avalanche gun. Bear glacier comes right down to a lake along the road. It was a little crazy to come around the corner and see this blue swath of ice winding its way down the mountain. We headed into town to find another beautiful RV park nestled at the bottom of these peaks.

Stewart if first and foremost a mining town. It was founded on the premise that there may be gold here although the placer gold that was promised by the swindlers that originally brought people here never “panned out” , pun intended, there was a significant amount of ore available through hard rock mining. Many of the mines continue to produce today. At its height, Stewart boasted more than 10,000 residents. Today, only 400 remain. This, however, is a far sight better than it Sister city, Hyder, Alaska. Hyder is across the river and is one of the most remote outposts of Alaska. Although part of the US, Hyder more closely identifies with its British Columbia neighbor. Hyder is not accessible by road from Alaska, only BC and relies on Stewart for all of its needs. They even operate on Pacific time not Alaska time. Hyder now only has 40 residents. Most of buildings are shuttered.

We had rain much of the first 2 days here. We did some laundry and refilled our empty fresh water tank and explored the down town area, what there is of it anyway. The primary draw to the area is the Fish Creek Observation area in Hyder that is famous for the bears that hang out there to feed on spawning salmon. What we have found out in our travels and attempts at fishing is that the salmon run is late this year. Unfortunately that also means that the bears haven’t shown up yet either. We continue to see some along the road but have been to the observation site twice with no luck. Today we took the long road up to the Salmon Glacier. It is the 4th largest in North America and you actually get to drive the length of it looking down from the ridge above. We didn’t get to see the top because of the clouds but it was crazy to see it from that perspective. We also got to see a Mama Black Bear and 2 small cubs on the road on the drive back down.

I was finally able to catch photographic proof of our sightings. We stopped at the Observation sight again on our way back into Stewart. I was able to get some pictures of a juvenile bald eagle and some interesting ducks. On our way back across the border (Canada staffs the customs and immigration station there) we were talking to the Canadian officer about hoping to see the bears. Just then he said “look behind you” and sure enough there was a large black bear crossing the road behind us. We still haven’t seen a Grizzly or Moose yet but Black Bears, Eagles and Rodents,
Check.

We got back earlier than expected and were sitting outside enjoying the improved weather. A man was walking his dog and heading back to his motor home. We noticed that he had a California license plate so asked where he was from. There were 4 couples in motor homes traveling together. He said they lived part time in Wrightwood and were traveling with 2 couples from ONTARIO!!! Not just that, one of them retired from the Ontario Fire. He and Scott actually worked together. We hung out with them for an hour or so reminiscing about old times. What is the chance that we would run across someone that we know in the same campground, at the same time in a town of 400 people?
This morning we made a quick trip back to Fish Creek just to see if anything was happening. Well the fish arrived just when we did. We saw the first 2 come up the creek with more to follow. We only had an hour before we had to head back, pack up and get on the road to Terrace.

It will probably be a 1-3 days before the bears come in. We were a week too soon. Oh well. As a consolation we saw a black bear on the side of the road on our way out of town. He was very unconcerned about our presence.
We had an uneventful drive to Terrace, ran a few errands including stopping but to see a couple that we met in Fort Frasier a week ago. Now we are settled in for the evening, enjoying some good internet for a change. As a side note…we are saying prayers for all of our friends at home. There is a huge wildfire threatening Mariposa. The town has been evacuated and it is only 5% contained. It is a very helpless feeling to be so far away. Fortunately at this point our area is safe. Love to everyone and especially big hugs to our Mariposa Family.