In Hyder Alaska watching the bears

 Wifi is very very slow so no pictures.  Day 6 of no cell phone coverage.

We had a peaceful night at the campground in Iskut BC.  One of the items on our checklist of “to see” things is the Northern Lights.  Now that the daylight hours are getting shorter we have been hoping to see them.  

That night I got up around 2 and took a peak out the front window.  What I saw wasn’t the Northern Lights but an intense display of the stars including Alaska’s symbol, the Big Dipper.  The sky was so deep and the stars were so intense that I wanted Abby to see it.  She wasn’t real thrilled that I woke her up until she looked out the window and agreed it was well worth it.  

Living in an area where there is always something lighting the sky makes you forget just how amazing the night time sky can be.

We left the campground at 9:15 headed south towards Hyder AK with Abby calling “here kitty kitty” on the walkie talkie and within a couple of minutes Ken and Debbie were in sight.  They spent the night at a campground a couple miles down the road that could not accommodate our size rig.  Ken caught a few pan size rainbow trout in the lake during their stay but it was “catch and release” only.

Once again the scenery was fantastic and we stopped several times at roadside turnouts to take pictures of the many glaciers and waterfalls along the way.  British Columbia is a very scenic province.  During the 200 mile drive we saw 9 Black Bears either alongside or crossing the road.  We saw one bear that apparently had tried to be safe and hold up traffic before crossing the road by holding up his paw.  It didn’t work.

The town of Hyder is nicknamed the “friendliest ghost town”. It sits just across the border from Stewart.  Stewart is much bigger than Hyder.  For a little perspective on size, Old Town Spring is 10 times the size of Stewart so you can imagine what Hyder looks like.

We checked into the RV campground named “Camp Run-a-Muck”.  This one is not to be confused with the original “Camp Run-a-Muck” in Washington D.C.  The management here is very similar to that of D.C.  They are in charge of everything, responsible for nothing, and haven’t a clue as to what is going on.

We asked the manager if they had full hook-ups (water, sewer and electric) and she said yes would we like a site that had it.  I responded yes.  She said “sorry they are all taken”.  I said no problem and we will just dump the holding tanks before we leave.  She informed me the only place to dump was in Stewart and that we would have to go through Canadian Customs first. 

I asked her which sites had the sewer hookups.  She didn’t know as this was her first day and the owners had left for Phoenix the day before.  She gets up from the desk and says I’ll go check and is out the door with Abby trailing behind her. 

As she was walking with Abby she asked her, “do you know what a sewer looks like”?  A few minutes later she came back and said just go pick out a spot and tell me the number.  I asked if any spots had advanced reservations before I moved into one.  She said she didn’t know but go ahead and park in one and she would let me know if it was ok.  See?  It is just like DC.  I noticed I had stopped at site 10 so I asked her if it was available and it was.  Sold!

 The four of us agreed that this was the first place we have ever seen that had sites with sewer hookups but no dump station.  One would think you would turn one site into a dump station but we figured that made too much sense.

Ken and Debbie were told by friends that the place to eat halibut was at a local restaurant called the “bus”.  We knew it couldn’t be too far so we walked until we found it and just like the name sounds, it is a “bus” that has been converted into a restaurant.  They only problem was they were out of halibut.  Her husband had just left to get some more but wouldn’t be back for a couple of days.  It is 12 hours by boat to the fishing grounds!

We walked a little further to the Glacier Inn where they are locally famous for getting Hyderized. The bartender pours you a shot of pure grain alcohol. After you have gulped down your shot the bartender tips the glass over on the table and lights the excess, which burns a bright blue flame. You have now been Hyderized and they provide you with an authentic certificate.  Brings back memories of my military days.  We didn’t get Hyderized.

The restaurant did have really good halibut fish and chips which were accompanied by some Alaskan beer.  We walked back to the camp and got in our cars for the short 3 mile drive to the viewing platforms that sits alongside and over Fish Creek.

Ken had been told the dirt road had been graded the day before.  You couldn’t prove it by us.  Pot holes were everywhere.

As we were slowly making our way the cooling fan for the engine started racing and the temp gauge was quickly heading north.  Fortunately we got to the viewing area before the engine overheated.  I told Abby we will deal with it later.   

Walking towards the viewing platform we could hear a bear making his way down the creek off to our left behind bushes.  As we entered the platform, a male, black colored grizzly bear strolled out from under the bridge and started catching salmon not 20 feet from us.

He was a massive specimen.  He would chase the salmon around in the creek as the salmon were in panic mode.  When he caught a salmon and would walk to dry ground and proceed to rip it apart, eat the flesh, drop the carcass and head back into the creek and repeat the process.   

You could hear the bones crack as he would bite down on the fish.  Visions of “play dead” danced in my mind as I watched and listened.

Abby spotted a young Black Bear making his way towards the creek but he changed his mind when he saw the grizzly.

After a couple of hours taking pictures and enjoying the up close and personal show, we walked back to the car to deal with the coolant problem.

Ken said we were really low on water so he got a gallon jug out of his camper filled it with water and poured it in the radiator.  It took almost 2 gallons to fill up.   

He left the radiator cap loose for the ride back to camp and as we pulled into camp we looked like the old “Stanley Steamer”.  We had steam pouring out from under hood. 

It has rained all night long and as I write this, it is still raining.  We plan on leaving tomorrow for the long drive home but we will be in Houston soon.  3,000 miles to go.

As I was publishing this, a young Black Bear is raiding the trash can about 30 feet away.  It grabs something to eat and crawls under a RV next to it finishes it and goes back and gets some more.