From Smithers to Salmon Glacier

From Smithers to Salmon Glacier-June 24th-June 26th

On our drive on Highway 37 and Highway 37a, we saw incredible views of the mountains and waterfalls.

Our first sign that we were getting close to our Alaska destination gave us distances to Stewart and Bear Glacier, which is on the 37a Glacier Highway.

 From Stewart, BC it is a mere 2 miles across the USA border into Hyder, Alaska. On the way down, we stopped to see Lake Maziadin that a young lady in Prince George told me about. It's a Provincial Campground right on a lake with mountain views behind it. We decided to go on to Stewart to see about another site that we were told about and while there we visited the Visitor Centre as it would be closer to Hyder for the next day. The young man there gave us a driving tour guide from Stewart through Hyder and up to the Salmon Glacier Summit viewpoint. Seeing the area there, we drove back up to Lake Maziadin where we camped for 3 nights. We had a really nice spot right on the lake. The only problem we are starting to have is with mosquitoes. We were warned that they could be pretty thick in Alaska, so we brought along nets to go over our heads and we had sprayed some of our clothing with premethrin to keep them off of us. We had to get the head nets out at the campsite and Tim actually went to the camp store and bought 2 mosquito netting jackets for us! While typing this blog, I must have killed at least 3 dozen with my bug zapper and that is in the RV! I don't know how they are getting, but in they get, but I digress.

Lake Maziadin Evening

Lake Maziadin Morning

We took our time the following day and meandered back down the Glacier Highway through Stewart and into Hyder. We stopped many times to take in the many waterfalls, Bear Glacier and the snow topped mountain views.

Bear Glacier

Highway Waterfall

 We crossed into Hyder, Alaska..first time into Alaska..yeah!! and headed for the first stop on the auto tour route which was the viewing area where the Bears are supposed to come to catch the salmon. We were disappointed as it is a few weeks early for the salmon to be running. We continued on our journey and after a very short distance the paved road ended and the gravel road began. It wasn't too bad for a few miles and then we came across an area that had a slide of mud and rocks recently. We worked our way through that and then pretty much crawled through the potholes and rocks and, towards the top, snow on the side of the road.

Note the Narrow road on the curves

We stopped along the way for the overviews outlined in the pamphlet and at the various abandoned mine sites. The Stewart and Hyder areas were part of the gold rush boon and in the 1910s and 1920s they were thriving communities. Now there are very few people in both of these towns. In fact, Hyder calls itself a Ghost Town. However, there is still some silver mining in the mountains and we saw one active mine..the Premier Mine.We traveled from the USA back into British Columbia and in and out of the Tongass National Forest.  In all it was almost 23 miles and most of it on unpaved roads. I knew we should have bought a jeep! Our little Honda Fit did okay though with Tim's tactical driving.

Rough ride through the mud slide

The Summit views were spectacular and well worth the trip. Salmon Glacier is the 5th largest glacier in North America and the world's largest glacier accessible by auto.

View of Salmon Glacier from Summit -unknown photographer on rock

View from the summit road

Once we got back to the border, the Canadian border patrol asked what we were doing and we told them we were disappointed that we didn't get to see any bears. She told us to go back into Hyder and go to the dump as that is where they hang out. We did that and found a momma black bear and her cub. We stayed far enough away and got a few quick glimpses of her, but the baby bear stayed well hidden most of the time.

A few more photos ops on the way back up to the lake and we had completed yet another long, but very interesting day on our trek through the northwest! On to Prince Rupert and the Marine Highway!