isolated Hyder, Alaska, another world

The only road that goes in and out of Stewart, British Columbia, follows the cliffs and coast to Hyder and dead ends there. Hyder once had about 15,000 people but now has about 100, during the summer. There are more deserted, dilapidated buildings than inhabited ones. It is difficult to determine which ones are inhabited and which ones aren't. Photo 1 shows main street toward Stewart through customs at the far end, from "downtown". To say it has dirt streets is an understament, with weeds and brush roadside and filling yards. There are some unique homes here and as always, there's the post office. Their claim to fame and existence is the bear observation area along Fish Creek and Salmon Creek glacier. Ken is checking out the huge salmon along the bridge of Fish Creek. The other side of the bridge is where the bear observation platforms are.

Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska harbor

The harbor of Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska, is a huge inlet from the Pacific Ocean and was once a major shipping and traffic center. There is only one road into Stewart and that road follows the coast to Hyder, Alaska where it dead ends. The two towns are about a mile apart along the cliffs and an avalanche cuts Hyder off. Our fishing guide, Ron, was very informed about the mining and history of the area. Photo 1 shows the harbor where it comes to Stewart and there's not much there anymore. Notice the mountains come right down to the shore. There were 40,000 people living in those mountains during the gold rush. The second photo shows the entrance to an old mine. He pointed out numerous mines along the harbor, but most were way up the sides of mountains and barely visible now. How they got up there to mine I will never understand. It was an overcast day, but in the 3rd photo along the ridge is a glacier coming down maybe 1/4 of the way; the grey center strip left to right, just above the bits of snow. The glacier filled the area down to the "smiley face", as Ken called it, just above the trees, when Ron came to the area in 1974. It has shrunk that much. In photo 4 the mist makes it a bit difficult, but on the right side, in a tree, you can see the white heads of a pair of bald eagles. There is a nest behind some of the trees in that area. We saw 5 different bald eagles that day. They were magnificent. Finally, on our trip in, we saw the black bear in photo 5. Ron said it was quite typical to see them along the shoreline each day he went fishing and he occasionally would see the white bear. It isn't unusual to see seals and whales also, but it wasn't our luck on that day.

Stewart, BC harbor fishing

July 14th we explored the area and located a fishing guide, Ron. Fishing didn't go well, but Ron was good company, extremely informative, and the crab traps were very productive. Ken is waiting for the action to begin as we move into the harbor. Heading back after minimal fishing luck, Ken helps pull up the crab traps set out on our trip out. The crabs traps were successful and Ron's culling and cleaning skills were remarkable. They were not the long legged Alaskan variety, but their bodies were as large as your head. The tradition is to boil the crabs immediately on returning to shore. Ron had his set-up ready and when we reached his house, you can see in the last photo, the deep cooker on the left while Ron and Ken keep watch. We left some of the crabs with Ron who routinely shared them with friends and neighbors who didn't have the opportunity to get fresh crab. We feasted on excellent, truly fresh crab and almost had more than we could eat. .

to Pacific coast of British Columbia

July 11 we said goodby to Whitehorse, which we both dearly loved, to head for Stewart on the Pacific coast of British Columbia which connected with Hyder, Alaska. The road trip over the Cassiar Highway had its issues with gravel and uneven pavement through much of the trip. Glaciers are a part of their daily scenery as we first realized when we passed Bear creek glacier right by the side of the highway in photo 1. To give a perspective, where the white of the glacier reaches the lake is a waterfall larger than our truck. Stewart, BC, is a dying town of about 400 people from a Yukon turn of the century gold rush boom of almost 40,000. The cliffs and mountains come straight down to the town and harbor so I had no idea where that many people might have lived. There are many empty businesses and houses for sale, even the hardware store closed, but the old churches are still functioning. Photo 4 and 5 show the Catholic church still in use and in photo 4 just to the right of the telephone pole is what they call a "toe" of a large glacier over the ridge. of the mountain. You can see the proximity of the mountains to the town. We did have one of the prettiest campsites we've enjoyed. In the truck picture the small sign warns of bears coming through the area. It seems it isn't unusual for bears or wolves to wander the streets at night. The campsite was beautiful with the creek running through it and right up against the wilderness along the mountain.

last visit Whitehorse, Miles Canyon

On our return to Whitehorse from Dawson City we visited Miles Canyon along the Yukon River. The canyon and the rapids below caused major difficulties for the Yukon gold rush stampeders trying to get to Dawson City; many didn't make it through. The cany9on was much deeper the river more shallow with rapids. Ken is checking out the canyon and fishing prospects. There is a nice swinging bridge across the canyon now and beautiful hiking/biking trails. Swinging bridges are not Ken's thing, but he was game. The 4th photo shows the expansion of the bridge. There was a nice couple who offered to take our picture with the canyon in the back.

return to Whitehorse and Miles Canyon

After our Dawson City trip, we returned to our camper in Whitehorse. Our last wanderings around Whitehorse took us to Miles Canyon just above Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River, an area that gave the gold rush stampeders major problems in navigating the river to get to Dawson City. The canyon was much deeper and the river much more shallow during the gold rush period. There's a dam further along the river now. At one time travelers were only allowed to go through the canyon if they had an experienced river pilot to take their vessel through. Now there is the swinging bridge to get from one side to another, not Ken's favorite thing. The first view is from the swinging bridge. The next shows a small motorboat moving slowly up river through the canyon and gives you the perspective. In photo 3 you can see on the left side 2 bikers along the path to also give you a perspective on the size and distance. The last photo is from the cliff above the Miles Canyon section of the Yukon River at Whitehorse. You can barely see the bridge.

Dawson City points of interest

July 12 and 13 we spent in Dawson City, Yukon where the gold rush started. Suzy took the opportunity to learn about panning gold from an experienced demonstration. She panned 8 tiny nuggest and flakes which all totaled were worth 10 to 12 dollars. She had them placed in a secure locket to wear. We wandered around the gold claim area along the Bonanza and Eldorado creeks where the original claim was filed. There are still modern gold claim markers all along the area with people working their claims. Suzy examines one of the posts set in rocks that is a claim marker. She is considering her own gold claim, bringing Chica up in the summer to ride to her claim and work it every day. Much of the area is commercialized mining now with great devastation to the natural terrain. We also drove up the Dome Rd. to the dome that overlooks Dawson City. What a view. The biker picture shows the union of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, with the Yukon coming in from the left of the picture. Just below the bikers you can see the town of Dawson City, along the riverbank. Yes, the bikers did go over the edge where they are standing. There were numerous trails down from the dome but we didn't go close to the edge, afraid the gravel would cause us to slide over the edge. Ken took a break while Suzy wandered around for more photos and examined the trailheads. The huge bench was hand made by Holly, whoever that is and for awhile they had church services at the top of the dome. You can see more of the river behind Ken.