Grizzlies, Glaciers and A Whole Lot Of Fun

Yep, we are having a whole dang lot of fun to say the least!  Any one who has hung out with Larry has to be a good sport—the man is a perpetual jokester!  If he isn’t on the two way radios giving me grief, we are stopped at a rest area and he’s telling me how it is!! 

Wednesday we traveled to Alaska so to speak—a little tiny chunk of Alaska hangs down the state and rubs shoulders with Stewart, British Columbia.  There is no border crossing guard to come from Canada into Alaska but the Canadian guards on their side of the border take their job very, very seriously!!

We made this little out of the way jaunt for a reason—to see glaciers and grizzlies—we were successful on both fronts!!

Afternoon light

Early morning light.

Now for the most exciting part—the USFS maintains a viewing platform over Fish Creek near Hyder, Alaska.  Several years ago Michael and I traveled to Hyder specifically to see the bears eating the spawning salmon in the creek—didn’t see one bear!!!!!  We really wanted to try again and our traveling partners were game—we hit the jackpot—only one bear but he stuck around for a long, long time entertaining the boardwalk full of visitors.  People were very polite stepping away from the edge once they had taken their photos allowing others to get closer.  It’s a little disconcerting to be on a boardwalk above the creek only 15 feet from an 800 pound grizzly bear!!!  There are rangers patrolling up and down the boardwalk constantly but still—!!!!!

We were all up early this morning, driving back out to the viewing area trying to spot more bears without success.  The ranger told us this is the biggest grizzly visitor they have, and they have about seven other grizzlies visitors and a host of black bears.  We were just tickled pink to have caught this big guy on video.  UPDATE:  YouTube is not being cooperative tonight so I will post this blog with just still photos and will do the video later when I have faster internet.

We worked up an appetite watching for bears and decided to have breakfast in Hyder before crossing the border into Canada and continuing our jaunt toward Prince Rupert.

Last nights dinner spot, The Bus—this young woman whose husband is a commercial fisherman manages to dish up the best fresh fish—all cooked in this old bus—it was delicious.

Tomorrow on to Prince Rupert where we will spend the night and then board the ferry to Ketchikan, Alaska on Saturday.