North to Alaska!

After a lovely evening with our hosts Ron and Lila and their friends who were touring Canada on their Harley Davidsons,  we breakfasted on the largest pancakes we have ever seen and took a few more photos of the stunning ranch which Ron designed and built himself before heading West on highway 16 and then  North on highway 37 (The Stewart-Cassiar Highway) for Stewart.

We filled up the car again (as there are very few petrol stations or services en route) and began the long journey into Northern BC.

It wasn't long before we surprised a black bear, who I named Cassiar, in the treeline and he soon darted away shortly followed by Stewart, another black bear, who crossed the road in front of us and headed into the forest. It was great to see them about as we have been a bit thin on bears to date!

The scenery became more and more stunning and the vegetation changed as we moved north. It was a quiet journey with little traffic on the road apart from a few of the most enormous RVs (Campervans with extensions and often towing another car as well).

We reached Meziadin Junction and took the 37A west towards Stewart. Instantly, the scenery became more alpine with glacial streams at the foot of Bear Glacier and retro chalets and timber buildings as we finally entered the town.

Having found the Information Centre in town (every town has them with very helpful guides to hand out maps, give directions and ideas for visits and tours in each region) we collected some maps of the route towards Salmon Glacier at the top of the Valley and the renowned Fish Creek where we were told that at Chum salmon were already running, meaning great food resources for the local bears!!

We checked in to Ripley Creek - a quaint, quirky set of timber buildings with its own collection of antique toasters. Our room was lovely and we soon unpacked and headed into town to explore.

With a population of about 500, Stewart is the border town to Hyder in Alaska - only a few kilometres away. It has evolved largely through mining (gold and other minerals), fishing and logging. Although it is fair to say that the town favours function over form, we were made very welcome (particularly at the local museum who were hosting the annual Bear Festival) and were amazed at how well-stocked the supermarkets were, bearing in mind our remote location.

We went to an interpretative talk at the museum about Bear Conservation, given by Jean-Louis Imbs a local naturalist and Antarctic tour guide. As the only two at his lecture, it turned into a fascinating conversation where he told us about the changing habits and habitats of the different Canadian and Antarctic bears and we then headed to Fish Creek for our first wildlife viewing.

First we had to pass through the Alaskan frontier town of Hyder - with a permanent population of about 50 it is somewhat of a ghost town complete with all kids of strange vehicle relics and faded buildings. We headed for the gravel road beyond and the 6km journey to Fish Creek.

Just as we arrived, a black bear crossed in front of us with a fish he was taking back from the river and a mother grizzly and her two year old cub crossed towards the river.

It was a spectacular hour of watching them fish and interact from the boarded walkways alongside dozens of other keen photographers. Behind the main creek, eagles fed on the remnants of the bears' catch and other birds hoped to grab the odd morsel. They were completely at ease and did not even seem troubled by the odd passing car. The walkways have been very well-planned to avoid disturbing the bears' habitat and a $5 fee covers its upkeep. We named the mother Alaska and her cub Ripley, after the local creek, Ripley Creek.

We were amazed at the photos and video footage we were able to get and returned to our hotel resolved to return first thing in the morning. There is no border control into Alaska, unlike the strict reentry to BC by the Canadian Customs Officers and we intimate that the relationships between benevolent and conscientious Stewart residents and their much more laissez-faire Alaskan neighbours are not always harmonious  - particularly in regard to the preservation of wildlife habitats.

We were equally lucky in the morning as the same mother and cub returned to the creek again to fish along with two wolves, Golden and Bald eagles and lots of other birds. We collected some more excellent footage before breakfast at the Bitter Creek Cafe in Stewart.

Although the gravel roads were divoted and very slow-going (it took us about 2 hours to travel the 27km to Salmon Glacier) we decided that we had to make the effort to see the glacier and the views more than rewarded the effort.

After a final visit to Fish Creek on our return journey, we met a new young grizzly male who was somewhat shy and did not seem keen to stay in the open for long. He was therefore aptly named 'Hyder' and we were able to take a few more bits of video before heading back for dinner and an early night (we had been up at 5.30am for the morning bear viewing!).

Tomorrow we head south again to Hazelton before catching the train on Sunday to Prince George, the final stage of our Northern BC tour.