Our drive to Stewart/Hyder was eventful! We saw three black bears along the road and I think I saw one off on a hill. We also saw a fox running ahead of us.
Stewart is a town of about 700 people on the western edge of British Columbia that was started as a mining town. Hyder was more of an access and supply point for the miners. Today the economy is driven by forestry, mining and tourism. Both towns are at the head of Portland Canal and the US and Canadian border goes between them. During prohibition the folks in Hyder would walk over to Stewart for a drink or two and then walk home.
Late this afternoon we took an auto tour up to the Salmon Glacier on Glacier Highway (20 miles of very bumpy gravel). We saw evidence of several mines, Tongass National Forest, Salmon River and Salmon Glacier. Also on the tour is Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Area where we saw one black bear & one eagle after stopping in there three times. We were led to believe that we would see lots of grizzly and black bears since the salmon are spawning, but it was just did not happen today. The Salmon Glacier is the fifth largest glacier in Canada and is over 7 miles long. Just above the glacier is Summit Lake. This is a self dumping lake. "In 1961 the lake drained under the glacier, raising the level of the river and filling it with ice bergs. This resulted in catastrophic flooding along the Salmon River valley. The lake then began a cycle of filling and draining, flooding the Salmon River, causing damage to the road and bridges along the river. The event now occurs almost every year." (Taken from the auto tour brochure.) We saw evidence of ice chunks on the gravel bars along the river.
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