Thursday 16th Sept saw us pick up a rental car and head north to a place called Stewart. This was about a 5hr drive plus stops for photo's, food etc... Stewart is a small town of about 400 people that lies on the border between Canada and Alaska at the head of the Portland Canal. 3km away across the border lies a town called Hyder with a population of about 80. Both of these towns used to be much larger in the early 1900's when mining was at its peak. Hyder used to have a population of closer to 20,000 (I think?).

The drive was yet again fantastic scenery. The sun was out and all the mountains were too. The golds and reds of the fall colours provided an ever changing landscape. After turning towards Stewart off the Stewart-Cassiar Highway we drove past Bear Glacier. This is pretty cool because you drive around a bend and in front of you is the glacier and the lake complete with icebergs.
Image of Bear Glacier.

We arrived at 6pm, checked in and headed across the border through Hyder and onto the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Area. This is an area where the salmon come into Fish Creek to spawn and as such the Bears follow. They have built an elevated wooden walkway for about 200mtrs along part of the creek to manage the tourists safely. It was perfect timing as a mother and her 9mth old cub (Bratt and AJ) were feeding in the creek. We observed them for approx 40mins. AJ, the cub, was running about playfully while his mother was busy feeding. The platform gives you an excellent view, as you are only meters away from the bears. They know you are there, but go about their business!!
Image of Bratt and AJ.

The next day we drove to Salmon Glacier. This is a 37km drive on a pot hole riddled gravel road. Our average speed was a huge 30km/hr!! It climbs to over 3000 feet to the summit from where you get magnificent views down over the Salmon Glacier. The landscape up behind the roadway at the summit was a photographers dream.
Those pesky tourists again.
If only I could take a decent photograph!!

That afternoon we ventured back to Fish Creek and after a few hours of patient waiting we were again rewarded with Bratt and AJ feeding. This time they were both more active and they were both running through the creek trying to catch salmon.
AJ with some dinner.
Bratt eyeing off the tourists.

The next couple of days were spent relaxing, bike riding around town, dining at our favourite restaurant - The Bitter Creek Cafe, oh and relaxing. And of course bear viewing.
We were lucky enough to see 3 other bears in the area, Monica and her 2 year old cub Fat Albert and a big unknown male we decided to call Big Ted. Seeing these animals in the wild truly is an amazing experience - they really are beautiful creatures (of course from a safe distance).

A trip to Hyder would not be complete without a visit to the Glacier Inn to get Hyderized!! This involves downing one ounce of an unknown clear substance (and keeping it down!). Only after the experience are you informed of the identity of the substance as 151 proof grain alchohol called Everclear. For those of you who know the closest comparison I could make would be isopropyl alcholol (not that Ive drunk that). It was pretty warm, so followed it down with a beer chaser. Michele declined the option as she was nominated driver for the day :-) The Glacier Inn is difficult to describe but has a character all its own - with signed $1 bills plastered over all the walls. It now sports a $5 note from Australia. They estimate the value of the walls to be $50k - which is even better when converting to AUD!!
Welcome to the metropolis of Hyder.

We were a bit dubious about heading to this area but it has turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip so far. It was our mid holiday break - there isnt much to do here so you have to relax. Our accommodation at the Ripley Creek Inn was fantastic ((their website)). Both towns are pretty funky in their own way and we could easily come back.

As an aside we have decided that we really enjoy this travelling stuff and as such have a proposal to our readers. If you are enjoying reading about our travels then we can save you the hassle and time involved in travelling and do it for you. You just need to send a nominal amount each week to our bank account to fund our journeys and we will continue on our hardworking lifestyle. Tell everyone you know because the more money we get the more places we can go. We might even take requests and then you can be the ultimate virtual tourists... Hehe ;-)