On to Hyder

I went a few kilometres west of Watson Lake and headed down the Cassiar highway. I got gas at the corner and met some fellows from California on motorcycles and they wanted to know if I wanted to travel with them. I declined and they went on. In Jade City I caught up to them and followed behind for aways. Then one of them got a flat tire. There were 3 of them and they seemed to have everything under control so I went on alone. I arrived at Deese Lake with my fuel light on. There were 3 BMW motorcycles there. 1 a Dakar was completely disassembled. The had narrowed it down to the fuel pump and figured at some point he had gotten bad gas. I am sure I saw it later in Prince George on the back of a truck. That it one thing I fear on the bike because I do not have the where-with-all to do those kinds of repairs and in this case in the middle of nowhere. I had a lovely bowl of soup and continued south to Meziadin Junction. By this time it was 8:30PM and I was driving directly into the sun so I decided to stop for the evening and go into Hyder the next day. I had just seen a bear and everywhere I stopped there were bear warnings so camping was not an option for me. At the Junction they had fuel, a cafe' and advertised lodging. It was a work camp. Where crews stay when working on the roads or firefighting or logging. So I had the camp experience staying in a room in one of those Atco trailers and sharing a bathroom. Actually it worked well and had all I needed. A hot shower, a bed, and internet connection.

This picture is indicative of some of the scenery I was driving through on the Cassiar. I stopped at this place called Bel2 and got food and asked about a room but it was $149.00 for the night.

Again I tried to capture the beautiful gardens of fireweed. One scene that stays vividly in my mind is passing through a burned out area with blackened trees standing against a blue sky and a carpet of purple fireweed covering the forest floor. Beautiful.

There were also fields of yellow flowers and all kinds of gorgeous "gardens" by the road. We try to do this in our homes but cannot even come near to the beauty all around us.

 

 

This was the view from the door of my camp room.

I was in number 1

As you can see one had to be aware that there could be bears nearby.

The next morning Charlie cooked me breakfast in the camp kitchen. Very good.

After breakfast I headed for Stewart. Only 68 km but glad I had saved it for the next day. It was by far one of the most beautiful parts of my trip with glaciers and waterfalls and yes even bears everywhere.

This is Bear Glacier. I have no pictures of the real bears that crossed my path. Too dangerous to stop and take pictures but I did see 2 between the Junction and Stewart.

Another glacier on the route.

Some of the gorgeous waterfalls.

 

Stewart B.C. is an ocean port. And this freighter was waiting for the tide to come in so it could leave.

Looking towards the ocean

Obviously low tide

 

I rode into Hyder. There is no customs on the US side but you have to make a stop coming back into Stewart. I had to do it twice because I forgot to take pictures the first time. DUH!

This is the guard post on the Hyder side.

I rode right through the little town and continued on to the bear viewing area. It is 660 ft of boardwalk and when the salmon are running it overlooks the stream where the bears fish and one can watch in comparative safety.

It was too early in the year for the salmon so no bears present.

I took this picture as I had been seeing this bright red berries in many spots along the highway. It certainly looked like mountain ash and gave spots of colour to the view.

Not sure what river this is but it seemed to be high and flowing very rapidly.

 

Hyder Alaska. I did it! There were moments when I questioned my sanity but am so glad I did.

I did not get hyderized which is a drink of everclear with a toe in it but I was there at 9AM and they did not open til 11AM. Could not hang around . Places to go and things to see.

 

One last point I noted as I passed between Hyder and Stewart was that some of the trees along the road looked as it they were decorated for Halloween with Spanish Moss hanging everywhere.

And lastly a picture of bear glacier heading out. Things really do look different from the other direction.

Back to Meziadin Junction. Stopped for fuel and this time headed for Burns Lake, Chetwynd and Dawson Creek. The rally was to start on Monday. Would there be anyone else there early?

Next episode.