Hyder Hotels
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Finally in Alaska! but not for long
Entry 29 of 40 | show all | print this entry |
Since we had not used the traditional "eastern" approach to Alaska, we missed out on the usual starting point of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, BC. Instead, we had chosen to travel on the "Cassiar Highway," route 37, through the northern part of British Columbia and meet the Alaska Highway near Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory. The Cassiar Highway is a fairly new road, built and re-built several times since 1972, but it still has sections that are gravel/mud/dirt/potholes. That amounts to only about 50 miles of its 450 mile length, but those are tough miles!
We traveled as far as Meziadin Provincial Park the first day, camping alongside a beautiful lake. Here we were introduced to the ravenous mosquitos and black flies of the north country. We quickly purchased mosquito head-nets from the park attendant (made in China for WalMart) and have been wearing them when outside at the campsites. Very stunning fashion statement---NOT! We may need earplugs to shut out the irritating buzzing.
Once we got set up at the camp (which takes very little time when we do not have electricity or water to hook up), we disconnected the car and headed toward the adjoining coastal communities of Stewart BC and Hyder AK, a 40-mile side trip from the Cassiar Highway. The route is all downhill, from the campsite elevation of nearly 3000 feet to sea level. The road passes through stunning snow-covered mountain scenery, and we must have seen over 100 waterfalls. We stopped at the huge Bear Glacier, which is considered a "drive-up" glacier. This glacier has the stunning blue color streaks that we had seen on glaciers during an Alaskan cruise several years ago, and a large lake of slate-blue water below it.
Before long we had reached the tiny Alaskan town of Hyder, home to about 60 people, 10 dogs, 5 gift shops, 2 restaurant/bars, and dirt roads. At least we were in Alaska! We drove outside town to a wonderful bear-viewing 600-foot-long boardwalk that the forest service has built along Fish Creek. Although the bears have not shown up yet (they are waiting for the salmon to arrive in late July), we did watch a couple of beavers dragging sticks to their lodge.
We then stopped in town for some VERY fresh and tasty halibut-and-chips. It was still light outside as we left Hyder at 9:00 pm. and headed back to BC. The drive back to camp produced the highlight of the day---we encountered a mother black bear and her two cubs, and we watched them as the mother munched berries beside the road while the cubs ran back and forth playing. As we arrived back at the provincial park we saw another mother bear and her two yearlings. Altogether, we had seen 9 bears, 2 eagles, 2 beavers, and a fox in the past 2 days, so our wildlife viewing list has started to grow. We are still hoping for a MOOSE!
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