Independence Day

Salmon Glacier

Ever have a song stuck in your head?  The whole time we were in the Stewart - Hyder area I kept singing “Stuck in the middle with you" by Stealers Wheel but substitute middle with the word Hyder.   " And your wondering what is we should do"?  What did we do for the two weeks we had to wait for the dog sled team to arrive with our new hydraulic motor?

First, this area is very beautiful! The towns are situated on a long narrow ocean inlet surrounded by steep mountain walls capped with glaciers. The drive to Salmon Glacier is spectacular! The town of Stewart is picturesque with a pavilion and boardwalk on the estuary. The town of Hyder also has its own brand of the charm. Rustic and colorful are the words that comes to mind. 

Portland Canal

Second, there are a lot of bears!  Take a ride and you were sure to see one.  One day I was riding my bike when a bear started coming out of the brush alongside the road, we saw each other and we both promptly turned around and high tailed it out of there! We had a mama and two cubs that frequented the park.   Needless to say I was little on guard every time I took Mr. Wodi for his morning walk.  It was a little early for the real circus act the bears put on when the salmon are spawning. The boardwalk viewing area on Fish Creek is a pleasant walk even if the bears are not gorging themselves on salmon.   

View at Fish Creek

Boardwalk at Fish Creek

Third, everyone was friendly and genuine. We chatted with local business owners and even got to know the border guards while they were searching our vehicle.   Saturday mornings they have a small Farmers Market.  We frequented the restaurants and the local bakery maybe a little too much.  The local restaurants grow some of the food and bake a lot of their bread due to the fact it is so isolated.  I thought I had sticker shock at the Smither’s grocery store it was just a warm up for the food prices in Stewart. Plus, eating at The Bus in Hyder is a must do.  It is run by a married couple, the husband catches the fish and the wife cooks it.  Simple menu but it is just about the freshest seafood you will find anywhere. Yummy!

Eat at The Bus!

Everybody Loves a Parade!

We happened to be there for the Canadian Independence day celebration which runs into our 4^th of July celebration.  The two towns combine the celebration and call the 4 days of festivities International Days. And everyone is invited!  Cook outs at the pavilion, bonfires, fireworks and parades!  Hyder has an ugly car parade and pet parade which we missed because the part finally showed up.  Let’s hope it works!  Note to self - never ever ship anything from the US to Canada.  In addition to the extra cost for the dog sled team from the nearest town 250 miles away they also added an import fee which is 25% of the value of the item. Ouch!  It arrived on Thursday, Jack popped in the new motor. The slides and jacks were now working but things were still not exactly correct.  One switch and everything moves! Huh? Oh, well after playing with it awhile we got the hang of  the right sequence.  We could get everything in and out even if the individual switches did not work.  We were back on the road Friday morning of the 3^rd.  I’ll look back on this area with both fond and frustrating memories. I think Wodi would have been the hit of the Hyder pet parade.

Girls just wanna have fun!

Past winners of the Ugly Car Parade?

Slider Hyder

 We merrily left Smithers happy to be on the road.   Okay, this was it!  We were at the turn off for the Stewart – Cassiar Highway.    We filled up the diesel guzzling white beauty at the junction turnoff.  Gas stations are few and far between so fuel up when you have the opportunity.  There are few roads in the lower 48 this desolate and turning onto the Cassiar brings a real sense of excitement and adventure.  You are really on your way to the great northern wilderness.   How many bears will we see this time?  We pulled over at one of the wayside rests and pulled out the slides  to chow down on lunch.  Ahh, Jack – the slides are not doing anything!  Oh, not good! The drizzle now turned into real rain and here we were trying to figure out how to get the slides in manually.  Nothing quite like being stranded on the side of the road in the rain, in one of the most remote areas in North America. I know those bears were watching us.  It might have been a little easier if the manual was correct about how to use a drill to bring in the slides  (we found this out later).  Finally,  slides in!  Jack is my roadside hero again!   Decision time do we go ahead to Stewart or back to Smithers?  Well, we were stranded in Smithers last time.   What is it about this part of British Columbia?  Let’s move forward. 

Cassiar Highway

I'm watching you!

Last time we took this stretch we opted out of taking the side spur to Stewart, BC and  Hyder, AK.  The drive on 37A is spectacular.  It is worth the side trip.    Stewart and Hyder are right next to each other. Hyder is an itty bitty US community surrounded by big old Canada.  They claim to be the friendliest ghost town, the descriptions fits.  You can cross into the US without being checked but Canada is pretty cranky about letting you return to Canada.  So you better have your passport.  More than few folks have found that they were denied entry back into Canada.  The only other way out of Hyder is a sea plane to Ketchikan.   I suspect more than  a few of the residents just said what the hell and decided to stay when Canada would not allow them entry. We crossed back forth between Stewart and Hyder more than few times during our stay.   You can tell when you cross into the US by the bullet holes in the street signs.  I've seen this more than few times and at multiple boarding crossings.  We'll show those Canadians we have guns, guess we are just rebels to end in the US.

We made it to the Bear River RV Park in Stewart and even managed to get the slides back out. Whew! The next day was a scramble to get the part ordered.  We did not have cell coverage so we were dependent on the rv park wifi.   A big thank-you to RV Sales of New Mexico  in Moriarty for taking our texts and all the help troubleshooting and sending the new hydraulic motor.   So how long does it take for a part to get delivered to the middle of nowhere? Stayed  tuned!

Bear Glacier on the way to Stewart and Hyder