Cassier Highway to Stewart BC/Hyder AK and BEARS

It was just over a week ago that we went from the Yukon Territory into British Columbia via the Cassier Highway--another one of those "highways" that are no more than country roads. We were heading for Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK to see the grizzly bears up close as they feed on salmon in Fish Creek!






Fireweed is a beautiful wildflower that grows along roadsides throughout Canada and Alaska. It gets its name because it is one of the first plants that grows after a fire. Here is a perfect example of that.










They say that there are lots of opportunities to see wildlife along here, so we had our eyes glued to the sides of the road. We spotted a few black bears and two foxes.

Fox with its kill

This fox was so close that my telephoto could only get a portrait! I had gotten out of the truck to get a picture when I came face to face with it. It followed me all around  the truck. I kept walking backwards and jumped up onto the trailer hitch between the truck and the trailer and stayed there until it finally walked away. It was a bit scary since I didn't know how the fox would react! But I got a shot!





By sheer coincidence and incredible timing, we ran into some RV friends from Colorado that we had met at a campground way back in early June. They were heading in the same direction, so we decided to travel together for a couple of days. We stopped for the night at Boya Lake Provincial Park just off the highway. It was a beautiful campground and our campsite was right on the lake.

Lee and Sam hanging out at the campsite

Picnic by the river

Continuing down the highway the next day, we stopped for a picnic lunch along the river. Here we are with our new friends, Deb and Sam.

Sam fishing

We made the turn-off onto the Stewart-Hyder Access Road. It's a 40-mile drive through mountains, glaciers, and canyons to the very small town of Stewart, BC and the even smaller town of Hyder, AK just beyond it.

Welcome to Hyder, Alaska

Main Street

Great breakfast after early morning bear watching

the yacht club!

 THE BEARS The main reason that tourists come to this out of the way place is to observe the bears, both black and brown (grizzly) as they fish for salmon in the shallow waters of the creek. Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Area, operated by the US Forest Service, provides a boardwalk with a low wooden fence along a section of the river for viewing. Forest Rangers are there to make sure no one gets too close. They warn that the fence is just a deterrent and that a bear could get over it if it wanted to. They keep bear spray handy just in case. The bears also come out of the creek and walk down the road, so you have to be observant when returning to your car in the parking area.

The best times for bear viewing are early morning and evening, so we drove over on our first evening. When we got there, we were told that there had been a flood the day before that pushed the salmon back to the ocean. They said it would take a few days for them to swim back. No fish means less chance of bears appearing! We hung around for three hours and gave up.

The next morning we got there early only to learn that a big male grizzly had come right after we left the night before! But we were lucky this morning. A female (sow) showed up!

She came out of the creek and ran down the road, then disappeared into the woods.











We discovered that bear viewing takes lots of patience. You can't control nature, so you just have to put in the time. We didn't see anymore bears until the next morning. The same sow showed up and spent a long time searching for fish. She almost got one, but it got away, so she ate grass instead.

S 

As the sow wandered down the creek, a male grizzly (boar) showed up and started walking up the creek. As soon as the sow saw him, she bolted into the woods.

While I waited for bears to show up, I looked for birds to photograph. Here are the ones I saw.

Bald Eagle

Wilson's Warbler

Dipper (They dip their head into the water to catch insects.)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The other reason tourists visit this area is to view Salmon Glacier. To get there, you have to drive another 21 miles on a narrow, winding, steep gravel road. But it is one of the best views of a glacier that I've seen.

Close-up of blue ice tunnels. The river flows through them.

View from the summit

A marmot along the road

We arrived in Washington today. Alaska and Canada were wonderful, but it's good to be back in the lower 48. After a visit with Laura and Chris, we'll drive down to Oregon and then start heading back east, route to be determined!

Seward, Alaska

Seward is on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula on the opposite side of the peninsula from Homer, so we had to backtrack along the Cook Inlet and then head down a new (for us) stretch of the Seward Highway to get there. Seward is at the tip of Resurrection Bay, which was named after Captain Cook's ship. Cook did some exploring in the area when he was searching for the Northwest Passage. We set up our trailer at a municipal campground right along the bay. It was raining and foggy, so we couldn't appreciate the beauty of the fiord that surrounded us.

Seward is known for the Alaska Sealife Center, Exit Glacier, and fishing charters. Since it was raining, we headed indoors to the Alaska Sealife Center next door to the campground. The center is more than an aquarium. They also rehabilitate sea mammals and birds, and will release them to the wild when and if they believe the animals can survive on their own.




Murals decorate the outside of buildings all over the town. This one is outside the Sealife Center.

Alaskan King Crab

Here are some of the sea life we saw at the Center.

Sea Anemone

Sea Lion

Seal blowing bubbles

King Eider (female)

King Eider (male)

Horned Puffin

Harlequin

The Tufted Puffins were the most entertaining to watch, both underwater and above water. Underwater they darted around like a stealth bomber. Above water, they innocently swim toward you and when they get close, they let you have it. I'm very sure they know exactly what they're doing!

 

A family of Kittiwakes were in a nest high up against the wall. I was lucky enough to snap a photo when the baby popped its head up just a bit to be fed. Look for the little ball of cotton between the adults!

Conveniently for us, right across the street was the Seward Brew Pub. So, of course, we had to go in and test out the local brew! That evening they were having a Bluegrass Festival, so we hung around for some good music to round out the day.

One of the four groups that performed

Rockfish Red & Salmon Sandwich

On our second day, the fog was still hiding the mountains around the fiord, but no rain, so we headed out to view Exit Glacier in Kenai Fiords National Park. We walked to the terminus first. Along the walkway, there were signs with dates on them representing where the terminus of the glacier was at that time. It has receded several miles and still receding. 

We decided to hike up to a higher overlook.

Challenging trail

More challenging!

Views along the way were beautiful!

The obligatory selfie

View from the cliff overlook

From our overlook we could see people on the glacier. It was a group on a guided glacier walk. It gives you a pretty good perspective about the size of the glacier that the photo alone can't give.

Another great view from the glacier overlook

After the hike, we were back in town and saw this mural representing the glacier.

On our last evening, we headed for the harbor to watch the fishing boats come in with their catches of the day. 

It's traditional in town for each charter to bring their catch to the dock to be displayed. They line up with their buckets of fish awaiting their turn.

Rockfish

 This group had a particularly large haul. The largest of them all was caught by the couple on the right who are proudly posing with their 100 lb. halibut.

After the bragging and photo ops comes the fun part....cleaning the fish! There's a cleaning station right on the dock.

The next morning the rain and fog continued, so we gave up on ever seeing the bay on a sunny day and said goodbye to Seward and the Kenai. It was time to start working our way south to the lower 48!