Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK: a study in contrasts

The Cassiar Highway proved to be a pleasant surprise as we continued our journey south. Most of the pavement was in good condition, the construction zones were relatively few and short, and it was not very crowded. About halfway to Prince George there is a turn that takes you about 40 miles to the towns of Stewart and Hyder. What makes them unique is that they are only about two miles apart yet one, Stewart, is in British Columbia, while the other, Hyder, is in Alaska. Despite their close physical proximity however, they are worlds apart.

Stewart is a beautiful small Canadian town that seems to pride itself on well-kept homes and a sense of a prim and proper way of conducting its affairs.

We stayed in the Rainey Creek Campground, which despite its spelling more than lived up to its name. If the good folks of Stewart could figure out a way to export moisture falling from the skies they'd all be gazillionaires. Rain it does in Stewart, but in all fairness you are in a coastal rain forest so we weren't too surprised, although not particularly overjoyed, to be breaking out the snorkels and rain gear yet again.

The reasons folks turn off the Cassiar for the relatively short but soggy jaunt to Stewart and Hyder are several. First, rain lovers feel like they've gone to heaven, second, there are several glaciers that can be seen close enough to shake hands with, and third, Hyder is known as a great place to observe the coastal Brown bear (what they call Grizzlies in this neck of the woods) fishing for salmon. Stewart and Hyder sit on the end of what's known as the Portland Canal which is a 90 mile long saltwater fjord that takes you out to the mighty Pacific. For Canadians, they can boast of Stewart being their northernmost ice-free port. Stewart is also home to the Toaster Museum, a quaint and actually very interesting restaurant that has thousands of antique toasters on display. It's absolutely amazing, at least it was to me through my rain-soaked brain, to see the multitude of ways mankind has invented to turn a perfectly good slice of white bread into a blackened slice of carbon (i.e. toast). Oh, and the food wasn't half bad either.

6,000 miles of driving and we end up at a toaster museum...

On the way into Stewart you pass some stunning scenery including the Bear Glacier, one of several in the area. I think glaciers are fascinating to a lot of people. I always wonder what was going on in the world when the early snows on the glacier were falling and who were some of the first people to see it. All of the glaciers are currently receding in this area and though still impressive one can only imagine what they looked like in their prime.

We never did see the elusive glacial ice worm known to frequent these ice sheets but locals tell us they are something to see.

Anyway, back to our story. While Stewart appears to be able to survive on its own quite nicely, thank you, the town of Hyder, 2 miles up the road and across the border, seems to be barely hanging on. And I think that's exactly the way the good folks of Hyder want it. We ventured into the Hyder General Store which is open whenever the owner feels like it (when he's not out fishing or hunting). Its a General Store in this case because there's generally nothing in it that anyone would actually need to buy. The inventory looks to be from the mid-1980's, and is covered in an inch of dust, and the whole place reeks of the owner's perpetually lit cigars. I truly believe the store is simply an excuse for the owner to have something to do during the summer (in the winter, like many Alaskans, he heads for Arizona). Still, if you want the scoop on Hyder and some interesting conversation, the Hyder General Store is a must. You don't live in Hyder if you like crowds - the population in the summer is barely 100 (Stewart boasts a whopping 700) and the owner indicates that several years ago the town was faced with the decision of starting to pay property tax and becoming an Alaskan Borough. At that time Hyder was still serviced by the Alaska Ferry system, but when the residents voted not just no, but H*** NO! to raising taxes the state retaliated by cancelling the ferry service. So now, the only way to get to Hyder, save by private boat, is to drive in through Canada. For a community to give up ferry service must have been a major economic blow, but again, the Hyderites seem perfectly content with that outcome.

Hyder's current claim to fame lies in two attractions: the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Area where you can view the aforementioned salmon-fishing bears) and the Salmon Glacier which sits up a windy, pothole-filled, steep dirt road.

1st view of the Salmon Glacier. Look closely to the upper
right and you can barely see the road heading over the ridge

The Milepost actually has a caution in red about the road to the Salmon Glacier and it was indeed the worst strip of non-pavement we traveled during our trip. That said, its worth the white-knuckled drive. At the top you see not only the glacier but also a gentleman selling postcards and books on the glacier. He spends his summers (I think he said 20 or more) camping, in a tent, in the parking lot overlooking said glacier. Now, as spectacular as the glacier is, even for a nutcase like me (according to my wife who ought to know), spending your nights alone in a tent above timberline in the same place summer after summer is pretty extreme. But he does have some wonderful pictures of the glacier to show for it as featured on his postcards ("50 cents each or 3 for $1.00").

Would you want to spend your summer in the tent to the left?
Good news is, summers up here are just a couple of weeks long.

The collapsed ice visible on the right of the picture is known as Summit Lake and up until mid-July is filled with water. At some point the water breaks through an ice dam and the water flows under the glacier into the Salmon River raising the river level by 4-5 feet  for several days. We were there just after this had happened and in the river valley below the glacier were able to go out on the riverbed and see some of the ice blocks the surge had left behind.

The really wonderful news about being at the glacier? It wasn't raining! Although the icefield played hide and seek through the clouds we stayed dry (though not warm) during our stint of watching ice flow.

Surviving our perilous trek back down the road we stopped at the Fish Creek Observation Area to practice our patience and wait out the bears who for whatever reason don't understand that tourists are on a schedule and have places to go and things to see. Fortunately our visit coincided with a time when they weren't napping in the woods (or doing whatever it is bears do in the woods) and were able to see several bears feast on the hapless salmon swimming upstream to spawn (which is fish-speak for having sex underwater). Rangers tell us these salmon average 25-30 lbs. and the bears can eat one in several minutes. Interestingly, according to the rangers, the part of the salmon that humans consume the bears generally leave behind as being too high in protein. The bears are interested in putting on fat for the upcoming winter so they focus on the brains and roe (if the fish is female) of the salmon. Fear not that the rest goes to waste; there were plenty of birds, including bald eagles, scavenging the leftovers and apparently black bears also dine here as well.

The rangers, who are well armed, keep bear and tourist separated with the gawking tourists crowding along an elevated boardwalk. Occasionally the inquisitive bears get too close and try to get on the boardwalk at which point the visitors conclude they've seen enough and are escorted to safety via another route by the Forest Service staff.

The Forest Service also has a nice exhibit demonstrating why you really don't want to meet Mr. Bear up close and personal. Both Black Bears and Grizzlies have impressive claws that can, and do, inflict serious bodily injury to people every year (approximately 3 people per year are killed by bears in the U.S. and Canada).

Sophie shaking hands with a Coastal Brown (Grizzly) bear's claws

Brown Bear (Grizzly) claws on the left,
Black bear claws on the right...

So despite its size, or lack thereof, the little town of Hyder, Alaska does pack quite a punch tourist-wise and is well worth the trip. From here we'll be heading back through Prince George, Jasper and points south but the memories of the Stewart/Hyder area will remain far longer than it takes for us to eventually dry out.