BEARS not hiding in Hyder-

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Trip Start Jul 27, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Aug 14, 2009

  Stewart, British Columbia, Canada
Sunday, August 9, 2009

Miles driven: 210

Weather: Cool and overcast with drizzle on and off throughout the day.

   Today we made our way from Smithers, BC to Stewart, BC as well as the bordering town of Hyder, Alaska. Our first side-trek was to a small aboriginal village to watch the locals catch salmon. These men utilized large nets attached to 20- foot poles to do their fishing. Although their methods seemed crude, we observed one success after another as they stood on the rocky ledges that ran along the river and scooped their gigantic catches out from the churning rapids below. Once on dry land,  the fish was delivered a huge blow to the head with a log. Then, it was quickly cleaned and transported to a roadside stand about 100 feet away that touted in bold letters on a hand-printed sign, "Freshest Salmon for sale."  After bearing witness to all this, we can't imagine their being a place where fresher salmon could be purchased. Unfortunately, having no method to cook the fish, we left empty-handed.

    Back in the car, we ventured further up highway 16 to the much anticipated Cassiar Highway; the sole reason we added an extra thousand miles of driving to our trip. After experiencing what we did today, it is safe to say, we would not have missed this route even if it meant traveling another 2,000 miles.  Simply put, BREATHTAKING. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating like we had hoped and left us dodging raindrops during our picnic lunch alongside a small creek.  Can you say Deja vu? . However, on the bright side, the weather added a third dimension to the towering landscape that surrounded us. The dramatic effect of a single ray of sunshine or a portion of a rocky surface penetrating through the cloud -cover allowed for some fantastic photo opportunities.

    As we turned off the Cassiar Highway and onto the rural road that covered the final 40 mile stretch to our destination, not 2 miles into the drive, we spotted a black bear feeding in the brush alongside the road. Jason and Steph, giddy with excitement, gave him the “full Hollywood treatment,” ogling over him and snapping pictures as if he were a star. Once we were sure we had gotten some good profile shots, we exchanged high fives and continued on our route.  The last 38 miles covered stunning terrain with countless waterfalls and ice blue glaciers that clung to the sides of mountains. To us, it was reminscent of the South Island of New Zealand, one of our favorite places on this earth.

    As we arrived in Stewart, BC, we checked into our room and quickly unloaded our luggage.  Excited that tonight would be the first night we would touch foot in Alaska, we hurried to Hyder, situated only two miles down the road.  However, due to the fact that there are no roads leading from this portion of Alaska up to our final destination, it will be necessary for us to continue on through Canada until Thursday evening in order to reach Tok, Alaska,  “the gateway” to our final destination. (Just to note, since we are in such a remote location right now where cell phone service is unavailable, we will still be unrachable by phone until Friday)

    Once in Hyder, we stopped for dinner at The Glacier Inn. After stepping through the door into the dingy surroundings and spotting only one lonely patron sitting at the bar, we would have walked right out if it were not for the recommendation we received back at the hotel from the lady at registration. Not wanting to give us any time to rethink our decision, the waitress scurried out from the back and quickly seated us. She proceeded to inform us that this was Hyder’s  “busy season” and the population swelled from the usual 60 residents to just over 100 during the months of July and August.

    Quite surprisingly the fare was tasty and the bison burgers were served as rare as we like.  After Jason cleaned his plate, we hopped back in the car and drove the 3 streets that constituted the town before heading to Tongass National Forest.  Driving along a dirt road, several miles into the forest, we came across a bear viewing area, which consisted of an elevated deck made of wood that was approximately 4 feet wide and 500 feet in length.  It ran alongside a lively stream that was filled with hundreds of spawning salmon. We donned on our rain jackets and paid the park ranger 5 dollars each for access to the platform. As we stepped through the gate, our expectations of seeing any bear activity sunk as we joined a hoard of about 100 other tourists that were gaping down at the water. After standing around for 45 minutes, we were suddenly greeted by a large brown bear in search of some dinner.  To our amazement, we watched as he entered the water and proceeded up- stream (toward us) chasing after dozens of salmon but unable to catch a single one.  As if this weren’t enough action, on the other side of the platform, we began to hear some rustling in the underbrush and in a matter of moments a small, but full- grown black bear popped out!  He was so close, that if it were not for the height of the platform, we could have reached out and touched him. As he cautiously made his way to the stream, he spotted the other larger bear still chasing salmon and he ducked back into the woods.  Apparently, in order to avoid conflict, bears do there best to stay away from one another; the smaller sized one always yielding to the larger one.

    At this point, our hearts were pumping with adrenaline, but little did we know, the show was far from over.  We were awe-struck when a third bear, brown in color and of medium stature, emerged from the woods. Still unaware of the large black bears presence 100 feet upstream, he entered the water and began to pounce at the salmon. Finally noticing the other brown bear,  he ran towards the woods, trying to escape but in the process ran into the small black bear that we had seen earlier.  The little bear was so scared that he actually began to climb up the nearest tree!  This was all occurring so close to us that we could actually hear his claws ripping into the bark of the tree as well as hear the grunting noise he emitted as he made his way up. Too good a show for even the local forest ranger to miss, he joined us on the platform and told all of us that what we had experienced tonight was a once in a lifetime event.

Note: Make sure to view the videos of the bears in action that we shot using our cameras. You can access them on the blog.

Stewart hotels Slideshow Share

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures & Videos

Turnoff toward Stewart and Hyder	Black bear on the side of the road	Scenery	A few of the countless waterfalls
Town of Hyder	Brown bear viewed from platform	Small black bear eating berries	Bear trying to fish
No zoom. Bear was this close	Black bear sees brown bear and runs

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