Alaska 2019-23

Myrna, Barbara, Cathy and I headed up the Granduc Road, past the Fish Creek viewing area, where the pavement ends and the gravel begins.  About 16 miles later, we arrived at the viewpoint.  The Salmon Glacier is a very large (fifth largest in Canada) and has striations where smaller glaciers are joining it as it weaves and grinds downhill.  At the viewpoint, the main body of the glacier is heading to the left of the photo, carried mostly by momentum.  There is a small branch trying to head in the other direction and it readily breaks up in an ice-field below.

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While the viewpoint is where a majority of the people stop, look and turnaround, we continued on, down this road, past the yellow sign on the left which I could not read (it said no persons allowed past this sign, active mining operations ahead) but I did not read that.

We spotted this very large and very deep crevice in the glacier below us.  This would     be a man-eater!

As we continued down into the valley below, the amount of small glacier pools left from the ice flows were amazing.  The tundra, the small trees, the clear pools, are all very picturesque.

This is another smaller glacier sliding down the hill into the valley below.  It looked like there is a way down to the end so we continued down the road.

We were heading into a area dotted with abandoned mines, in this case there were tracks and ore cars still leading out of one of the mines.

You can see the road (actually an abandoned railway) leading down to the mines and ponds below.

As we continued down the canyon, the end of the glacier was in sight and the pond below was at the site of the largest mine in the area.

The scenery across the valley continued to be fantastic.

We are getting close to the terminus of the glacier.

You can see ice floating in the terminal pond.

Just to the left are the remains of the mining operation.  There were several miners still maintaining the shafts to keep them from collapsing so we did not venture too close.

This photo is looking back up at the icefall below the Salmon Glacier on the way back up the canyon.

The drive was studded with numerous waterfalls and cascades, too many to really photograph.

This is another terminal pond at the foot of a glacier.

This small lake was directly across from the most recently active mining operation, which closed in the 1980s.

More waterfalls cascade down the mountainside along the road.

We pulled over to see some abandoned mining equipment and I walked back                   to look at this creek, cut deep into the rock.

Fortunately, we had followed a road grader repairing part of the road on the way down the canyon so we were able to pick up the speed a little on the return.  Most of the larger potholes had been graded smooth(er).

When we returned to Stewart it was time for dinner and relaxation.  Cathy and I would head up the Stewart-Hyder Access Road in the morning to get some photographs as there was really no place to park the motorhome on the way in.  Traveling in the truck would be much easier.

We stopped where this glaciated stream was crossing the road.  We spotted a bear crossing just about a mile from here.

We stopped again to see this clear water stream.  We noticed the banded culvert, similar to a large wine barrel allowing water to flow below the highway.

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We stopped at Meziadin Lake, which is famous for grizzly watching.  The campground was immaculate and there were a lot of small kayaks and boats floating about.  This was about 40 miles from camp so we decided to turn around and head back.

We passed several hanging glaciers on the way back down Bear Creek Canyon.

We stopped to view Bear Glacier, which flows down from the Cambria Icefield and ends in tiny Strohn Lake, right next to the road.  At one time the glacier extended to the road.

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Further down the canyon, we stopped and I walked back to see the cascading Bear Creek flowing through a very narrow passageway.  We had to park out of this canyon as it is considered an avalanche zone (from rocks, mud and snow).

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Cathy, safely in the truck at the signage designating the end of the avalanche zone.

We stopped again to see several of these miscellaneous waterfalls alongside the road.

This is the braided Bear River as it enters the Stewart area.  Notice the mountains in the distance?  The Bear Creek Canyon runs along the base of these.

The sun was out and we had the time to stop and take this obligatory photo.  Don’t leave Stewart without it!

Logging is one of the two sources of income for the area.  Once a week a barge arrives to carry the logs to the docks at the head of the canal.  The logs are floating and being gathered by little round boats, similar to what you would see at an amusement park, only much bigger.

Cathy and I decided to take a hike on part of the Rainey Creek Nature Trail as there was signage indicating that the area was closed due to mining activity.  We passed a small quarry where they were blasting rock but, being a holiday weekend, there were no workers present.   We found ourselves alone on this trek, the ground was much steeper than expected and the forest was very, very dense.  Since the area is loaded with bear, we may have been a little apprehensive but we continued on.

We spotted this little-used bench on the trail.

And there were recent bear tracks.  Just little tracks?  They were everywhere.

Here are some views of the trail and Cathy disappearing into the brush.  This trail is apparently not used much but the view from the top was amazing.

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Oops, we didn’t want to go this way, which appears to be a bear hideaway.

We made it back to town.  Notice the bear spray in my hand.

In the morning, we all had a breakfast at a restaurant called Toastworks.  The interior was studded with vintage toasters and other small kitchen appliances.  The breakfast was excellent and there was nothing offered for sale. Sorry, Michelle.

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We took the advice from one of the locals and visited the local museum.  It was filled with artifacts from the glory days of Stewart, mostly mining related.  We watched a nice video presentation before entering the actual museum and the docent was very informative and answered our questions.  The local courthouse was in the building and they hold court once a month.  This is the actual courtroom (it was being used the day before) and the mandatory picture of The Queen.

I saw this rig parked near the visitor center and had to take the picture.  I have never seen a Ford F-550 4WD camper before.  It was massive!

Before leaving this area, one of the last things I had to do was become “Hyderized”.  This involves downing a shot of an unnamed beverage (190 proof).  If you prove unable to keep it down, you buy the house a round.  We hedged our bet and went in early, when there were only two others in the bar.  I have my official “Hyderized” card now.

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Surprise, surprise (as Gomer used to say).  We noticed we had a flat tire on the outside dual when we removed the weather covers just prior to leaving.  It was Sunday, Labor day weekend and this gentleman came out first thing and repaired the tire using hand tools.  He had the biggest tire bars I have ever seen!  It took him about an hour from start to finish and the repair is still holding.

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