Day 53-56 Stewart, BC/Hyder, Alaska

Here we go, out of Skagway back up that grade for the 11.5 miles. I was much more at ease going uphill than I was coming down.

Bill and I detoured on this travel day to include Whitehorse to check on a tailgate from the local junk yard. The bad thing was, the tailgate they had was in worse shape than the one we had. The good thing was, we got to drive by Emerald Lake again.

Earl and Jackie came across a little bear on their drive, so I stole their picture.

While I waited in the RV while bill checked on the truck tailgate, I noticed mailboxes in the middle of the empty parking lot and people coming and going.

Wow, that was weird. I wonder if they have to pay more for the inside mailboxes.

So back on track and next thing we knew, all we could see was the effects of a terrific forest fire. The fire happened two years ago.

Then all of a sudden, we were in a cloud!

As we got closer to Stewart/Hyder, we stopped at Bear Glacier.

It was amazing the way it came right down to the lake. One thing we could not get over was all the silt the glaciers brought. We always thought that rivers and lakes fed by glaciers would be crystal clear. WRONG! The waters are grey, which makes it easy to tell if it is glacial water or not.

Once in Stewart, B.C., we ran to see Salmon Glacier, which is seen from Hyder, Alaska. So back over the border for the easiest border crossing ever!!!! NO customs! We only had to go thru customs when returning back to Canada.

The drive up to Salmon Glacier turned out to be a 20 mile drive up a mountain dirt road. I thought we were on the Top of the World Highway again!.

It was so dusty at times that we could barely see the road in front of us. But it was worth it. Our first glimpse of the glacier was the toe, pictured below.

Salmon Glacier is mammoth! It is the fifth largest glacier in North America which borders on Alaska, but is in British Columbia.

Salmon Glacier sits at 4,300 feet in a beautiful alpine valley, which descends to sea level.

It comes down a valley and splits to the left AND the right.

Stopping at the bear viewing area proved successful.

Some of our group chose to get “Hyderized,” which entails a stop at any local bar (there are only 2 and only 1 is open at a time – I think they call it time-share haha) and downing a special drink (150 proof short of Everclear.

Oh, did I mention when we went to the local grocery store in Stewart to get bread, we were told deliveries were once a week, to come back to following day….

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