'Mellow Yellow' - Donovan
We've had a pretty mellow day driving on the 'Yellowhead Highway' after completing the southern part of the 'Cassiar'. just 376miles today! Although there has been more traffic than on the other roads we have been on on our northern adventure, the traffic is exceptionally light. We have been constantly surprised at how empty all the roads are in the north.
Critter count: Nil.
Do we care? No, frankly. After the magic of yesterday we forgive all the critters in the wilderness for hiding in the woods today.
The detour off the 'Cassiar' to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK is about a 60 miles round trip. But my goodness the riches that little drive offers. It is remote, the road goes nowhere, a little corner of the USA that time forgot. Like most places in the north their heyday was during the Klondike period when mining was king. Stewart, before WWI, had a population of around 10,000. Toady it stands at 500. Hyder, in Alaska, is a virtual ghost town, these days, there is not even a US border post. You just drive across on a dirt road and there you are; you have crossed an International Border and no one cares. There is construction work going on to pave a road for three miles. Why? Who knows?
We had a ball seeing all of this. When you leave the main drag of the cassiar the world changes from the remote, wooded wilderness, to the coastal area of deep gorges, glaciers, snowy mountains and all round fabulousness. The twin towns' sit at the top of a fjord; the Portland Canal. It is the most northerly ice-free port in Canada and the most south easterly 'town' in Alaska.
Stewart looks as if it is on its uppers and Hyder is, I regret to say, a bit of a dump, actually, they both are. But we LOVED them. Darlings, the atmosphere, the beauty, the bears!
Also, everyone is so very friendly, especially the lovely lady in the Stewart museum who was absolutely priceless. We ate king crab legs, halibut from a bus, drank Alaskan beer and had a truly great time. Stewart even has a 'Museum of Toasters'. How fantastic is that? Sadly, we had to make do with looking through the glass as it is closed for the season. Lack of staff, apparently.
No small part of this magical, magical sojourn was 'Fish Creek'. This is about 2 miles from Hyder and is a spawning ground for chubb salmon. For some reason the fish here are much larger than average and, from now until the end of August, they arrive in massive numbers to lay their eggs.
This makes it a sumptuous banquet for bears and bald eagles, especially. The pictures that I posted yesterday give an indication of this. It was so utterly amazing, I cannot begin to tell you how marvellous it all was. True, it is very remote and takes no small effort to get here, but the rewards are worth it.
We spent the night in Alaska and crossed into Canada for breakfast. There is a border guard to get back into Canada who was as friendly as could be. He took our passports off us and gave them back with such a pretty stamp.
Sometimes it's the travelling and sometimes the destination. Yesterday it was both.
Critter count: Nil.
Do we care? No, frankly. After the magic of yesterday we forgive all the critters in the wilderness for hiding in the woods today.
The detour off the 'Cassiar' to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK is about a 60 miles round trip. But my goodness the riches that little drive offers. It is remote, the road goes nowhere, a little corner of the USA that time forgot. Like most places in the north their heyday was during the Klondike period when mining was king. Stewart, before WWI, had a population of around 10,000. Toady it stands at 500. Hyder, in Alaska, is a virtual ghost town, these days, there is not even a US border post. You just drive across on a dirt road and there you are; you have crossed an International Border and no one cares. There is construction work going on to pave a road for three miles. Why? Who knows?
We had a ball seeing all of this. When you leave the main drag of the cassiar the world changes from the remote, wooded wilderness, to the coastal area of deep gorges, glaciers, snowy mountains and all round fabulousness. The twin towns' sit at the top of a fjord; the Portland Canal. It is the most northerly ice-free port in Canada and the most south easterly 'town' in Alaska.
Stewart looks as if it is on its uppers and Hyder is, I regret to say, a bit of a dump, actually, they both are. But we LOVED them. Darlings, the atmosphere, the beauty, the bears!
Also, everyone is so very friendly, especially the lovely lady in the Stewart museum who was absolutely priceless. We ate king crab legs, halibut from a bus, drank Alaskan beer and had a truly great time. Stewart even has a 'Museum of Toasters'. How fantastic is that? Sadly, we had to make do with looking through the glass as it is closed for the season. Lack of staff, apparently.
No small part of this magical, magical sojourn was 'Fish Creek'. This is about 2 miles from Hyder and is a spawning ground for chubb salmon. For some reason the fish here are much larger than average and, from now until the end of August, they arrive in massive numbers to lay their eggs.
This makes it a sumptuous banquet for bears and bald eagles, especially. The pictures that I posted yesterday give an indication of this. It was so utterly amazing, I cannot begin to tell you how marvellous it all was. True, it is very remote and takes no small effort to get here, but the rewards are worth it.
We spent the night in Alaska and crossed into Canada for breakfast. There is a border guard to get back into Canada who was as friendly as could be. He took our passports off us and gave them back with such a pretty stamp.
Sometimes it's the travelling and sometimes the destination. Yesterday it was both.
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