One of many bubbling, fast streams.
Beautiful, snow covered mountains with spring in the valley.
One of many bears right by the road.
The General Store in Hyder Alaska.
Wednesday, June 8
We had a lovely, peaceful sleep on the shores of Dease Lake in our rustic camp site and had coffee by the campfire. We chatted with the owner who was a retired miner. He took great care of his lovely campground, but could not afford to get power in way down there. It might be just as well as it had so much character just as it was.
The community of Dease Lake was 6 miles further down the road and kind of scrubby looking. We were glad we stayed where we did.
We went by several little white water roaring streams and then across the huge Stikine River (Great River). The road became a steep winding climb with no shoulder and sharp drops. We could see an old, dormant, snow covered volcano in the distance. (Following along with the Milespost Guide, helps explain what you might be seeing. I keep it open on my lap as we drive.) There were mountains all around us, with some barren and snow streaked, and some lush green. We saw more and more black bear which was fun, but we couldn't stop on the winding road.
And then, we turned off on 37A back into Stewart, we saw the most awesome scenery to date. We snapped pictures right and left while oohing and ahhing. At one point, as we looked up towards the top of a mountain, we saw snow break loose and shower down in an avalanche. It only made it part way down the mountain, luckily, but was grand to watch.
You would think we had seen it all, but we hadn't. These mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and canyon walls were spectacular! We were in awe and ranked it number one in scenery.
We drove on through the little town of Stewart, and in a short two miles crossed the unmanned border into Hyder, Alaska. What an experience! It was a rustic town with made over shacks and a dirt road. At one time, when mining was big, both towns were a lot busier and many more people lived there. For now, I think there were 83 who lived in Hyder full time and a few more then that in Stewart. The towns were on a Fiord that was about 90 miles long connecting them to the Pacific Ocean. There were a lot of scrubby fishing boats at dock. There was also a long board walk that went out in the marshy part for bear viewing when the salmon are running in July and August.
We met the owner of the General Store and he was totally a north woods version of our friend, Gayle Heller. He was a riot to talk... wait, to listen to. He explained that Hyder had no customs and no law enforcement, yet little crime as they all carried guns and knew where to find everyone. We stayed quite a while and solved the problems of the world. Four other tourists joined us and the stories just got better as "Gayle" loved an audience.
We went back to the Canadian side and had to go through a folksy customs and stayed in the Bear River Campground. We had great views, cable TV, and internet. Everyone was glued to the hockey playoffs.
Bob fixed his lovely fish and we had leftover stir fry veggies for dinner. We settled in for a quiet nights sleep in the narrow valley of Stewart, where it actually got almost dark for a while.
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