This was a beautiful day but not a lot to stop and see. We drove to Stewart B.C down the Cassier Hwy. thru a valley with mountains and streams and lakes on either side at one time and another. Went over Gnat Pass Summit--probably appropriately named but we were not outside to find out. Saw lots of ponds with the fog lifting over them, quite a lovely sight and at one I saw something crossing the pond leaving a wake behind it--possibly a muskrat or beaver, I figure. Later on right in the middle of the road were two horses taking their half down the middle and then two others beside the road really enjoying the fireweed flowers. The ones in the road finally moved slightly to the left but not much. That day Dee and Marvin saw several bears but they were ahead of us so usually we never saw them except for two black bear cubs we saw scurring into the brush beside the road. Another time there was a ptarmagin standing absolutely still right beside the road and he never moved as we both passed by him or her. We saw some beautiful waterfalls and as we came into Stewart we got great views of Bear Glacier.
We arrived here fairly early so Bob and I toured the town a little in the car, took pictures of the entrance signs and a St. Mary's Community Church building and found the post office to mail some cards. We went on to Hyder, AK which is right next door but you cross the border so to get back into Stewart in Canada you have to keep your passport with you all the time. We went over and visited with the guy in the "Information Center" first and learned that the best place to eat was the bar down the street or "the bus". We also found out that his blind dog can sense bears and chases them off his property after biting them in the butt. The town of Hyder has a population of 63 in this last census. Their sign says on the way out that it is the friendliest little ghost town in Alaska. It certainly isn't much but fun to experience. The bar was not serving food on Monday so we went to "the bus" and yes she cooks in the bus and has outside seating or there is a building right behind if you prefer inside. Her husband catches the salmon and halibut and I think she buys the crabs and shrimp. Some of the others were inside so we joined them and waited to be served because we ordered outside. I had a toasted shrimp sandwich(small pink shrimp in a sauce on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato and onion)--very good while Bob had fried shrimp and fries. I also had salmon chowder also very good.
After eating we went on out to Fish Creek where we were up on a board walk where the salmon come to spawn and the bears, ravens, wolves and eagles come to eat them. Just before we got there Bob spotted a black bear up on a rock outcropping on my side of the road so we stopped to watch her and then he spotted her cub. I took some good pictures of her and her cub before we went on to the bear viewing platform. There were a lot of people with binoculars and cameras with huge lenses watching some leaves move down by the water. I walked on down the boardwalk and when I got to the end there was an immature eagle flying around deciding to fish or not. Clicked a few pictures of him and went back to the beginning. Marvin and Dee saw what they thought was a weasel but the volunteers and ranger said it was probably a mink because they had a den near there and the weasel was usually seen in a different area but I did not see it so I don't know. Just after they left the black bear showed up and walked right under our feet and across a small path behind us so everyone shifted and then went into a small patch of woods right by a stream--again everyone shifted. I moved down toward where I thought he was going and finally he showed up for a short time. He was enjoying eating some berries and then don't know where he went. We left happy and went back to the coach.
Next morning,the 3rd, Dee and Marvin got up early as is their custom and went down to Fish Creek by about 6:30 and got to see the grizzly show up and eat some. Don't know what else they saw. We went up about 8 and saw nothing except a bunch of raucous ravens having a grand old time so we finally went back to the coach. Marvin and Dee had eaten b'fast in town and then went on to Salmon Glacier from there.
When we got back to the coach, I had gone with the wagon master and wife, we asked Barry and Monique if they wanted to go to Salmon Glacier and we set out. We stopped at Fish Creek but no bears so we went on. All this road is dirt and it was dusty. We had a lot of fun following a car tour guide paper, looking at flowers, glaciers and waterfalls. Barry got up on a hunk of glacier that had broken off on the right side of the road and we took a picture. We saw remains of mines, a tunnel entrance and exit and the exit had a huge chunk of ice in it. We arrived at the summit where we had a great view of Salmon Glacier but we decided to go on to find the tunnel and besides there was still road ahead of us. We probably went another 6 miles to the other glacier and from what we found out later we could have gone on farther because people are living back there in campers, etc. Besides it was getting later and we needed to turn back. The glaciers were huge and you never do see the beginning of them just the end. As we went back up to go back down we passed Barry's hunk of glacier and there was a guy there with a pickup and he was breaking hunks off with a shovel and putting them in about five of the 20 gal. plastic containers you buy at WalMart. We were heart broken.
We were not going to make it back for the briefing so we stopped to buy fish at "the bus" for Monique and put it on ice and then went into Hyder to cross the border back into B.C. and on to Stewart to find food. After having a great burger and fries while Bob had fries and putine which is brown gravy over them and he had previously stopped and had an ice cream sandwich we walked around town a little and talked to one of the locals. Stewart has a population of approx. 350 with some leaving in the winter. We stopped in a small grocery and Bob bought another ice cream. He hadn't eaten much earlier.
We finally arrived back at the coach and I went to pick raspberries that are wild in the park and then Bob had to quickly unhook the coach and go get gas in the coach before they closed. We came back, hooked up the car after we washed it and settled in. I am not caught up again.
A few days ago we lost one of our coaches because the man has bad knees and the long drives finally got to him and they went home. Today another coach left because they have to be in southwestern Utah by Friday. Tomorrow night will be Barry and Monique's last night with us because they are going on to Prince Rupert and stay in the area for a little while longer. We will miss them. They are fun to be around.
Before I go to bed I must tell you that the blog and our phones will be silent until the 8th or 9th because we will still be in Canada and our service is no longer effective. I will catch you up as soon as I can.
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