Alaska had one more treasure to show us before we said goodbye to her. After leaving Skagway, our next destination was Hyder, Alaska. Once again, to get to this part of Alaska, we had to go through Canada.
Hyder, Alaska is about as far south in Alaska as you can go by vehicle. You access it via Stewart, British ColumbiaAgain, the scenery did not disappoint. There were plenty of turn offs to take advantage of.We stopped again in Watson Lake, YT (having stopped there on our way North). We did laundry (woohoo!) and wandered over to the Sign Post Forest to see if the sign we put up in May was still there. It was! Not that we were concerned.On our way to Hyder, we took a couple of peaceful down days on Kinaskan Lake. This place is really off the grid. No power, no cell, no stores, etc. Thank you solar panels and Starlink.Sunrise over Kinaskan Lake.The Glacier Highway led us into Stewart, BC. The road lived up to its name. This is the Bear Glacier.
At the end of the Glacier Highway, there was only one destination, Stewart / Hyder
There is a real symbiotic relationship between Steward, British Columbia and Hyder, Alaska. They are right next to each other and people pass from one town/country to the other all the time. If you look at the map, you start in Steward and drive into Hyder. There is NOT a US Customs Checkpoint to get into Hyder. Once in Hyder, you can drive up to the road to view glaciers and mining areas, crossing back into Canada. There is no US or Canadian customs on this border crossing. But coming back into Canada at Hyder, you do have to go through Canadian Customs. I asked a shop keeper on the US side if they just get waved through by Canadian Customs. No, they have to go through the same questioning as the rest of us. But I bet they do get to know each other’s names!
The main reason to go to Hyder is bear viewing. Fish Creek comes off the Portland Canal (the body of water Stewart and Hyder sit on) and in late summer, the creek is full of spawing fish! Salmon to be specific.
In our ever helpful Facebook group, someone had posted the Ranger’s list of wildlife sightings. Based on that, we decided to go for a early arrival at the Wildlife Viewing site. Meaning, we would show up at 6:00 a.m. NOTE: Did you spot the fact that the Rangers added mice to their wildlife sightings? I love a sense of humor.Here Fishy Fishy. The white salmon are ones that are already dead. The darker spots that almost look like weeds are the live salmon. This is what the bears are looking to snack on to fatten up for the winter hibernation.We got lucky! We arrived and a brown bear was there to greet us. Us humans were confined to a boardwalk above the creek and it gave us amble opportunity to watch this bear snack. She would alternate between fish and berries on the bushes along the river.After lumbering around for 20 minutes, the bear walked off down the stream and out of sight. It was pretty spectacular to see nature in action.
After our bear viewing, we decided to drive up to Salmon Glacier. That meant yet another gravel road for our truck. If you come to Alaska, don’t bring a minivan or a compact car. Just saying.
We found ourselves following a truck that belonged to one of the mine workers. Yes, we were in the land of mines again.The fireweed was abundant. The petals have all fallen off and the seed pods were splitting to distribute their seeds for next year.We went down this road for almost 30 miles.The rising sun hitting the peaks was spectacular. I wonder how many times I’ve used the word “spectacular” in these recent blog posts? But the word fits.We saw a number of smaller 4-wheel drive vehicles parked along the route. They obviously had camped there overnight. I was slightly jealous…but only slightly. I do love our bigger RV.Another campsite with a view.This was definitely mining territory. Here we have an abandoned tunnel. We were amazed it was not blocked off.Finally, we came upon Salmon Glacier. It was quite a sight to see.Looking at the toe of the glacier, we spotted another one of those European rigs.Wait…we know this guy! We met them at the sand dunes on the way out of Skagway. It’s the Tortuga! https://www.instagram.com/frei_mind/ What a campsite!!!!
It was a fun drive, and it was only 10:00 in the morning when we finished. We had plans to get lunch in Hyder, so we needed to kill some time. Off we went to the Hyder Public Boat Launch. It turned out to be quite entertaining for a boat launch.
There was a low fog hanging over the still water. It was also low tide.The fireweed was putting on a show.The float plane in the lower right hand corner landed and dropped off a bunch of Amazon packages. Seriously!!!! We think it was the mail plane. This ship was taking on a load of logs that had been floated out to it. We saw A LOT of lumber trucks in this area and wondered why they were headed into Stewart/Hyder. I guess this is why.“Let’s get these logs onboard!”After dropping off the Amazon packages and taking on some mail, the float plane took off. Yes, plenty of entertainment for us and others at the boat launch.
There is a small fish and chips shack in Hyder whose reputation for fish and chips is known far and wide. It’s a husband and wife operation. The husband catches the halibut in the morning and the wife fries it up starting at noon. She’ll cook fish until it’s gone.
We arrived at noon and found all the people who had been hanging at the boat launch with us were already in line. You don’t come here for lunch if you are in a hurry. It took a while to get up to the window to place our order. All told, it took 1 hour and 15 minutes from the time we arrived before we got our meals. No matter, we chatted with our fellow travelers.The wait was worth it. Really, really fresh halibut is delicious.
After lunch, we said Good-Bye to Alaska for the last time (sniffle) and crossed back into Canada. We then proceeded to an estuary boardwalk in Stewart.
We had to send pictures to Janelle, our youngest daughter who works for the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership. As James put it, we were “estuary-ing.” That’s a totally made up word of course.I’m smiling…it had been a good day.
And thus our Alaska adventure had come to an end. The summer surpassed our expectations.
Since that time, we have wandered the 900 miles back to the USA. We crossed over at Osoyoos, BC / Oroville, Washington a few days ago. Our next destination is Boise to see family. From there, we aren’t sure of our route home.
There will be one more blog post with a trip wrap up. Miles driven, amount spent on fuel, our final thoughts, that kind of thing. That will wait until we are closer to home. If we get up to anything exciting between here and New Mexico. there may be bonus blog post. You never know!
If Alaska is on your bucket list, especially in an RV, DO IT!
Thanks again for all the pictures and more about your adventure!!!! I don’t think that there is much of Alaska that you didn’t see or experience. Safe travels the rest of the way home.
Bears, Salmon, and Halibut Oh My~ LOL What a wonderful and Spectacular trip! Wow, I know when we plan our trip, we will definitely be reviewing your blog and picking your brain. I saw your license plate in the picture and immediately noticed the one above it, A-Choo. It reminded me of my dad who had a plate on his antique car that said AH-CHOO. Absolutely loved it and it made me smile! Looking forward to your return and sitting with a few beers to hear the stories. Can’t wait!
Linda and Al
Thanks again for all the pictures and more about your adventure!!!! I don’t think that there is much of Alaska that you didn’t see or experience. Safe travels the rest of the way home.
(Sunrise over Kinaskan Lake belongs on the calendar!)
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful storytelling and photos! It’s been great riding along with you. Safe travels home!
(Your map showed Yakima on this blog, but not mentioned – I have two cousins who live there – and 3 in Boise)
Bears, Salmon, and Halibut Oh My~ LOL What a wonderful and Spectacular trip! Wow, I know when we plan our trip, we will definitely be reviewing your blog and picking your brain. I saw your license plate in the picture and immediately noticed the one above it, A-Choo. It reminded me of my dad who had a plate on his antique car that said AH-CHOO. Absolutely loved it and it made me smile! Looking forward to your return and sitting with a few beers to hear the stories. Can’t wait!
Linda and Al